Hospital says ‘biggest issue is vaccine supply’
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer The UPMC Northwest hospital is primed to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to those outside the health profession. There’s one…
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Canned drinking water donated to fire companies for emergencies
From staff reports Three local volunteer fire departments – Seneca, Pinegrove Township and Rockland – received a donation of canned emergency drinking water from the…
Prison virus cases cause area spike
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Thursday announced 537 new cases of COVID-19 and five new virus-related deaths were reported from the…
Tri-county area adds 30 virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Wednesday announced 30 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from the tri-county area, as well as…
Grove board discusses hybrid model change, vote planned Monday
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer Valley Grove School District will continue to operate with 25% of students attending in person as school board members on…
Tri-county virus cases, deaths mount
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Monday announced 167 new cases of COVID-19 and five new virus-related deaths were reported from the…
Deep Hollow residents renew push for action at junkyard
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer The first regular meeting in 2021 for the Cranberry Township supervisors focused on an old topic – the devastation…
Tri-county adds 35 new virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Friday announced 35 new cases of COVID-19 from the tri-county area and one new virus-related death…
Oil Creek Titusville Lines receives $140,000 grant
From staff reports Oil Creek Titusville Lines Inc. received a $140,000 grant for rail freight improvements, according to a joint news release from state Reps….
Commissioners say broadband plans advancing
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Venango County commissioners talked about broadband expansion in the county during the panel’s monthly meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Albert Abramovic said…
Franklin man accused of breaking into residence, assaulting 2 women
From staff reports A Franklin man is facing charges for assaulting two women at a building in Oil City on Jan. 1. Oil City police…
208 cases, 3 deaths reported in tri-county over weekend
From staff reports The state Department of Health over the weekend announced 208 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional virus-related deaths were reported from…
Chamber to honor ‘heroes’
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer The COVID-19 pandemic, a siege that has disrupted families, businesses, schools, social services and more, has spurred the Venango…
Woman facing numerous charges for attacks on teens at skating rink
By SARAH TITLEY Staff writer A Titusville woman is facing charges for attacking and threatening three teenagers at the Skate Capital skating rink on Salina…
Tri-county reports 52 virus cases, 2 deaths
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Thursday announced 52 new cases of COVID-19 were reported by the tri-county area, as well as…
Construction project spending topped $11M last year in OC
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer Oil City saw more than $11.5 million in new construction in 2020 with most of the work focused on…
Tri-county adds 162 cases over weekend
From staff reports The state Department of Health over the weekend announced the tri-county area reported an increase of 162 cases of COVID-19 and Venango…
Tri-county has 124 new virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health over Thursday and Friday announced the tri-county area reported an increase of 124 cases of COVID-19. The…
Tri-county area adds 56 virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Wednesday announced 56 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from the tri-county area, as well as…
Tri-county area adds 48 virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Tuesday announced 48 new cases of COVID-19 and two new virus-related deaths were reported from the…
Tri-county reports 15 new virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Monday announced 15 new cases of COVID-19 and three new virus-related deaths were reported from the…
Tri-county adds 240 cases over holiday weekend
From staff reports The state Department of Health over Friday, Saturday and Sunday announced the tri-county area reported an increase of 240 cases of COVID-19….
Tri-county area reports 70 cases, 3 additional deaths
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Thursday announced 70 new cases of COVID19 were reported from the tri-county area, as well as…
OC man wanted in drug case taken into custody
From staff reports Sugarcreek Borough police took a man into custody Wednesday who was wanted for his alleged involvement in a drug ring that sold…
Man accused of breaking into Pinegrove property
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer A Venus man is facing charges for breaking into a garage Monday morning in Pinegrove Township. Franklin state police said…
Police searching for man wanted in OC drug raid
From staff reports Sugarcreek Borough police are searching for a man wanted in connection with a drug raid last week at a Bissell Avenue apartment…
UPMC Northwest welcomes ‘precious cargo’
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer UPMC Northwest received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus at 9:50 a.m. Thursday. “It’s a…
Tri-county adds 79 virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Friday announced 79 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from the tri-county area, and Venango and…
Tri-county reports more virus cases, additional death
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Thursday announced 70 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from the tri-county area and Venango County…
Tri-county area adds 83 virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Wednesday announced 83 new cases of COVID-19 from the tri-county area, and Venango and Clarion counties…
Titusville Hospital receives vaccine
From staff reports Titusville Area Hospital announced it has received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and plans to provide it to their employees, as well as…
Franklin chamber offering free local delivery from downtown businesses
From staff reports The Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce is urging people to shop small this holiday season by offering free local delivery. “We came…
Area weekend virus cases hit 246
From staff reports The state Department of Health over the weekend announced the tri-county area reported an increase of 246 cases of COVID-19. Clarion County,…
Vatican rejects appeal of Catholic church merger
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer The Congregation for Clergy at the Vatican has denied an appeal made by a number of parishioners who opposed the…
State approves ALDI as option for SNAP online ordering pilot
From staff reports The state Department of Human Services announced ALDI has joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pilot program allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…
Police still looking for woman who fled from patrol vehicle
From staff reports Franklin state police are still looking for an Oil City woman who escaped from custody Dec. 4. Police said Megan Renee Slater,…
Venango County logs 101 new virus cases
From staff reports The state Department of Health announced Wednesday that 148 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the tri-county area, 101 of which…
Area has 96 new virus cases; Forest County reports death
From staff reports The state Department of Health announced Tuesday that 96 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the tri-county area and Forest County…
Farm Show cancels butter sculpture, citing COVID-19 concerns
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — There will be no butter sculpture at next month’s annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, which had previously been converted to an all-virtual…
Michigan hospitals: Partial shutdown should be extended
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan hospital officials said Monday the state’s partial shutdown of businesses and schools to curb the coronavirus is working and should…
PennDOT liability clampdown angers OC manager
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer A clampdown on insurance liability issues by PennDOT that could threaten any public events on state-owned highways drew fire…
Venango, Clarion virus totals jump
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Friday announced a combined 77 new cases of COVID-19 in Venango and Clarion counties and two…
7 Venango County facilities get antigen test allotments
By KARA O’NEIL Staff writer Seven facilities in Venango County have received an allotment of COVID-19 antigen tests. An unspecified number of tests went to…
Man arrested after incident at hospital; 2 officers hurt
By SARAH TITLEY Staff writer A Harrisville man is facing felony charges for physically attacking and threatening officers Monday in the emergency department of UPMC…
Food pantry sees increase in need for assistance
By JUDITH O. ETZEL Contributing writer The number of families seeking food assistance at the Cranberry Food Pantry is going up and that has volunteers…
Central Elementary has 2 positive virus cases
From staff reports Two individuals from Central Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, according to a post by Franklin Area School District…
72 tri-county virus cases reported
From staff reports The state Department of Health on Friday announced Clarion County reported 38 new cases of COVID-19 (10 confirmed and 28 probable), Venango…
Many turn to real Christmas trees as bright spot amid virus
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ani Sirois, a respiratory nurse, has spent months caring for coronavirus patients at a Portland, Oregon, hospital, and she’s only getting…
Venango County will limit access to buildings
From staff reports Venango County is limiting public access to county buildings beginning Monday. Appointments must be made to enter the buildings due to the…
Oil City man facing numerous charges in fraud, robbery cases
By DILLON PROVENZA Staff writer An Oil City man is facing numerous charges following an investigation by police into multiple incidents that have occurred since…