Around The County

By LEANDRO ARISTEGUIETA Staff writer The Venango County Fair will go on this week as a scaled back version of its usual self, but fair…

From staff reports The Franklin Friends of the Library group will hold a book sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the small…

By LEANDRO ARISTEGUIETA Staff writer Bridge Builders Community Foundations has announced the release of its Community Needs website. Community Needs, which can be found at bbcfneeds.org,…

From staff reports The United Way of the Titusville Region will honor citizens through the organization’s Random Acts of Kindness program. According to a United…

By LEANDRO ARISTEGUIETA Staff writer The Venango County Fair will once again auction off a quilt during the fair livestock auction as a fund-raiser. This…

From staff reports The Oil Region Alliance placed two new interpretive panels in the Oil Region National Heritage Area. One is across from the William…

From staff reports The state Department of Labor & Industry on Tuesday reported the tri-county area’s jobless rates in June, for the most part, are…

Kambri Rowland, daughter of Darrin and April Rowland of Oil City, and Wyatt Moffett, son of Michael and McKayla Moffett of Oil City, were named…

From staff reports Oil Heritage Festival 2020 concluded Sunday with a well-attended car cruise-through. “It went great, people were very nice about the whole thing,”…

By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Oil City School District has received more than $900,000 in COVID-19 related grant money from the federal government. District Superintendent…

By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Two county projects – Cornplanter Square and the countywide recycling center – are moving toward completion. At Cornplanter Square in…

From staff reports Galaxy Federal Credit Union will hold its annual shred week in August. The community event will be held during normal business hours…

Cohen Motter, 6, receives a bag of gifts at the Harriott/Land of Laughter playground in Oil City on Thursday from Kristine Keith of Youth Alternatives…

From staff reports Live outdoor concerts, always a mainstay in the annual Oil Heritage Festival schedule, have been reconfigured into virtual performances. “We’re still going…

From staff reports Nine local students are candidates for the 2020 Oil Heritage Festival queen. The queen will be crowned at 7 p.m. Thursday in…

By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer It may be sweltering outside, but two local fire departments are focusing their attention on warm winter coats. “We’re…

From staff reports Organizers of an annual charity golf outing that provides scholarships to Venango Catholic High School students were forced to change their plans…

By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer The City of Oil City wants the public to add its input into how to spend $306,577 that is…

From staff reports Taste of Franklin organizers announced Friday the event has been canceled this year due to coronavirus concerns. Jessica Carroll, administrator of the…

From staff reports There will be some new rules and a slightly different look to the Oil City Izaak Walton League’s Oil Heritage Festival children’s…

From staff reports A resurfacing project on nine miles of Sunville Road in Oakland, Plum and Jackson townships is scheduled to start next week. The…

From staff reports The Cranberry Township park board has voted to cancel a concert and car show that had been scheduled Aug. 8 at Morrison…

Four young girls from Oil City have put their hearts and hands together to operate a lemonade stand during a block yard sale in their…

From staff reports The Cranberry Food Pantry opened its doors, with cleaning and social distancing measures in place, on Monday to allow people to come…

By SARAH TITLEY Staff writer Motorists in downtown Franklin might rest a little easier with the knowledge a roundabout will most likely not become part…

From staff reports Community Services of Venango County operates two food pantries. Oil City – 203 Center St.; 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to…

By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer Street paving work described by Oil City officials as “robust” will start within the next six weeks as a…

From staff reports A Sandycreek Township man has been named district executive for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Northwest region. Brian McNulty is responsible for…

From staff reports The Franklin Public Library will open its teen reading lounge later this summer. Teens who want to participate in the non-traditional book…

From staff reports The Department of Human Services on Tuesday announced older Pennsylvania youths exiting the foster-care system are now eligible for aftercare services until…

From staff reports 8 hrs ago The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently awarded a $5.4 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to…

KNOX – The Knox Public Library will reopen to the public today, with limitations. Masks are required for all visitors, and hand sanitizer will be…

By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Franklin state police don’t plan to have an active role in enforcing the state’s latest directives regarding the wearing of…

From staff reports Four new cases of COVID-19 were reported from Venango County on Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. The county, which…

From staff reports The building that is home to Giant Eagle in Oil City is up for sale. According to Bill Moon, broker of record…

From staff reports The Oil City Arts Council will start its Pipeline Alley concerts today with a virtual performance by Back Porch Gold. The group…

Billy Blankenship, of Maryland, grandson of Steve and Patti English, of Henry’s Bend, enjoyed fishing Thursday with his grandfather on the Allegheny River under the…

Vivianne Hartman, 12, Penelope Niemie, 3, Sofia Niemie, 10, and Leiv Harman, 10, (not in picture) planted flowers on an unknown Civil War soldier’s grave…

From staff reports The Oil Valley Film Festival held annually in Oil City will take place digitally this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according…

By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer WS Packaging Inc., a commercial label and packaging plant purchased by Multi-Color Corp. and located in Sandycreek Township, is…

From staff reports The Oil City Catholic Community festival that was scheduled July 23-25 during the Oil Heritage Festival has been canceled. This year’s event…

By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer As Oil Heritage Festival organizers scurry to figure out how to reconfigure the celebration because of coronavirus-related directives, one…

From staff reports The state Department of Health and state Emergency Management Agency will partner with CVS Health to offer COVID-19 testing services to skilled…

By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Oil City School Board members heard from the Oil City Middle School News team during Monday’s board meeting. The team’s…

By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Oil City School Board members on Monday unanimously approved the district’s budget for the 2020-2021 school year and hired an…

By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer River Ridge Golf Course has received some patriotic new paint jobs. Patrick Hughes spent most of last week spray painting…

By SARAH TITLEY Staff writer As many events are canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and crowd restrictions, the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce and…

Oil City firefighter Scott Attenborough collects a donation at the corner of Petroleum and First streets Friday for the Jolly July 3rd fireworks display over…

By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Franklin is the focus of a new crime-thriller novel “Ace of Diamonds” that was released last month. Jim Bushee, of…

By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Valley Grove School District served more than 50,000 meals to the local community over about a two-month period after COVID-19…