Local

• William C. Everhart, the former Sharon man convicted of killing his girlfriend's 2 1/2 -year-old daughter nearly three years ago, is seeking a new trial.
  
  From a state prison cell in Albion, where he's serving a 10-to-20-year sentence, Everhart is appealing the 1995 verdict that put him there, claiming his attorney was incompetent and the jury had decided his fate before beginning deliberations. The story ran Monday.
  
  
• Specialists at Sharon Regional Health System and Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, working together, hope to take a bite out of Mercer County's heart-disease death rate.
  
  Monday, doctors at the two hospitals announced the creation of a Congestive Heart Failure Clinic, a comprehensive program to attack heart disease locally.
  
  
• At a little before midnight on Sept. 25, Matthew Raber was riding in a pickup truck on Broadway Avenue in Farrell when he saw a white car jump the curb coming off Roemer Boulevard.
  
  ``You could see the tires squealing,'' Raber told District Justice Henry J. Russo, Hermitage, Monday during a preliminary hearing for Donald Holden of 1032 Wallis Ave., Farrell. Holden is charged with homicide by vehicle in a crash in which Franklin Gordon, 39, of 304 Federal St., Farrell, died.
  
  
• Darryl Leon Cozart Sr., 33, of Sharpsville was reported missing last Sunday by his wife, borough police said Tuesday.
  
  Cozart was described as a light-skinned black man with black hair and brown eyes, 6 feet 1 1/2 inches tall and weighing 270 pounds.
  
  
• Horizon Hospital System on Tuesday announced the formation of a new partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
  
  Effective March 1, Emergency Resource Management Inc., UPMC's emergency medicine practice group, assumed responsibility for physician staff at Horizon's hospitals in Farrell and Greenville, officials said.
  
  
• Ron DiNicola is pressing the flesh again at party fund-raisers, a move, state committee members said Wednesday, that could mark the start of his as-yet-unofficial third run for Congress.
  
  DiNicola lost the Democratic primary in 1994 in his bid for the 21st District House seat. He won the nomination in 1996, but then lost to Republican Rep. Phil English of Erie, who eked out a win with 51 percent of the vote.
  
  
• Jackson Township supervisors, after hearing concerns about increased odor and pollution, approved expansion plans Wednesday night for Jackson Center's wastewater-treatment plant.
  
  The expansion, which is expected to be completed this year, is necessary to handle sewage from International Timber and Veneer Co., the first tenant in Jackson Commerce Park. The plan, which is required by the state Department of Environmental Protection, was also approved by Jackson Center council.
  
  
• Blenda Davis wonders if someone is trying to reach her almost every moment her phone is silent.
  
  The owner of Blenda's Floral Designs in Jamestown said Thursday she relies on the phone, provided by Alltel Pennsylvania Inc., for nearly all of her orders. And sales have plummeted since November because of telephone problems, she said.
  
  At a meeting Thursday, ALLTEL managers said they would work to correct the problems Ms. Davis and other customers have been having
  
  
• Hermitage teachers have decided to go on strike April 1, unhappy with the way salary negotiations have gone.
  
  Hermitage Education Association notified school district negotiators Thursday night after a bargaining session that they intend to walk off their jobs.
  
  
• Larry C. Blake, 21, of 2048 Perry Highway, Springfield Township, pleaded guilty Thursday to endangering the welfare of a child.
  
  In tones almost too quiet to hear in Judge Michael J. Wherry's courtroom, Blake pleaded guilty in the March 25, 1995, death of Brady Scott Blake. The 3-month-old died of ``inorganic failure to thrive, said Assistant District Attorney Robert Kochems.
  
  In return for Blake's guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter filed against Blake for his infant son's death.
  
  
• Sandy Lake's sewer and water customers won't be seeing their names in the newspaper, but they will face clearer, stiffer penalties for failing to pay their bills under a new policy adopted Thursday by borough council.
  
  Beginning in April, delinquent customers will pay 10 percent penalties and receive shutoff notices for bills more than 21 days late. The story ran Friday.
  
  
• Chelsea Jurczenko, a sixth-grader at Notre Dame School in Hermitage, won the ninth annual Herald Spelling Bee.
  
  Fifty-seven school champions from Mercer, Lawrence and Trumbull counties competed for nearly three hours Friday.
  
  
• Jurors deciding the capital murder case against John Santine on Friday found the Hubbard man guilty, but not guilty enough for the death penalty.
  
  Santine faced five counts, four of them with specifications, in connection with the July 7, 1995, shooting death of Ann Serafino, 66, and the critical wounding of her son, Charles Serafino, 40.
  
  
• Saying that avoiding a trial will be ``in everyone's best interests,'' Raymond J. Curc, 46, of Hubbard Township pleaded guilty Friday to a reduced charge of unlawful restraint in connection with the March 25, 1996, abduction of Mary Sue Mattocks of Conneaut Lake RD 3 from Carr's Restaurant and Pub in Crawford County, where the 32-year-old former Shenango Township woman worked.
  
  

Nation/world

• Storms last weekend claimed at least 55 lives in the Midwest and South. Tornadoes killed at least 25 people in Arkansas. High winds and floods caused by torrential rain pounded Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and Mississippi, killing at least 30 people, officials said.
  
  
• For Social Security recipients, the headlines in recent months have been jarring.
  
  Several plans have been floated that would reduce the annual cost-of-living increase in Social Security checks.
  
  
• Senate Republicans moved Tuesday to limit their investigation into 1996 presidential campaign fund-raising abuses while increasing pressure on Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel.
  
  ``The scope should be limited to illegal activities in the presidential campaigns last year'' and other related practices by the two major political parties, said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who is trying to appease GOP objections to expanding the probe into congressional races and campaign finance reform.
  
  
• A serious study that could have come straight from science fiction warned Thursday that some ``life forms'' may exist on Mars and NASA should be careful not to contaminate Earth with hostile bugs when it brings back soil samples.
  
  ``The risk is not zero,'' says the study, released Thursday by the National Research Council. It recommends that any samples be isolated ``and treated as though potentially hazardous until proven otherwise.''

Region

• There is no single way to characterize the mood that prevailed at Pennsylvania's county assistance offices on the first day of a social experiment intended to transform the welfare system.
  
  Monday in Philadelphia, a protest for welfare rights turned angry as demonstrators showed up at the state office building and then moved to a job center office, staging a sit-in and asking for jobs. They vowed to continue until every poor recipient can earn a living.
  
  

Sports

• Sixteen local wrestlers earned berths in the state tournament after strong performances at the regional tournament at Sharon High School. Commodore Perry's Josh Pearce (275) won his second regional title, while seven others notched their first crowns.
  
  Sharspville's Mike Germano (112) and Tom McMath (125), Sharon's Craig Griffin (130) and Eric Mausser (189), Reynolds' Bob Tumpak (135), Commodore Perry's Nevada Walker (145) and Jamestown's Kevin Brown (160) were all first-time winners. The story ran Sunday.
  
  
• The Kennedy Christian girls basketball team won the District 10 Class A title by beating Youngsville, 48-31. The victory gave coach Father Rick Tomasone his fifth title as the Lady Eagles' mentor. The story ran Sunday.
  
  
• Four local swimmers advanced to the state meet after strong performances at the District 10 Championships. Led by Mercer's Jeremy Sample, broke two D-10 records, taking the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.63 and the 100-yard backstroke in 53.81.
  
  Others who qualified for states were: Mercer's Jason Sample, third in the 50 freestyle (22.35) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (50.02); Reynolds' Brian Stanton tied for first in the 50 freestyle (22.35) and was third in the 100 freestyle (49.53); and Eric Mojock of Kennedy Christian who was fourth in both the 100 backstroke (56.56) and 100 butterfly (59.92).
  
  
• Farrell football standout Carlos Daniels was picked to be a member of Pennsylvania's team that will face Ohio's top players in the annual Big 33 game July 26 at Hersey.
  
  Daniels, who signed a national letter of intent to play at Wisconsin, rushed for more than 900 yards with 15 touchdowns despite missing three games with a broken bone in his foot.
  
  
• The Brookfield girls basketball team lost to Mineral Ridge Wednesday, 53-35 in the Division III Region 9 semifinals.
  
  The loss ended the Lady Warriors season as one of the top 16 teams in Ohio with a record of 17-8.
  
  
• Nine Mercer County wrestlers made it to the PIAA quarterfinals after the first day of wrestling Thursday. McMath, Griffin, Lakeview's Mike Dye, Walker, Brown, Commodore Perry's Mark Chess, Mausser, Pearce and Grove City's Joe Rendos all were winners.
  
  
• The Kennedy Christian boys basketball team upset the state's No. 1 Class A team, Clairton, in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Friday night, 56-48.
  
  Point guard Carlos Oatis led the way with 16 points as the Golden Eagles improved to 20-8.
  
  
• West Middlesex lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs. Andy Hutelmyer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored as the buzzer sounded to give Vincentian a 74-72 win in overtime.
  
  Todd Kiester scored 27 points off the bench to lead West Middlesex and Steve Bowers chipped in 19.
  
  
• The Grove City boys basketball team lost to Peters Township in the first round of the PIAA AAA playoffs Friday night, 53-41.
  
  Amos Upshaw and Luke Laird each scored 10 points for the Eagles.
  
  
• Greensburg Central Catholic, one of the top Class AA girls team in the state, thumped Lakeview 62-40 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
  
  The Lady Sailors led 15-12 after the first quarter but were no match for the last year's state runners-up. Amanda Hildebran had 18 points in the loss.
  
  
• Three wrestlers survived to make it to the finals in the state tournament. Walker, Brown and Pearce all won in the semifinals to make it to Saturday's finals.