The Tri-County Report for July 30th, 2010...


Hermitage residents won't like this...commissioners have voted to increase sanitary user fees. Residents currently pay a tap in fee of 95 dollars per quarter. That will increase to 105 dollars per quarter. The ordinance calls for the rate hike to go into effect at the start of the new year. Additional increases are expected to take place at the start of 2012 and 2013.


Attempted homicide charges filed against a 15 year old New Castle boy have been withdrawn. The move came after no witnesses showed up for the preliminary hearing for Lewis Brewer. Lewis was being charged as an adult in a July 14th shooting. He was released from the Lawrence County Jail, where he was being held on 100-thousand dollars bond.


Congressman Jason Altmire says he has defeated an effort to strip federal funding away from an important construction project at the Butler VA Health Care Facility. There was a move in the House to shift funding away from the construction of a new extended stay center and move it to other initiatives. Altmire spoke out against the amendment and the funding remained in place.


There's good news for diabetics in Western Pennsylvania. Giant Eagle Incorporated is giving out five commonly prescribed generic drugs for free at its pharmacies in the region. The company will also soon offer free diabetes screenings and have a specialist on-hand at all of its pharmacy locations.


The state Department of Transportation is finding itself facing an important deadline. PennDOT has been told it needs to come up with a rehabilitation plan for the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. If it doesn't do that by the end of the year the state could lose out on 21 million dollars earmarked by the federal government to fix the structure. PennDOT officials say they will have a plan in place before the deadline.


Beaver County Head Start has laid off seventeen employees as part of an effort to meet its fiscal year budget. The organization's executive director tells the Beaver County Times that they are hoping to bring those workers back when the new program year begins. That happens in mid-August. That particular Head Start chapter has more than 700 children enrolled.


State police say no injuries were reported after a one vehicle accident in a construction zone in Wilmington Township. 25 year old Michael Sankey was traveling on Route 158 and police say he was speeding when he lost control of his car. The vehicle hit the end of a guard rail and slid into a nearby construction zone where a bridge was being replaced. Fortunately no construction workers were at the scene when the accident happened.


Authorities in Mercer County are looking for information after a break-in at the Grove City Sportsman Club. Police believe someone used a sledge hammer to break into a building at the shooting range. A zero-turn lawn mower was stolen from the building. Several tools were stolen as well and police believe the burglar attempted to steal a second mower but was unsuccessful in doing that. The burglar also threw a cinder block through one of the building's windows.


Horsehead Corporation says it will continue to pay all workers at the zinc plant in Beaver County even though part of the plant remains closed following a recent explosion. The accident last week killed two men and the explosion is still under investigation. Horsehead officials have already said they plan to rebuild but can not begin until the investigation wraps up. The plant employs around six hundred workers.


Motorists traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike may encounter some delays this morning. That is because the old Allegheny River Bridge is scheduled to be demolished around ten o'clock. The Turnpike says motorists approaching the Allegheny Valley Interchange at Exit 48 will likely see traffic backups for around a half hour. Traffic will also be stopped on Freeport Road.