Herald staff
May 14, 2008 09:29 pm
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Gunman robs women at Hermitage business
HERMITAGE — Someone robbed two female employees at gunpoint about 10 p.m. Tuesday at a business in the 2400 block of East State Street, police said.
A black male between the ages of 40 and 50 pulled a car up next to the women while they were walking to their cars after closing the store, police said.
He pointed a gun at the women and demanded they give him their purses and the night deposit bag. After the women did as he asked, the man drove away, police said.
Neither woman was hurt, police said. Police did not say how much money the man took.
Police said the car the robber was driving was found a short time later behind the plaza near Cinema 8 Theater and it was stolen from Sharon.
Sharon police said the car was stolen between 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. from the parking lot at the American Legion on East State Street.
Penn State-Shenango gets scholarship funding
SHARON — The Penn State Alumni Association has pledged a gift of $2.1 million to support students across the university, including those at the Shenango Campus.
In support of the university’s new fundraising drive, “For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students,” the gift will establish 35 Penn State Alumni Association Trustee Scholarships, each endowed at $50,000 in 12 colleges, at 20 campuses, and three additional undergraduate units.
Trustee Scholarships are based on financial need and awarded to students who typically come from families whose household income is below $40,000.
The $2.1 million pledge will be paid over seven years, at the rate of about $300,000 per year.
The first $50,000 payments for six Penn State Alumni Association Trustee Scholarships will be made in 2008-09 and will go to: Penn State Shenango, Penn State DuBois, Penn State Fayette, Penn State Schuylkill, Division of Undergraduate Studies and the Office of Educational Equity.
The campuses were chosen because they have the highest proportion of students who qualify for Trustee Scholarships.
Housing authority sets $3.5 million budget
MERCER COUNTY — Mercer County Housing Authority members Wednesday approved a 2008-2009 budget of about $3.5 million.
The authority estimated the Federal Housing and Urban Development department subsidy at 85 percent of what they’re entitled to, Executive Director L. DeWitt Boosel said. The amount won’t be known until the federal budget is passed.
The spending plan is about $18,000 less than this year’s and includes $1.68 million for administration, $48,000 for resident expenses, $541,000 for utilities, $958,000 for maintenance and $14,500 for security.
The budget includes a 2-percent raise for staff members across the board, Boosel said. A deficit of about $10,000 is anticipated at the end of the fiscal year, he said, but there are sufficient funds in reserves to cover it.
This will be the first full year the authority has operated under an asset management system, as is now required by HUD, Boosel said.
The new requirement means that the authority must operate with seven separate budgets — six for groups of housing communities and one for the central office.
The authority also recently learned it’s been awarded $1.24 million for capital improvements next year, a $66,000 increase over this year’s funding, Boosel said.
Senior housing turned down for more units
HERMITAGE — A Mercer County Housing Authority funding application for 20 more units at Carol S. Gurrera Village in Hermitage was turned down for a third time, officials said Wednesday.
Authority Executive Director L. DeWitt Boosel said the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency turned down their request for funding for more senior housing again.
“That wasn’t good news, but we haven’t given up,” Boosel told board members at a meeting.
There are 40 apartments in the complex now and Boosel said the authority will analyze the application and see if they need to go down a different road or seek other funding. Boosel said they won’t be able to apply again until the fall.
Liquor agents uncover underage alcohol sales
MERCER COUNTY — State Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers found underage drinkers in 70 percent of the businesses where they conducted age compliance checks last month in Mercer and Lawrence counties, a news release from the agency reports.
District Enforcement Office 8 agents conducted 333 investigations and made 182 visits to licensed businesses in April, the release said. The district oversees bars, restaurants and distributors.
They conducted 11 age-compliance checks and found eight businesses served underage buyers, the office said.
Fifteen citations and eight warnings were issued to those agents said were violating liquor laws. District officers made no arrests and no alcohol was seized, according to the release.
Staff and local reports
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