— Ski resorts plan weekend opening

Two area ski resorts will be open for business this weekend.

At Hidden Valley Resort, limited skiing will be held from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to

4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Today, three slopes and the learn-to-ski area will be open.

The resort plans to open more slopes and chairlifts Saturday and Sunday, conditions permitting.

Ski and snowboard tickets are $20 today and $25 Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a preseason discount on rental equipment and group lessons.

Ski rentals will be $15 a day, snowboard rentals $20 a day and group lessons $15 a person.

The resort plans to close Monday through Dec. 7, with plans to reopen Dec. 8-9, conditions permitting.

Information: 443-8000 or www.hiddenvalleyresort.com.

At Seven Springs Mountain Resort, slopes will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., today through Sunday.

Eight slopes and trails will be available as well as Santa’s Beard terrain park with at least six features.

Ski and board tickets will be $45 per adult and $35 per child ages 6-11 at the ski ticket office.

Seven Springs will offer $10 off ski and snowboard tickets Sunday with the donation of a new unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots campaign.

Information: (800) 523-7777 or www.7springs.com.

Cops believe pair behind string of burglaries

A man and women were jailed Thursday in connection with a rash of burglaries in Cambria County.

Lawrence Morrison, 19, of Johns-town, and Lacy Altschuh, 21, of Beaverdale, are being held in the Cambria County Prison.

Morrison was wanted for a recent burglary in Lower Yoder Township.

He was picked up at a Solomon Homes apartment where his girlfriend lives. Morrison was charged with burglary, theft and receiving stolen property.

Altschuh was wanted in connection with a Nov. 14 burglary in Adams Township. Jewelry was taken while the family was at church, township police Chief Kirk Moss said.

A piece of identifiable stolen jewelry turned up at a Richland Township jewelry store, Moss said.

Altschuh was charged with theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit theft.

Lower Yoder fire blamed on malfunctioning heater

A malfunctioning wall-mounted gas heater is being blamed for a fire Thursday in the 200 block of Sherwood Drive in Lower Yoder Township.

A woman and two children fled the home when the 4:17 p.m. fire started.

“It was very minor damage,” Westwood fire Chief Daniel Morris said.

West Hills Regional police Officer Ed Fisher put out the fire with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

No injuries were reported.

Fire crews from Franklin, Lower Yoder, Upper Yoder, Southmont and Westmont also responded with West End Ambulance.

D.A.: Sex offender traded food stamps for address

ALTOONA – Authorities said a sex offender paid another man $50 in food stamps to use his address.

Forty-two-year-old Donald Guess allegedly used the address in Altoona as a mail drop while actually living in nearby Bellwood.

The Altoona Mirror reported Guess is required to register as a sex-offender for 10 years following a 2007 indecent assault involving a child.

The friend told a district judge on Wednesday that Guess gave him the food stamps to use his address to get mail but he stopped the practice after learning Guess was a sex offender.

Guess’ attorney said his client was renting the address in the same way someone rents a post office box.

Guess was bound over to Blair County Court for trial.

Police find 5 children in back of moving truck

NEW CASTLE, Ind. – State police said a Clarion County couple arrested after an Indiana trooper found five of their children riding in the back of a rented moving truck was headed to California, where the children’s unemployed father hoped to find work.

Sgt. John Bowling said 41-year-old David Detjen and 40-year-old Rebecca Detjen of Fairmount City, were traveling to San Bernardino, Calif., where David Detjen had a job prospect. The couple was jailed on preliminary child neglect charges after their Wednesday night arrest at an eastern Indiana truck stop.

Bowling said Detjen told officers he knew putting five of his seven children in the unheated back of the truck “was kind of a stupid idea, but it was sort of a last resort” after he’d lost his job and couldn’t find work.