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Outage cancels YSU events
By Denise Dick
youngstowN
An animal is believed to be to blame for a power outage that canceled classes and activities at Youngs-town State University on Friday afternoon.
The outage also affected St. Elizabeth Health Center, although a generator keeps power running throughout the hospital.
“It just clicks right over to generator power,” said Tina Creighton, a St. E’s spokeswoman.
The outage occurred around 1:30 p.m. Friday and lasted about three hours. All activities will resume as scheduled today.
Ron Cole, a YSU spokesman, said the outage affected the whole campus, prompting the cancellation of classes and activities, including the Relay for Life event and the coaches’ football clinic.
The Relay for Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, was to run Friday evening through Saturday afternoon at YSU’s Beeghly Center. It will be rescheduled.
It was to be the first Relay event this year. Relays run most weekends through July.
David H. Turner, Ohio Edison area manager for Mahoning and Columbiana counties, said only YSU and St. E’s were affected.
It appeared that an animal on one of the lines leading to YSU’s power system caused the problem, he said.
The line was on Arlington Avenue.
Such outages increase this time of year, Turner said.
“It’s that season,” he said. “We see a bit of a spike in animal-related outages like this.”
Jack Fahey, YSU’s interim vice president for student affairs, said the outage resulted in some people being stuck in elevators at the M1 parking deck and in Cushwa Hall. Those people were rescued quickly, he said, and no one was injured.