A wild year here for wildfires
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer As the wildfire season comes to a close, a forester with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says…
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Man charged after son, 2, found wandering in middle of road
From staff reports A Rocky Grove man is facing charges after his two-year-old son was found wandering in the middle of the road with no…
Man already in jail accused of intimidating witness
From staff reports A transient Franklin man already accused of stealing a woman’s gun and forcing her to give him a ride in her vehicle…
Man accused of trespass, assault for repeatedly contacting woman
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing charges for repeatedly contacting a woman at her place of employment in Sugarcreek Borough over three days…
State’s upgrades to unemployment compensation services underway
From staff reports The state Department of Labor & Industry’s announced its next phase of the unemployment compensation customer service improvement initiative began Monday, with…
Man facing more than 800 counts related to animal cruelty
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer A Titusville man is facing 834 charges related to animal abuse after nearly 200 rabbits, chickens, quail and chinchillas were…
YMCA scholarship fund established in memory of lawmaker McIlhattan
From staff reports A new scholarship has been created to help local youths attend the Scenic Rivers YMCA’s summer day camp. The Fred McIlhattan Camp…
Free food boxes available to OC school families
From staff reports Free food boxes will be given to families in the Oil City Area School District through a “Farmers to Families” program. The…
OC police seeking man wanted in drug case
From staff reports Oil City police are looking for Zachary Luhellier, 27, of Oil City. Luhellier is wanted on charges stemming from an incident in…
Man charged in 2015 crime after DNA match found
From staff reports A former Oil City man currently incarcerated at the SCI Fayette state prison has been charged with breaking into a house in…
Man accused of entering residence without permission
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing a felony charge for entering a woman’s residence in Oil City on Sunday without her permission. Oil…
Venango tech center team battles to victory at robotics tourney
By LAURA O’NEIL Staff writer Venango Technology Center students are celebrating their first-place finish in the annual RoboBOTS competition held last weekend at Meadville High…
OC man facing charges for assaults on 2 women
From staff reports An Oil City man is facing charges for assaulting two women and strangling one of them as well as pouring gasoline on…
Move Over Law is now in effect in state
From staff reports The state’s new Move Over Law took effect Tuesday, and PennDOT is reminding motorists the law requires drivers approaching an emergency response…
‘Long road’ for firefighter; fundraiser dinner is tonight
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer A Clintonville volunteer firefighter has a “long road to recovery” after being injured while responding to a pileup crash last…
Police release more details on Emlenton Bridge crashes
From staff reports Clarion state police released information on the initial nine-vehicle pileup crash that occurred Thursday morning along the Emlenton Bridge. Police said William…
Police release details about 1 crash on Emlenton Bridge
From staff reports Clarion state police are continuing to release details about the pileup Thursday morning on the Emlenton Bridge on Interstate 80 that involved…
Grand opening for shoe store; 2 other businesses in new spots
From staff reports A new shoe store has opened in Cranberry, and two other businesses have moved to new locations in Seneca. Shoe Sensation, located…
Franklin panel gets funds for water projects
From staff reports The Franklin General Authority has received nearly $1 million in state grant money as part of a massive investment in water infrastructure…
Panel gives conditional OK to solar farm plans
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Venango County Regional Planning Commission members gave conditional approval Tuesday to land development plans for a solar farm in Cherrytree…
Man facing numerous charges for sexually assaulting girl
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer An Edinboro man is facing multiple charges for sexually assaulting a young girl in January in Cherrytree Township. Franklin state…
Tri-county reports 2 deaths, 109 cases over past week
From staff reports The state Department of Health announced the tri-county area reported 109 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional virus-related deaths over the…
Music garden outside library expected to harvest interest
By LAURA O’NEIL Staff writer It’s spring, and the Oil City Library has just put in a new garden. However, it doesn’t contain vegetables or…
Franklin man faces drug charges
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing charges that accuse him of having methamphetamine in his possession in Franklin. Franklin police said in a…
Man facing more charges for sexual assaults of girl
From staff reports A Seneca man who was arrested last week for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Seneca is now facing more charges in…
OC apartment owners face suit alleging harassment
From staff reports The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday it has filed a lawsuit against a Cooperstown couple alleging sexual harassment and retaliation toward…
Man accused of holding woman at gunpoint
From staff reports A transient man is facing charges for holding a woman at gunpoint in Oil City and forcing her to give him a…
Pennsylvania: All adults eligible for vaccine on Tuesday
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania will expand eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults beginning Tuesday, nearly a week ahead of schedule, state officials…
Music garden outside library expected to harvest interest
By LAURA O’NEIL Staff writer It’s spring, and the Oil City Library has just put in a new garden. However, it doesn’t contain vegetables or…
Regional vaccination clinic opens
By LAURA O’NEIL Staff writer On Friday, the UPMC Northwest vaccination clinic at the Cranberry Mall opened as the regional clinic to serve people from…
Coroner identifies man who died in brush fire
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Venango County Coroner Christina Rugh has identified the man who died in a brush fire Tuesday near Two Mile Run…
OC Main Street program updates business guide
From staff reports The Oil City Main Street Program has issued an updated version of its business resource guide, “Opportunity: Oil City.” Main Street manager…
Another charge filed against Franklin man in drug case
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing an additional criminal charge in connection with a “corrupt organization” distributing heroin and fentanyl in Venango County…
Venango, Clarion add 16 combined cases over weekend
From staff reports The state Department of Health over the weekend announced a combined 16 additional cases of COVID-19 were reported from Venango and Clarion…
Cranberry Mall site will be regional vaccine clinic
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer UPMC Northwest’s vaccination clinic at the Cranberry Mall will serve as a regional clinic for a 10-county area, the state…
Man charged for leading deputy on chase in Clintonville area
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer A Parker man is facing charges for leading a Venango County sheriff’s deputy on a vehicle chase in the southern…
Project will restrict travel on part of I-80
From staff reports Interstate 80 eastbound and westbound travel will be restricted to one lane from Exit 35 (Route 308, Clintonville) to the Venango-Mercer County…
Man accused of breaking into house, assaulting resident
From staff reports A Clarion man is facing charges for breaking into a house in Emlenton and struggling with a man who lived in the…
Tri-county reports 20 cases over weekend
From staff reports The state Department of Health over the weekend announced 20 new cases of COVID-19 from the tri-county area. Among the 7,178 new…
State court rejects appeals by Cranberry junkyard owner
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer A local junkyard owner’s appeals against litigation filed by Cranberry Township were rejected Wednesday by state Commonwealth Court judges in…
Crawford County man arrested for role in Capitol riot
By A.J. TITLEY Staff writer A Crawford County man was arrested Friday on charges relating to criminal acts at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6….
Fire destroys home in Victory Township
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer A Victory Township family escaped injury from a fire that destroyed their home Thursday. Clintonville Fire Department Chief Grant Rea…
Gas drilling firms defeat Pennsylvania’s antitrust lawsuit
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court has delivered a victory for natural gas exploration firms, ruling that the state attorney general’s office doesn’t have…
Feds: Former Pitt official stole over 13K masks, sold online
The University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online…
Police: Man with gun accused of making threatening comments
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing charges for allegedly making threatening comments while gesturing with a handgun at another person outside his Arbor…
Cranberry schools outline plans for prom, graduation
By RANDY BARTLEY Staff writer Senior students at Cranberry Area High School will have a bit of “normalcy” before they graduate. High School principal Richard…
I-80 resurfacing project will start soon
From staff reports An $8.8 million resurfacing project on more than six miles of Interstate 80 in Clinton and Irwin townships is scheduled to start…
Chief urges burning caution
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Seneca’s fire chief is recommending caution before burning after his department extinguished a brush fire that burned nearly an acre…
Franklin man accused of assault
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing charges in connection with an incident at the After Hours Bar in Franklin on Thursday afternoon. Franklin…
Barletta to decide soon on whether to run for governor
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lou Barletta, the former congressman who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, said Friday that he will make a…