A benefit garage and bake sale will be held beginning at 7 a.m. Sunday at 440 Goucher St.

All proceeds from the sale will go to the family of Mike Keefer of Southmont for medical expenses.

The young husband and father recently was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer.



Juvenile inmate charged in assaults

CRESSON – Two teachers at the Cresson Secure Treatment Center, a corrections facility for juveniles, were assaulted by the same minor inmate in separate incidents, state police said.

Charges are pending against the youth, who was not identified by police.

The juvenile became angry during a class and threw a desk/chair combination at Tim Rough, 48, of Gallitzin, about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Rough had a cut to the left arm.

Monica Neri-Hamer, 43, of Altoona, was assaulted at10:10 a.m. March 22 when the juvenile again became angry during a class, police said. The youth threw a chair at her, hitting her in the lower back.

The injuries to both teachers were described as minor.



Thieves grab items from contractor’s shed

SOMERSET – Thieves broke into a locked storage shed in Jenner Township and stole unspecified items, state police in Somerset said.

Three people were caught on videotape breaking into the shed owned by Lincoln Contracting and Equipment Co. in Stoystown on May 15 and then fleeing in a full-size pickup truck.

Anyone with information may contact state police at 445-4104.



Workshop offers tips on canning food

SOMERSET – Somerset County Cooperative Extension will hold a food-preservation workshop titled “So Easy To Preserve” from 9 a.m. to noon June 11 in the extension office’s conference room in Partners Hall, 6024 Glades Pike.

Advance registration is required by Wednesday and can be made by calling the extension office at 445-8911, ext. 7. There is a fee to attend.

Extension educator Dorothy Bromley will conduct the workshop, which she said will cover all aspects of the canning process.



Seward VFW donates $500 to VA center

ALTOONA – Representatives of the Seward Veterans of Foreign Wars post presented a $500 donation to James E. Van Zandt Veterans Administration Medical Center in Altoona during a motorcycle run to The Wall That Heals at the center.

The donation was made in memory of fallen comrades during a brief memorial service and wreath-laying at the wall.

Paul Pozar of the post presented the donation to medical center Director Tony L. Bennett.



Web site aids tracking of Pa. senators’ votes

Pennsylvania taxpayers can more easily keep track of their legislators now that more than a decade’s worth of Senate Journals are on the Internet, state Sen. John Wozniak said Friday.

“The Senate Journal is essentially a diary of what takes place in the Senate,” the Westmont Democrat said. “With their home computers, voters can stay informed of where their lawmakers stand on key issues.”

The journals, from 1993 to 2004, were added to the online collection that already offers journals from 2005 to the present, he said.

Wozniak has a link to the journals from his Web site, http://Senator-Wozniak.com.



Geist backs measure to help fight blight

HARRISBURG – State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, is co-sponsoring legislation that would permit community development corporations to take ownership of abandoned properties upon the death of the owner.

“In essence, this bill paves the way for local communities to fight against blighted properties,” Geist said. “Many neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth have deteriorating buildings that are left sitting after the owner passes away and no family member is willing to take over the care and maintenance of the property.”

The bill, drafted by Rep. John Taylor, R-Philadelphia, would give a county register of wills the authority to grant letters of administration, or ownership of the property, to a community development corporation after attempts to transfer possession of the estate to a loved one are exhausted, Geist said.