LOCAL, REGION DIGEST

LOCAL

Dog shows set to start Thursday at fairgrounds

CANFIELD — The Steel Valley Cluster, which is made up of kennels in Beaver, Columbiana, Mahoning and Shenango counties, will have its annual dog shows from Thursday through Aug. 2 at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

Admission is $5 per vehicle, and proceeds will go toward local charities and animal-related programs.

Dogs can be entered in multiple categories, including obedience, rally obedience and junior showmanship. The judging for Best in Show will begin at 8 a.m.

The shows are sponsored by Pedigree Dog Foods and will feature more than 100 vendors of dog accessories and novelties.

For more information, visit the Steel Valley Cluster’s Web site at www.steelvalleycluster.org.

Ohio

Man kills wife, self after deputies leave

BETHESDA — A sheriff says a man shot and killed his wife and then killed himself after deputies called to calm the arguing couple had left the scene.

Sheriff Fred Thompson of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office in eastern Ohio says 68-year-old Frank Koci shot his wife, Bonnie, also 68, before shooting himself.

Thompson says deputies were called to the couple’s home Thursday afternoon after receiving a report of the couple arguing.

Thompson says deputies left after calming the couple down, but the slaying apparently happened once officers left the scene.

Frank Koci was a retired school administrator who had also worked in the recent past as a part-time police officer.

EPA approves higher dump for Columbus area

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Environmental Protection agency has approved a plan allowing a landfill serving the Columbus area to rise an additional 60 feet.

The expansion will add 3.5 million cubic yards of storage space for garbage at the Franklin County landfill and extend the dump’s life to about 30 years.

Jack Stacy, director of landfills and development at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, says the landfill would have reached its limits in about 24 years without the extra space.

The landfill is now about 80 feet tall and will become the highest point in Franklin County once it’s full.

PENNSYLVANIA

Day-care center closed

PITTSBURGH — The state has ordered the closure of a suburban Pittsburgh day-care center after officials said four toddlers were found 200 yards from the building on the side of a busy road.

The Department of Public Welfare on Thursday accused Walnut Grove Christian Day Care of West Mifflin of “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct.”

Staff/wire reports