Local News
UPDATE: River Watchers review past year
Honor partners at annual dinner
SHARON — When Shenango River Watchers asked Tom Mowery, owner of Mowery Trucking and Excavating in Jamestown, to donate some of his time and equipment to their annual Earth Day cleanup in April, they didn’t doubt that he would be willing. What they didn’t expect was that he would start to clean up the river the day before Earth Day.
It was that kind of dedication that led the board to select Mowery as the group’s Business Friend of the River for 2009.
At the annual banquet at Shenango Civic Center in Sharon on Saturday, Hugh Clark, a River Watchers board member, said Mowery has donated his time and equipment to help maintain the beauty of the Shenango River.
“If he was paid for all the time he’s given us for free, he could retire,” Clark said.
Mowery was recognized along with Robert Downing, who owns property along the Shenango in Hermitage and Sharpsville, and lets local residents use his land to gain access to the river.
The River Watchers are a local non-profit group which organizes cleanups, promotes access to the Shenango, provides scholarships to high school students who wish to study environmental issues in college, and has built several canoe launches.
They cover the Shenango River Watershed, which stretches across six counties.
Don Clowes, River Watchers president, said the Individual Friend of the River award given to Downing traditionally has been awarded to someone who takes a lot of time to volunteer with the group.
“It was a slightly different take this year,” he said.
Clowes said that Downing was recognized for allowing people to use his property to get access to the river, but also restricting access in order to prevent illegal dumping and keep the river clean.
“He’s been a good steward of the shoreline,” Clowes said.
Both Downing and Mowery said they didn’t feel they deserved an award, they just felt the were doing the right thing.
“This is the first time I’ve been given an award for doing something for free,” Mowery said after he was presented with a plaque.
Later he said, “I don’t expect anything, I just want to go out there and help the community.”
Downing felt much the same.
“I don’t feel that I’m doing anything special,” he said. “I just maintain the property in a clean and environmentally friendly way, and leave it open to people.”
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
