Local News
UPDATE: Money arrives, neighborhood improvement project started
FARRELL — Something’s afoot on Hamilton Avenue in Farrell.
Earth movers are parked near French Street. Old, cracked slate sidewalks have been removed, leveled gravel spread in its place, with wood forms that will soon be filled with cement and create a level pedestrian walkway that’s handicapped-accessible. Orange barrels cordon off the area in the first visible actions undertaken by the Sharon-Farrell Elm Street program.
“We just wanted to make a residential throughway with a unified look from one business area to another,” said planner Adrienne Gordon, who works for Community Action Partnership of Mercer County.
Ms. Gordon has spearheaded the program, which has brought about $250,000 in state cash to improve Hamilton Avenue in Farrell and South Oakland Avenue in Sharon.
The Elm Street Program has been ballyhooed by Gov. Ed Rendell as a way to revitalize decaying urban residential neighborhoods. Elm Street monies have also been used to improve Eagle Street in Greenville.
“The vision was to go from the viaduct in Sharon to the Wheatland border,” Ms. Gordon said.
It took three years for plans to be made and cash to flow for the project and the sidewalks and curbs should be finished in a few weeks, Ms. Gordon said.
“It’s awesome,” that the project has become more than words on a sheaf of papers and is now a visible work-in-progress, she said.
It’s also another piece in the puzzle that officials in Sharon and Farrell hope will produce a revitalized Shenango Valley.
“It’s just another good link to show we’re doing things in our area,” Ms. Gordon said. “We’re trying to address crime, we’re trying to improve the neighborhood.”
The improvements are being made in the heart of the federally-designated Weed-and-Seed area of the Shenango Valley that once was the heart of the local drug trade and was a high crime area.
Weed-and-Seed aims to transform said areas by “weeding” out criminals and “seeding” positive development.
While just one part of planned improvements, the work being done to the sidewalks and curbs shows something’s being done, Ms. Gordon said.
“We’re a community that’s worth moving to,” she said. “The whole thing is being able to have a plan.”
These plans keep evolving: “We keep making new ones and working off the old ones,” Ms. Gordon said.
“As long as residents are interested in changing their communities, then these programs will grow,” she said.
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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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Briefly - Sept. 1, 2010
Woman’s home burglarized for eighth time
Hearing in break-in, shooting case is off
Woman pleads not guilty to immigration charge
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Food safety advocate to be honored by Ono
A Cincinnati woman who helps run a Grove City-based food safety group is being honored for her work by Yoko Ono, who will present her with a grant in Iceland.
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Couple arraigned in baby’s death
The Greenville couple charged in the Jan. 17 death of their infant son waived their court appearances Tuesday before Mercer County Common Pleas Court President Judge Francis J. Fornelli. -
Teen’s mom in critical condition
The mother of the 17-year-old boy killed after Sunday night’s three-vehicle crash in West Salem Township remains hospitalized in critical condition.
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Cleanup planned for 2nd city neighborhood
