METRO DIGEST || Friday dessert/dance to benefit animals

Benefit for animals

NEW castle, pa.

A dance to benefit Lawrence County Animal Relief Fund is from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday at Cascade Park Pavilion. Tickets are $10 per person and include coffee and dessert. People 21 and older can bring their own bottle. The Dorals will play the oldies.

224 closed today

POLAND

U.S. Route 224 just west of the Pennsylvania state line will remain closed through 5 p.m. today, for excavation and road repairs. The road originally was scheduled to open Wednesday, but that was delayed because of Tuesday’s inclement weather. The work is part of a $500,000 project to resurface U.S. Route 224 near Stymie Road. It is scheduled to be completed by late October.

34 pints donated

BOARDMAN

The Hannah Walton Bone Marrow Screening and Replenishment Blood Drive on Tuesday at Boardman Township Government Center resulted in 34 units of blood being donated and 13 people joining a national registry for bone marrow donors. The event benefited Hannah Walton, 19, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia shortly after she graduated from Boardman High School in June.

Divas and Angels

NORTH LIMA

Two nonprofit organizations located in the North Lima Business Complex will have an open house at 4 p.m. Saturday. Visitors can learn about Adopt an Angel and Diva Donations at 11836 South Ave., the former South Range Elementary School, and can purchase refreshments or raffle tickets for prizes to benefit the two groups.

Adopt an Angel assists with various organizations and projects, such as sending members of the military toiletries and letters and helping pets awaiting adoption in rescues. Diva Donations serves as a lending closet to provide formal attire to local teens in need.

Atheists win

GROVE CITY, Pa. (AP)

An atheists group based in Wisconsin says the school board here has decided to replace a pre-meeting spoken prayer with a moment of silence after the group threatened to sue. Superintendent Richard Mextorf said Wednesday the board voted 7-2 at a meeting last week to change the policy in the Grove City Area School District. The board in June at first refused to change the policy after the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., threatened to sue. Mextorf says the school board relented after he and the district’s solicitor researched court opinions that suggested the district likely would lose a lawsuit defended with taxpayers’ money.

The school district is home to Grove City College, a conservative Christian school and several like-minded churches.

Meeting today

Youngstown

Youngstown City Council will have a meeting at 3 p.m. today to discuss Phase I of the Operations Efficiency Report.

Man killed in crash

WEATHERSFIELD

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal car crash along Four Mile Run Road here. The patrol told 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, that a man driving a car struck a truck parked on the side of the roadway about 6 p.m. Wednesday. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured.