The Tribune-Democrat
WINDBER —
Windber VFW Post 4795 has established a drop-off bin for collecting worn or otherwise unusable U.S. flags.
The bin is located outside the front entrance of the post home at 1420 Graham Ave.
Etiquette for treating, handling and displaying the flag is outlined in the U.S. Flag Code, adopted in 1923. When a flag is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.
Worn or unusable flags can now be deposited in the bin and the VFW will dispose of them properly.
Somerset airport receives $330,000
HARRISBURG – The investment of $1.9 million in federal and state funds will help the Somerset County airport and
14 others upgrade equipment and facilities and enhance safety, Gov. Ed Rendell announced Friday.
Somerset County’s facility will get $330,000 to construct a new hangar.
Bedford County Airport will get $187,500 to expand public parking near the airport’s fixed-base operator, and the Jimmy Stewart Airport in Indiana County will get $30,000 to improve the airport’s fuel facility.
The state’s portion of the funding – $1.7 million from PennDOT’s aviation development program – comes from Pennsylvania’s jet fuel tax and leverages $781,475 in local matching funds.
The Federal Aviation Administration is providing $270,750 in grants through a block grant program funded by taxes collected nationally on airline tickets, freight waybills, international departure fees and sale of aviation fuel.
Airports receive up to 95 percent of eligible costs for projects included in Pennsylvania’s 12-year transportation program.
For more information, visit www.dot.state.pa.us or call (717) 783-8800.
Two charged in attempted drug theft
ALTOONA – An Altoona man and a woman have been charged with trying to rob an Altoona pharmacy of OxyContin Friday morning.
The man also is charged with holding up a Tyrone pharmacy just a half-hour later.
Altoona police said Lee Larson, 65, armed with a can of pepper spray, tried to rob the Broad Avenue Pharmacy of OxyContin. Employees refused to give Larson the drug, and he fled in a car operated by Michele Erb. Erb’s age and address were not available.
A half-hour later, Tyrone police said Larson entered the Community Pharmacy, where he told the clerk that he had a knife, and demanded OxyContin. He fled with a quantity of the drug, police said.
The suspects were apprehended by Altoona police
30 minutes later when their getaway car was seen entering the city.
Both were arraigned, and Larson was lodged in the Blair County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Erb was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.
157 pounds of pot, $346K seized in bust
ALTOONA – A man described as a “kingpin” by Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio remains jailed on drug charges after state police said they found
157 pounds of marijuana and $346,000 in neatly stacked, wrapped cash in his residence.
John Hiles, 48, of Altoona, was arraigned Thursday on charges including possession with intent to deliver mari-juana.
Police said they searched Hiles’ home after they arrested him for delivering 10 pounds of marijuana to troopers in a sting operation Wednesday.
Police believe the seized drugs are worth about $250,000 and that Hiles was supplied out of New York City.
Investigators suspect he has been dealing drugs for about
10 years.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Hiles.
Robber sought in Adult World holdup
HOLLIDAYSBURG – State police in Hollidaysburg are asking for the public’s help in finding the man who robbed a Blair County business early Friday.
Troopers said a man entered Adult World along state Route 1001 in Antis Township about 1:30 a.m., pulled a handgun on the female clerk and demanded money.
The robber fled with an undetermined amount of cash, troopers said.
Anyone with information may contact Hollidaysburg state police at 696-6100.
Two thefts, hit-run under investigation
SOMERSET – Borough police are investigating two thefts and a hit-and-run incident.
Someone stole a GPS unit from a vehicle in the 500 block of West Sanner Street on Wednesday. The unit, valued at about $100, was taken from a 2007 Pontiac G6, police said.
On the same day, someone entered a 2008 Chevrolet Equinox while it was parked on South Rosina Avenue and made off with unspecified items, police said.
Borough police also are searching for the driver involved in a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of Somerset Drug Co., 168 W. Main St., also on Wednesday.
A vehicle struck the front end of a 1998 Plymouth Breeze, causing minor damage.
Anyone with information about any of the incidents may contact Somerset police at 445-4596.
Tot, 3 others injured in deck collapse
CONNELLSVILLE – A deck collapse at a Fayette County home sent four people, including a 22-month-old toddler, to hospitals.
Bullskin Township fire Capt. Kyle Quinn said three women and the toddler tumbled 10 to 15 feet onto a concrete patio beneath the deck when it collapsed Thursday afternoon in Connellsville.
Family members said those injured were a woman and her child, mother and grandmother.
Two of the women remained in a hospital Friday morning with one listed in serious condition.
The family said the child was taken to a children’s hospital in Pittsburgh as a precaution.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
Lawmaker has info booth at fair
MEYERSDALE – State Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, R-Somerset, will have an information booth at the Somerset County Fair.
The booth will be staffed from noon to 7 p.m. today through Aug. 28.
“My staff and I will be providing information on state programs and legislation. We look forward to seeing you,” Metzgar said.
Metzgar’s Somerset district office will remain open during its normal business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Suspect’s cousin held in 2001 murder
GREENSBURG – The cousin of one of two men arrested in the October 2001 murder of a western Pennsylvania man has been jailed on a charge of witness intimidation.
State police said Jonathan Shoben, 27, of West Newton, allegedly called and threatened a witness not to testify against his cousin, Ronald Curran.
Curran, of Elizabeth, and 40-year-old Christopher James Myers, 40, of Connellsville, were charged with homicide Tuesday in the death of Jerry Lee Cushey Jr., who disappeared from Monongahela in October 2001.
Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani said he charged the men after a witness told a grand jury that Curran shot Cushey and that Myers disposed of the remains.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Shoben.
