Pistol Stolen from Car
Oil City – In Venango County, the Pennsylvania State Police are searching for a firearm stolen in Cranberry Township. The weapon is a black pistol, a Smith & Wesson SD40 VE that was stolen from inside a car on Orange Street in the South Side of Oil City. The pistol was reported stolen last Monday, February 13th and the owner had not checked on it in about two weeks before then. Anybody who may have information can contact the Pennsylvania State Police in Franklin at (814)676-6596.
Commissioners Mull Opening Fairgrounds to Campers
Meadville – In Crawford County, the commissioners will soon determine whether to open the Crawford County Fairgrounds to campers during what’s being called the Great American Eclipse. Meadville and the surrounding townships will be in the totality of the eclipse which has drawn attention from people elsewhere in the United States and they are searching for accommodations while here; every local hotel is virtually booked solid from April 7th to the 9th in anticipation of the eclipse on Monday, April 8th. The matter may be decided as early as the next full session, next Wednesday.
AT&T Cellphone Outage
Customers of AT&T are experiencing outages in our region and across the entire United States. At around 4 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, February 22nd large portions of the carrier’s cellular phone network went completely dark; customers are unable to use any of the services or even contact 911. At press time AT&T has responded to customer complaints that have occurred everywhere from Philadelphia to Las Angeles California, but has not acknowledged a widespread outage of services; thousands of local residents are without services. Affiliates and subsidiaries of AT&T such as Cricket, Straight Talk, FreeUp, Red Pocket, and TracPhone are also down.
VFW Post Re-Opens Hours after Fire
Reynolds – In Mercer County, the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 7599 of Reynolds was completely destroyed by fire one week ago, but thanks to help from the residents of Pymatuning Township it was able to hold a scheduled event on Saturday night. With the post’s home destroyed members of the VFW relocated the clubhouse to a pavilion across the street and with the eager assistance of over 100 volunteers transformed the space into a bar and venue in less than a day. By Saturday night, Post 7599 hosted a concert at their new temporary clubhouse dubbed the Glenn “Mickey” McKnight Pavilion.
Despite the positive news, the VFW lost countless treasured keepsakes in the fire, including monuments for past members of the club and the service records of dozens of members.