- Toxicology report results showed the July 4 fatal crash of an ultralight aircraft in Shenango River Lake was not related to drug or alcohol use.
All test results were negative for Joseph Kell, 28, believed to be the pilot, and Keith Brannon, 19, Mercer County Coroner J. Bradley McGonigle III said Tuesday. The aviators, both of Sharon, drowned after the aircraft plunged into the lake.
- A suspicious fire early Tuesday destroyed the vacant four-unit apartment building at 132 Clinton St., Greenville. Fire Chief Walter P. "Chad" Sankey said he would be contacting the state police fire marshal. The building is owned by James Powell, Salem Township.
- Donald Perry tried again Monday to convince Mercer Area School board that he will have the old Perry Brothers Coal Co. cleaned up and sold if eight years of unpaid property taxes can be forgiven.
But the school board took no action on the request concerning the Jefferson Township coal tipple. The story ran Tuesday.
- Ronald Fuller, 23, of Sharon, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of criminal homicide, burglary, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon and possession of an instrument of crime in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
That court date was postponed, District Attorney James P. Epstein said, so his office can decide whether to seek the death penalty for Fuller. He is accused in the May 30 shooting death of Jeremy Farrand, 13, of Sharon.
- Steve Bertolasio, 57, of Pymatuning Township, faces attempted murder and other charges after allegedly attacking his wife, Cheryl, with a hammer Tuesday in their 1902 Park Lane home. Mrs. Bertolasio suffered head injuries in the attack that had her in serious condition at St. Elizabeth's Health Center, Youngstown.
- Drought problems are far worse elsewhere in Pennsylvania but dry conditions are affecting Mercer County farmers and well owners, too.
The story ran Thursday.
- Child support payments will be made to, and distributed from, central Domestic Relations offices in Harrisburg beginning next month.
The big changes in the way Mercer County Domestic Relations does business are the result of the state's 67 county departments being tied into state computers, said Rand P. Nikoloff, director of Mercer County Domestic Relations.
The story ran Thursday.
- Hermitage residents, after seeing what a standardized dress code would look like on students, spoke their minds on the subject Thursday. The general consensus: It's a bad idea.
A majority of the roughly 300 people in attendance at a fashion show-public meeting said they are against the idea of putting students in similar mix-and-match outfits, favoring enforcement of the current dress code instead. Only a few backed the proposal.
- Cooper Energy Services Reciprocating Products officials blamed rock-bottom oil prices and a shift in industrial buying habits in announcing Thursday that the company will close its Grove City plant which will result in 221 workers losing their jobs.
Plans call for the plant to phase out its operations over nine to 15 months, said Robert G. Rafferty, director of human resources for Cooper.
Cooper produced massive reciprocating engines used to pump oil and natural gas through pipelines.
- Hermitage and Sharon school districts were granted on Friday an extra week -- until Tuesday -- to register opposition to the licensing of the proposed Shenango Valley Regional Charter School.
Sharon school solicitor Mark Longietti has until Aug. 4 to present findings of fact in the case.
The story ran Saturday.
- New jury questionnaires, ordered by the state Supreme Court to give judges and lawyer information about potential jurors, are confusing the jurors and causing headaches for those in the court system here and across the state, according to a Saturday story.
- A disorderly conduct citation filed in June against William Clair Putnam, 20, of Sandy Lake, the man arrested on June 4 for appearing outside Lakeview High School with a black trench coat, jester's hat and face paint, was withdrawn by the district attorney's office.
The evidence presented did not fit the charge, said Lorinda Hinch, first assistant district attorney.
The story ran Saturday.
Published Sunday, July 25, 1999 