Transportation grants

Transportation grants
Transportation programs benefiting senior citizens in Mercer and Lawrence counties are getting a boost from state and federal sources.
Both counties have been awarded combination state and federal grants to help buy vans and buses as well as communications equipment for their shared-ride programs, which provide door-to-door transportation services for older Pennsylvanians.
Mercer County is getting $89,500, and Lawrence County got approved for $88,500.
Hotel is robbed
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police said a woman robbed an Amerihost Inn Hotel clerk at gunpoint, taking about $200 in cash.
Police said the woman, carrying a revolver, entered the hotel at Interstate 79 and Pa. Route 208 in Springfield Township around 5:30 a.m. Friday and ordered the clerk to give her all the money in the cash register. She then tied the clerk to an office chair and fled.
Police said the robber was wearing blue pants, a blue hooded sweatshirt and a nylon stocking over her face.
I-80 construction
MERCER, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has awarded a $7.2 million contract to I.A. Construction Corp. of Zelienople to rebuild a portion of Interstate 80 between Mercer and Grove City.
Pavement testing will begin this week, and actual reconstruction will begin in April and be completed by the end of September 2005. Wide loads will be restricted during construction although traffic will be maintained with east- and westbound traffic both having a single lane.
The job involves the rehabilitation of the concrete road with an overlay of bituminous paving. Bridge rehabilitation is also part of the project.
Grant workshop
YOUNGSTOWN -- A free workshop on grant-seeking for those who raise funds for nonprofit organizations will be at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at the main public library meeting room, 305 Wick Ave.
Call reference information at (330) 744-8636 for reservations.
Suspect captured
YOUNGSTOWN -- After a foot chase on Scott Street, Mario Atkins, 16, of Fifth Avenue was captured by police Monday night and accused of being the armed robber of University Foods on Fifth Avenue, reports show.
The robbery took place at 9:29 p.m. When caught, Atkins had $101 on him, police said. They said they collected a BB gun that the boy tossed as he ran.
He was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face charges of aggravated robbery and resisting arrest.
Robbed in parking lot
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 48-year-old Austintown man told police he was robbed at gunpoint around 11:30 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of the Evergreen Tavern on South Avenue.
The man said he turned over $120, and the robber ordered him to leave.
The robber was identified as a black man in his mid-20s wearing black pants and a black hooded sweatshirt.
Thieves target jukebox
YOUNGSTOWN -- About 100 CDs and an undisclosed amount of cash were taken when the jukebox at Partner's Jazz Lounge on Oakhill Avenue was smashed during a break-in sometime after the bar closed at 2:30 a.m. Monday, reports show.
Metal bars and several sheets of plywood were pried off a side window.
The break-in, the latest in a series where the thieves targeted jukeboxes, was discovered at 1 p.m. Monday.
Burglary probe
YOUNGSTOWN -- The burglar alarm at Banner Supply on East Indianola Avenue sounded at 1:49 a.m. today, and when police arrived at 1:56, they discovered that a portion of the east wall siding had been cut.
Pins had been removed from the safe in a failed attempt to open it.
An inventory was expected to be done today to determine what might have been taken.