Local News
Widow sues Tri-County over wreck
TRUMBULL COUNTY — The widow of a truck driver who was killed in 2007 after the garbage truck he was driving got hung up on a highway overpass in Trumbull County and flipped over is suing his former employer.
In the lawsuit, Angela C. Cross of Mercer, alleges Tri-County Industries either removed or failed to maintain equipment that would have let her husband, Raymond F. Cross, know the hydraulic hoist that smashed into the overpass was still up.
Mrs. Cross’ lawsuit was filed this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against Tri-County Industries Inc., Vogel Disposal Service Inc., Vogel Holding Inc., and an unknown corporation associated with those companies.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Cross’ “untimely death was a direct and proximate result of the intentional and tortuous conduct of Tri-County Industries, who maintained the truck in a hazardous condition, and under hazardous circumstances.”
A representative of Tri-County Industries did not return calls seeking comment.
The complaint states the company either removed, or failed to maintain a system which would have warned the driver when the hydraulic hoist was not fully down, they knew the driver was operating the vehicle under dangerous conditions, and that if the trucks were maintained in their present condition, they knew there was the strong possibility of a driver being injured or killed.
Mr. Cross, who was 45, was killed after the hydraulic hoist of the truck he was driving struck the Niles-Vienna Road overpass over Route 11 in Vienna Township, and flipped the vehicle upside down.
Surveillance video from a security camera near the Eastwood Mall in Niles showed the Mack truck Mr. Cross was driving had the hydraulic hoist in an upright position at 4:20 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2007. According to police, the accident took place at 5:30 a.m., and happened just five miles from the Eastwood Mall complex.
The bridge was heavily damaged as a result of the crash, and Route 11 had to be closed for five days while the Niles Vienna Road overpass was demolished by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The bridge remained closed until the spring of 2008.
The accident involved three other vehicles, but there were no other life-threatening injuries.
Mrs. Cross has requested a trial by jury, and is seeking $25,000 worth of damages to cover the costs of the funeral services, the loss of expected income from her husband, and for the suffering of mental anguish after the accident.
- Local News
-
-
Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
-
Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
-
City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
-
Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
-
Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
-
City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
-
Near-complete addition to let man come home
Although the weather delayed the start of Penny and Paul Strechansky’s construction project by about three weeks, the end of the sawing, hammering and stapling is in sight.
“It should be done by the middle of next week,” Strechansky said of the 15-by-20 foot addition being built onto the back of his garage in Hermitage, which will be the new home of his grandson, David Johnson.
Johnson was critically injured in a car crash June 19, 2009, on what is now Interstate 376 in Lawrence County. The crash rendered Johnson, who just turned 21, blind and brain damaged. He is unable to care for himself.
-
Man prison-bound for role in drug buy shooting
It may never be known for certain who fired the two fatal shots that killed a Sharon teen on Nov. 6 on Wallis Avenue during a botched drug deal, prosecutors have said.
But Christopher Swogger, 24, Sharon, was fingered by at least one other suspect as the one whose bullets killed John B. Hosey III, 18, of 422 Meek St. Swogger was sentenced Monday.
Swogger was sent to prison for 1 1/2 to 3 years for having a firearm without a license, ending his role in the criminal prosecutions of the drug deal turned shooting.
-
Farrell, Sharon to revisit merger
Times are tough.
In Farrell Monday night, city council heard a grim financial report from City Manager LaVon Saternow.
“It’s not a pretty picture,” Mrs. Saternow said. “We could conceivably run out of cash by the end of the year. I don’t know how to put it more bluntly.”
- More Local News Headlines
-
Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
