Touring Vallourec Star

Touring Vallourec Star

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, today will visit the Mahoning Valley to tour Vallourec Star, a steel-pipe plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Brown will meet with the plant’s workers and discuss “the importance of cracking down on China’s steel overcapacity,” according to a news release.

Help for seniors

YOUNGSTOWN

Beginning this fall, Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services will come to Mahoning and Trumbull counties, as well as locations in Pennsylvania.

Seniors Helping Seniors matches caregivers who understand the aging process with individuals in need of assistance to continue living independently.

Services include companionship, light housekeeping, cooking, shopping, assistance with personal care, light handyman services, pet care, medication reminders and other nonmedical tasks.

Seniors Helping Seniors serves 200 locations in the U.S., United Kingdom and Malta, and is already in available in other Ohio communities.

For information, visit seniorcareshenangovalley.com.

Seattle bans plastic straws, some utensils

SEATTLE

Looking for a plastic straw to sip your soda? It’s no longer allowed in Seattle bars and restaurants. Neither are plastic utensils in a push to reduce marine plastic pollution. Businesses that sell food or drinks won’t be allowed to offer the plastic items under a rule that went into effect Sunday.

Seattle is believed to be the first major U.S. city to ban single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service. Seattle Public Utilities says a 2008 ordinance has phased out various plastic products from the food industry. Businesses can use compostable utensils, straws and cocktail picks.

Stabbed at birthday party, girl, 3, dies

BOISE, Idaho

A 3-year-old Idaho girl who was stabbed at her own birthday party died Monday, two days after a man invaded the celebration and attacked nine people with a knife, authorities said.

Timmy Kinner is accused of stabbing a group of children and the adults who tried to protect them at the party at an apartment complex that is home to many refugee families.

Word of the child’s death came at Kinner’s first court appearance, where Ada County Magistrate Judge Russell Comstock told him he was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the Saturday night attack. Kinner is American, and the victims are members of refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia.

Close-ups of Ceres

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is sending back incredible close-ups of the dwarf planet Ceres.

The spacecraft has been circling Ceres since 2015. In June, it reached its lowest orbit yet, skimming the surface from just 22 miles up.

The latest pictures released Monday offer unprecedented views of a huge impact crater known for its bright salty deposits. Landslides are clearly visible on the rim.

Staff/wire reports