Calamity days approved

Calamity days approved
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Board of Education has approved five calamity makeup days, if they are needed, to the school calendar from June 6-10, 2005.
Superintendent Michael Hanshaw said that because the Easter break is shortened this year, from March 25-28, the June dates are the only ones available for makeup days. June 2 is the last scheduled day of classes for pupils.
The board also approved a resolution supporting the passage of a 2.4-mill renewal levy for the Trumbull Career and Technical Center. The district has 38 students attending classes at the center.
Hearings scheduled
NILES -- Preliminary hearings are scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in municipal court for three men charged with invading a Niles home and beating a woman with a baseball bat.
Being held in the Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond each are Donald C. Rucker, 33, of Maple Avenue, Niles; Anthony J. Raynovich, 22, of Cooper Street, Youngstown; and Mark A. Kazlauskas, 35, of North Chestnut Street, Niles.
They were arraigned Thursday before Judge Thomas A. Townley. Each is charged with felonious assault, aggravated burglary and abduction.
They are accused by city police of forcing their way into a Walnut Street home Wednesday afternoon and taking items, including a PlayStation video game console. Some family members were held at bay, while one of them, Rita Hunyadi, was beaten with a bat.
Woman reports rape
WARREN -- A 45-year-old city woman told police she was raped Thursday afternoon. The woman said a man she knows sexually assaulted her at her home on Tod Avenue. No arrests have been made.
Assault charges
SHARON, Pa. -- Police arrested Marlene R. King, 26, of Alderman Avenue, on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person after her boyfriend accused her of stabbing him. Stephen Lonesome, 42, of the same address, told police the two got into an argument around 11 p.m. Thursday, and, when he tried to leave, King stabbed him in the back with what police believe was a steak knife. Lonesome drove himself to Sharon Regional Health System, where he was treated for what police said was a superficial wound. King was arrested at home and held overnight for arraignment.
Donations at concert
SALEM -- The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army will accept donations of cash and nonperishable food for Columbiana County flood victims during a concert Sunday at Ponderosa Park. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. Campers Country Productions and Ponderosa Park also will make flood relief donations based on concert tickets sold. The concert features SheDaisy, The Povertyneck Hillbillies and the local band Desperado. The concert begins at 2 p.m. Radio station Froggy 104 will do a remote broadcast before the concert begins.
Residents flee fire
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Authorities said an overloaded electrical circuit caused a fire that damaged the home of Frank and Tawny Smith at 121 S. Second St. around 5:20 a.m. today.
Fire Chief Steve Thompson said the house is occupied by the Smiths and their two daughters and that one daughter left home just minutes before a smoke detector went off, awakening the rest of the family.
They all got out safely but three dogs were left behind, Thompson said, adding that firefighters rescued all three. One of the dogs had to be revived with oxygen, he said.
Thompson traced the cause of the fire to an overloaded power strip plugged into an extension cord in a second-floor bedroom. There were too many appliances drawing power through that strip, causing the line to overheat and ignite, he said.
The bedroom suffered heavy fire damage, but the damage to the rest of the house was confined to smoke and heat, he said. There was a small amount of water damage on the first floor, he said.