Metro digest
LOCAL
Power outage strikes Austintown lunchtime
AUSTINTOWN — A power outage struck at lunchtime on Black Friday in the township.
A police dispatcher said Friday evening that police had no idea what caused the outage. Quite a few traffic lights were out, he said.
The dispatcher said the only parts of the township unaffected by the outage were the northwest and southwest.
OHIO
Hospitals brace for new franchise fee
COLUMBUS — Ohio hospitals, which have been cutting staff and medical services amid the recession, are bracing for a new state fee that begins Monday.
The new franchise fee is based on a percentage of operating expenses at each hospital. It is expected to raise $718 million to help balance the state budget.
Federal money will help offset most of the cost because hospitals will be partially reimbursed with higher Medicaid payments. But hospitals will have to find a way to cover the remaining $145 million.
A lot of sacrifices and hard choices had to be made during the state budget process in order to not raise taxes for individual Ohioans, said Allison Kolodziej, spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Strickland.
Boy dies after hit-and-run
TOLEDO — The coroner’s office says a teen boy has died after being hit by a pickup truck as he tried to walk across a busy Toledo street.
Authorities say Jonathan Dotson, 13, of Toledo, had head injuries after being hit Tuesday evening and died Thursday at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center.
Deputy Lucas County Coroner Diane Barnett says a report shows the boy was hit by a car, with the impact sending him in front of another vehicle.
She says the report shows the first vehicle fled.
PENNSYLVANIA
Bulgaria refusing to extradite parent of boy
ERIE — Federal prosecutors say Bulgarian authorities have refused to extradite a man accused of kidnapping his 13-year-old son.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Trabold, of Erie, says he’s not sure what the government will do next in the case of 34-year-old Chad Zachary Hower.
Hower, who used to live in Edinboro and Titusville in northwestern Pennsylvania, says he has a valid court order from Knox County, Tenn., giving him custody of the boy and permission to travel abroad with him.
Motorcycle cop collides with car in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH — A police officer is injured after his motorcycle crashed.
Irwin Acting Police Chief Joseph Pocsatko says North Huntingdon police Officer Carl Steinkopf Jr. was on patrol Wednesday night on Route 30 when the accident occurred.
Steinkopf was flown to Allegheny General Hospital. The police chief says the officer may have a broken wrist.
Investigators say the officer’s motorcycle collided with a car that was making a turn out of a Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 30. The driver wasn’t hurt, but a passenger suffered minor injuries.
Staff/wire reports