Local

• Mercer Area School Board seems to have had a change of heart on a request to forgive delinquent taxes on an old coal tipple in Jefferson Township. The school board Monday approved 5-3 businessman Donald Perry's request for tax abatement on eight years of taxes owed on the old Perry Brothers Coal Co. property along U.S. Route 62. In June, the board denied the request in a 6-3 vote.

• A Pennsylvania man responsible for the death of Laura Boyles, 15, of Perry Township, in a Canadian boating accident July 27, was sentenced last week to 2 months probation and ordered to donate $500 to a memorial fund for the girl. Miles Jablonski, 68, of Mountain Top, Pa., pleaded guilty to violating the Canadian Shipping Act. The story ran Wednesday.

• Brookfield residents gathered Wednesday at the township building to look over the draft of a comprehensive plan commissioned by trustees and questioned its quality after noting grammatical and typographical errors, out-of-date data and missing pages. The draft is the work of Pro-Con Enterprises, Youngstown.

• A Morrisdale, Pa., man has been in Mercer County Jail since Tuesday after police stopped him for driving a car stolen from a man who was killed in Centre County. Heath Gordon Quick, 20, was arraigned on drug possession and receiving stolen property charges.

  The body of Oscar David Camargo, 19, of Ferguson Township near State College, was found Tuesday evening; he had been shot twice in the neck and rolled down a steep hill.

  Stories ran Thursday and Friday.

• The state's first charter school may have violated state law by failing to require at last 75 percent of its teachers to have state certifications, among other shortcomings, Auditor General Robert P. Casey said for a story published Friday.

  Mike Gentile, chief administrative officer of Keystone Education Center in West Salem Township, said the audit represented the school's first year of operation and most of the audit's findings have been addressed.

• A Hermitage School Board member has agreed to stay out of the investment business after his investment clubs lost a total of $127,879 on stocks in just two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a story published Friday.

  Bernard J. Krispinsky, 52, a retired Sharon High gym teacher, had been sued by the SEC, which alleged that he lied to members of the seven clubs.

Nation/world

• High-rise apartment buildings were knocked off foundations and roads buckled into waves of asphalt when a powerful earthquake struck Taiwan Tuesday, killing more than 2,100 people. With a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, the quake was the strongest to hit Taiwan in a decade.

• The Senate's Y2K panel, in its 100-day countdown report, predicted Wednesday the nation will survive the new year with some inconveniences but no major problems.

Region

• James Philomena, former Mahoning County prosecutor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking bribes in a case-fixing scheme linked to Youngstown mob boss Lenny Strollo. Under a plea deal Philomena faces 4 years in prison.

Sports

Thiel College football team posted a 21-7 victory over Kenyon College, marking the first time in three decades the Greenville-based school's football program began a season with a 3-0 record. The story appeared in Sunday's Herald.
• Jeff Bayuk, former Kennedy Christian High student-athlete and now the head football coach at Hubbard High, returned to his alma mater and his Eagles posted a 21-0 victory, as reported in Sunday's paper.

• Jessica Yourema, Hickory High golfer, shot 106 on the opening day of the annual District 10 Championships, thereby qualifying for the second day of play at Erie's Lawrence Park. Yourema, who ultimately did not qualify for the PIAA Championships, was the lone Mercer Countian to make the first-day cut. The stories were published in Tuesday and Wednesday's editions.

• Kennedy Christian High golf team recorded its 59th consecutive Mercer County Athletic Conference dual-match victory via a 185-220 rout of Reynolds, as reported in Wednesday's paper.

• Grove City High girls volleyball team improved to 6-0 on the campaign with a 15-8, 15-12, 15-0 sweep of Kennedy Christian, led by Tiffany O'Neil and Trish Krantz. Results were published in Thursday's paper.

• Grove City High soccer team, the two-time defending Mercer County Athletic Conference titlist, improved to 7-0 after a 3-0 win over previously-unbeaten Kennedy in a circuit showdown. The story was published in Friday's Herald.

• Sharpsville and Wilmington football teams each improved to 4-0 on the season with respective 60-0 and 48-6 wins over Lakeview and Mercer. Sharon also notched an impressive 24-0 victory over traditional power Youngstown Ursuline. Results were reported in Saturday's paper.