LOCAL

LOCAL

Green Team to present Incredible Edible Landfill

NORTH LIMA — Kim Lewis of the Mahoning County Green Team will present the Incredible Edible Landfill program at 1 p.m. Friday at Woodworth Park in Beaver Township.

Using a model landfill, Lewis will explain landfill diversion and the importance of practicing the “3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.”

After the presentation, participants will enjoy an edible landfill that consists of ice cream and other tasty treats.

The free program is being presented as part of the Mahoning County Green Team’s collaborative effort with Beaver Township to promote an awareness of recycling in the community.

Woodworth Park is on Luther Avenue, off East Western Reserve Road between Market Street and Southern Boulevard.

For more information about the Green Team program or other events at township parks, contact the Beaver Township Park Board at (330) 549-9552.

OHIO

Colleges giving leeway in tuition to veterans

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s public colleges are giving a break to veterans whose tuition payments under the new GI Bill have been delayed.

About 250 of the 300 veterans attending Ohio State University have yet to receive their payments for tuition, books and living expenses under the post-Sept. 11 GI Bill because of a national backlog. Classes started Wednesday.

Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut says no veteran who receives GI Bill benefits will be assessed a late fee. Veterans will also be able to attend classes even if the colleges aren’t receiving any money.

Since May 1, the Veterans Affairs department has said that nearly 290,000 claims for benefits have been filed under the new GI Bill, and about a quarter of those are pending. The average processing time is 34 days.

Foreign languages more foreign to US students

CINCINNATI — American students are falling far behind their international counterparts in learning second languages, creating economic disadvantages for U.S. businesses and raising national security concerns.

Virtually all European and Asian elementary students study a second language. But 97 percent of Ohio and Kentucky students do not because their schools don’t offer it.

The Committee for Economic Development says U.S. companies lose an estimated $2 billion each year because of employees’ inadequate language skills and poor cultural competence.

A RAND Corp. survey of 16 of the largest global corporations found most to be highly critical of U.S. college graduates’ foreign language skills.

Language experts say the U.S. approach to language education has been too late and too disjointed.

PENNSYLVANIA

Couple to celebrate 49th despite lack of documents

WILMORE — A couple still plan to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary next month, even though they recently learned their marriage paperwork was never filed.

Frank and Betty Skrout were married Oct. 6, 1960 at a Catholic church in Wilmore, where they still live. The tiny borough is in Cambria County, about 55 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The couple learned of the problem when Betty Skrout recently applied for pension benefits and was told she was still listed as single.

The couple learned the priest who married them never filed a “return of marriage” document with the county, proving that he performed the ceremony.

Man, 63, killed by car south of Pittsburgh

MONONGAHELA — Police are investigating the death of a 63-year-old man who was struck and killed by a car along a highway in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Carroll Township police and the Washington County coroner have yet to release the name of the victim who died shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday.

Police say the man was killed near the entrance of the Monongahela Valley Hospital on Route 837.

Police have not filed criminal charges against the driver of the vehicle that hit the man.

Man jailed after armed standoff ends

MONONGAHELA — A man has been jailed on charges he fired a gun in the southwestern Pennsylvania house where his girlfriend and her two children live, prompting a seven-hour standoff with police.

Twenty-seven-year-old Todd Sawicky is in the Washington County Jail Sunday on charges of reckless endangerment and firing a gun in an occupied structure.

Carroll Township police say Sawicky’s ex-girlfriend called them about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. That’s when police say Sawicky went to the woman’s home to get a gun he owned. The woman had kicked Sawicky out of the house earlier in the week.

Staff/wire reports