Local

• Seconds after finding his wife stabbed to death on the floor of their home, Thomas Dryfuse realized that he didn't hear the voices of his two daughters or their young cousin.
  
  He ran first to one bedroom, then another, before finding a grisly sight on the bathroom floor.
  
  Thomas Kimbell, 36, Ellwood City, the family's alleged killer, faces the death penalty for the 1994 murders of Bonnie Lou Dryfuse, her two young daughters and their cousin in a trial that began Monday.
  
  The prosecution rested after two witnesses Friday collaborated the testimony Thursday of another witness who said that Kimbell had confessed to the murders.
  
  
• The U.S. Small Business Administration has declared the burned-out Hermitage Square Shopping Center an economic disaster and provided small business loan applications to store owners Tuesday and Wednesday at Hermitage Volunteer Fire Station on Highland Road.
  
  
• Another month came and went without the Mercer County Prison Board deciding what to do about the county jail's overcrowding problem. Meanwhile, the problem continues to grow.
  
  In his monthly report, Warden Jeffrey P. Gill said the 114-bed facility logged 174 commitments in March and 172 releases. The story ran Tuesday.
  
  
• In the courthouse rotunda, trumpeters from Mercer High School band gave a flourish Tuesday as John G. ``Jerry'' Johnson on Tuesday heralded the kickoff of Mercer County's bicentennial.
  
  While the county's 200th birthday is March 12, 2000, the Bicentennial Commission wanted to get citizens involved early in creating the celebration.
  
  
• A Hermitage man waded into the Shenango River near High Street about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and got his limit of trout, as well as the river.
  
  The fisherman, 42-year-old Greg Flack, needed help getting back to shore when the water rose about a foot _ to about 41/2 feet deep _ and currents became strong.
  
  
• A Farrell man, arrested last month by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, is awaiting trial in Los Angeles on drug charges.
  
  Ramon Wright, 30, formerly of Farrell, was arrested March 10 and charged with transportation of drugs for sale, police said. Wright is being held by the sheriff's department after he failed to post $1 million bond following a preliminary hearing last week. The story ran Thursday.
  
  
• A Greene Township man will spend 10 days in Mercer County Jail as a result of a plea bargain on charges that he attacked Jamestown Police Chief David Rankin in Rankin's home.
  
  Walter Gramsky, 49, and his wife, Anne Marie Gramsky, 23, pleaded guilty to defiant trespass during a hearing Thursday before District Justice William L. Fagley, Greenville. Mercer County District Attorney's Office agreed to withdraw charges of burglary, simple assault and making terroristic threats originally filed against the Gramskys.
  
  Court documents said Gramsky believed that Rankin was having an affair with his wife.
  
  
• State audits of 1994-95 and 1995-96 financial records claim Greenville Area School District missed out on $6,800. State Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. said Greenville school officials underbilled other school districts for students living outside Greenville Area School District who attend Greenville schools. He also said Greenville underreported health costs for state reimbursements.
  
  However, in a story Saturday, the district told Casey's office that it believed it was following the correct procedures when the paperwork was done

Nation/world

• The House is set to move this week on a bill that could reduce interest rates on college loans.
  
  At the same time, the measure represents a compromise with bankers, who threatened to drop out of the government's Guaranteed Student Loan program if interest rates went too low. The story ran Thursday.
  
  
• Drawing pointed parallels between Watergate and his own executive privilege battle in his investigation of President Clinton, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said Friday a president ``must give way'' and turn over evidence unless national security is at stake. The White House counters that a president needs to be able to have confidence that he can seek confidential advice from his aides without risk of it being disclosed

Region

• Colleagues and pupils of slain teacher John Gillette returned to school Monday to deal with their grief.
  
  Gillette, 48, was fatally shot April 24 at a school dance he had organized for eighth-graders. A 14-year-old student, Andrew Wurst, has been charged with the killing and remains in Erie County Jail.
  
  
• Two sixth-graders who compiled a hit list to kill seven classmates have been pulled out of class to undergo psychological counseling, according to school officials.
  
  Central Cambria School district officials met with parents Wednesday night to discuss the threats made by the 12-year-olds, who teachers had described as good students.
  
  
• State lawmakers voted Thursday to give public schools an opportunity to reduce property taxes and give local voters more say in deciding how much they want to spend to support their schools.
  
  Legislation enacted by the House and Senate allows schools to lessen reliance on property taxes and make up lost revenues by levying an existing income tax at a higher rate. The Senate voted 27-23 and the House voted 140-53 to pass the bill.
  
  

Sports

• Greenville boys and Wilmington girls track teams won Girard Invitational titles. Greenville won the 14-team boys' crown with 110 points, led by double-winner Dennis DiRaimondo in the 1600- and 3200-meter run _ establishing a meet record in the former. Wilmington won the girls' title with 114 points, led by Inge Jorgensen, who established meet marks in the discus and javelin. The story appeared in Sunday's Herald.