Woman accused of making threats with knife



GREENVILLE – A Greenville woman has been charged with aggravated assault for trying to stab her boyfriend Thursday night in her home, police said.

A juvenile who witnessed the attack called Greenville-West Salem Township police at 9:10 to report a domestic dispute at an East Avenue home.

Wendy Thrasher, 37, had been arguing with her boyfriend and threw a metal lid at him, police said. She then allegedly came at him with a knife, saying she was going to kill him.

No one was hurt, police said.

Ms. Thrasher was charged with aggravated and simple assault, making terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct, police said.

Sprinkler break floods part of Bentley House



HERMITAGE — A broken sprinkler Friday afternoon flooded part of the Bentley House assisted living center in Hermitage, rendering about 12 rooms uninhabitable, said Hermitage Fire Chief Robert S. Goeltz.

Some residents’ family members were being notified to pick up their loved ones, he said.

Bentley House employees declined to comment and referred calls to the corporate office of Assisted Living Concepts Inc. in Menomonee, Wis. A message left there was not returned.

Goeltz said the center at 2400 Garden Way has a dry pipe sprinkler system. Sometimes, water leaks into the pipes and can freeze, such as in an attic, causing a break, he said.

The break occurred in the rear of the building and caused two ceilings to fall in, he said.

A city inspector visited the site and confirmed that only part of the building can be used, Goeltz said.

The center normally has about 60 residents, he said.

The American Red Cross and other assistance was offered, but Goeltz said he did not know if the help was accepted.

Factory stores powerless for several hours



SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP – More than a dozen stores at Prime Outlets at Grove in Springfield Township found themselves without electricity Thursday night due to a utility equipment failure.

The outage struck just before 5 p.m. when a piece of Pennsylvania Power Co. equipment failed and caught on fire, said Bart Spagnola, an area manager for the utility. About 18 of the 150 stores at the outlet mall were without power, he added.

The equipment was replaced and power was restored just after 8:30 p.m.

Man will face court in child assault case



SHARON — A Hermitage man agreed Friday to let charges of indecent assault and corruption of a Sharon boy proceed to Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Glenn Eldon Fox, 57, of 935 Maple Drive, is accused of having indecent contact with the boy, now 13, on repeated occasions over three years at Fox’s former home on North Oakland Avenue in Sharon

He was picked up on the charges Jan. 14 at his home in Hermitage.

The charges were stipulated to court before Senior District Judge Henry Russo, Sharon. Fox was released from Mercer County Jail after posting bond.

Town hall meeting to tackle local issues



SHARON — Community Action Partnership of Mercer County is hosting a town meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday to discuss issues facing the community.

The meeting opens at 5 p.m. with networking, surveys and refreshments. Presentations by the partnership’s staff begin at 5:30 p.m. and a question-and-answer session starts at 6 p.m. with a panel of code officers, police chiefs and mayors from the Shenango Valley.

The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Sharon city building on Connelly Boulevard.

Cops: Atlantic woman bilked by fake grandson



ATLANTIC — State police say two Pennsylvania grandmothers have lost a combined $18,000 by wiring money to Canada, thinking it was going to pay their grandsons’ legal fees.

Police aren’t identifying the women, a 68-year-old from Atlantic, Crawford County, and the other, 88, from Springfield Township, York County.

Police say the York County woman wired nearly $12,000 after a man claiming to be her grandson called her on Jan. 8 and 9 to say he had been arrested and jailed in Quebec. The other woman sent a man $6,000 when he called her claiming to be arrested earlier this week.

State police have not said how the callers managed to fool the women. Police have not arrested anyone in either case.

Police: Catholic school volunteer took about $340,000



NEW CASTLE — A volunteer fundraiser for a Catholic grade school in western Pennsylvania has been charged with stealing about $340,000 in cash and gift cards.

So far, only 50-year-old August Santillo is charged with stealing from his hometown church, St. Vitus Parish of New Castle. But state police say they expect to arrest others.

Police say Santillo stole more than $255,000 and nearly $85,000 in Giant Eagle supermarket gift cards. They say he bought jewelry and a new car with the money while coordinating a fundraising program for the parish’s school since 2001.

Santillo has declined comment on the charges.

Church officials alerted police after an audit last year.