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Youth clean up this town
SHENANGO VALLEY — Some of the blighted areas of the Shenango Valley got a face-lift Saturday as teams of people took to the streets of Farrell and Sharon to clean up.
They painted over graffiti that’s marred garage walls and vacant homes in the alleys off of Morrison and Florence streets in Sharon and spruced up the exterior of the old five-and-dime shell at Idaho Street and Wallis Avenue that’s been scarred for years.
“Our whole idea was to get rid of all that graffiti because it reflects on our community,” said Terry Harrison, an outreach specialist with the Neighborhood-Based Family Intervention Center.
Harrison trucked youngsters doing community service from site to site as they painted over scrawls that included gang signs.
“It went very well,” Harrison said of the cleanup, which was sponsored by a host of Shenango Valley civic organizations, including Sharon-Farrell Weed-and-Seed, Community Action Partnership, ERASE Anti-Drug Coalition, Keystone Community Support, Mercer County Juvenile Probation, along with church groups and civic-minded volunteers.
The hope is that folks will keep the movement going and stop the spread of graffiti and blight, Harrison said.
“Neighbors were happy,” he said.
Dan Dragiceviz of Community Action Partnership said what was accomplished Saturday built on a similar event last fall, when graffiti was first painted over.
Those areas have remained clean, so Dragiceviz said the progress made Saturday really made a dent in the Valley’s graffiti problems. “The amount of graffiti in Farrell and Sharon has gone down drastically,” he said.
Sixteen-year-old Farrell volunteer Halston Harper said pitching in was a “good experience.”
He said he helped “to make Farrell look like when it was a boom city.”
As part of the cleanup, Dumpsters were also available in Farrell and Sharon for residents of each city to place their refuse.
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Cleanup planned for 2nd city neighborhood
The Irvine Avenue cleanup in Sharon was so successful that similar efforts are being planned for another part of the city.
The Sharon Beautification Commission is organizing a cleanup for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 2 for Meek Street and several surroundings streets, Sharon City Manager Tom Lavorini told council Thursday.
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Lock up vehicles, police urge
Residents should be alert for suspicious activity and keep their cars and homes locked in the wake of a recent rash of thefts from cars — some of which were left unlocked, Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Chief Riley Smoot said.
The most recent thefts were reported Wednesday in the Dogwood Lane, Oak Hill Drive and Kiwanis Road area of West Middlesex.
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Blue Streak thrills again
“It was great. What else can I say?” Dave Hahner said Thursday, just moments after taking his second ride on the Blue Streak.
That’s right. For the first time since 2006, Conneaut Lake Park’s historic roller coaster is back up and running. Once again ready, as Jack Moyers, chairman of the board of trustees of Conneaut Lake Park, put it, “to bring thrills and chills to children of all ages.”
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3 Ohio men in county jail accused of Walmart theft ring
Three Ohio men are in Mercer County Jail for allegedly running a theft ring that stole video games and systems from Walmart stores and then sold them for cash.
Thomas “Tommy” Hamilton, 42, of Ashtabula; Alex Plitt, 34, of Jefferson; and Christopher Patton, 25, address unknown, were caught Aug. 25 after hitting up Walmart stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania for at least several months, Hempfield Township patrolman Daniel McCloskey said Wednesday.
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Blue Streak may be winner
The trustees of Conneaut Lake Park have invited the media and members of American Coaster Enthusiasts to the park today, where they are expected to announce that they will be awarded $50,000 in the Pepsi Refresh contest to help refurbish the Blue Streak roller coaster.
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Funding dries up
For two decades, Farrell Mayor Olive McKeithan has been an advocate for the city and its minority community. Now, one of the programs that’s near and dear to her heart is facing a funding crunch that could cause the Minority Health/ERASE Anti-Drug Coalition to cease operations at the end of the year.
Mrs. McKeithan helped start Minority Health 16 years ago when she worked for Sharon Regional Health System. It began as a way for the hospital to educate and serve the local African-American community, and since 1994 it has offered programs geared toward improving the health of blacks in the area.
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Couple arraigned in baby’s death
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Teen’s mom in critical condition
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Cleanup planned for 2nd city neighborhood
