Recent Stories

Articles by Cassandra Douglas

October 17, 2017

Ellwood City Police, Firemen Receive Commendation for Life Saving Event

Several Ellwood City volunteer firemen and two Ellwood City officers attended yesterday’s council meeting while Council President Connie MacDonald read their commendation. On October 4th, a man working at Blank Concrete and Supply Co. went into full cardiac arrest, police officers Matthew Kennedy and Robert Magnifico were first to arrive on scene and immediately started CPR. Together both the officers and firefighters performed life-saving techniques on the man including using an AED to stabilize him while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Due to the fast action of these men, the patient is expected to make a full recovery and will…

October 13, 2017

Borough Residents to Receive Point and Pay Notice

Ellwood City Borough residents should soon be receiving notices in the mail regarding the Borough’s new online bill pay feature called Point and Pay, powered by Paydici. Since logins and auto payments will not be transferred from the old portal, residents will be sent an e-mail next month when the payment portal is live, prompting them to set up a new account. The Borough’s online bill pay has been suspended since May while updates were being made to the feature for better efficiency. “The Point and Pay system will provide greater accessibility for Borough Utility customers to satisfy utility bill…

October 9, 2017

Dayspring Gifts to Host Local Artist Art Show

Dayspring Gifts on 6th will be hosting an art show in early November featuring a variety of artwork from four local young artists. The theme is “Renew and Revive” to compliment the ongoing Ellwood City Revitalization projects and dually the age of the entrants. Jan Keenan, the store owner of Daysprings and art enthusiast said hosting art galleries at the location is one of her favorite hobbies. “We hosted an art show to raise money for the Ellwood City coloring books – and it was a hit,” she stated. “We raised hundreds of dollars which paid for the majority of the…

October 6, 2017

Sale of the YDC: “We Now Have Confirmation That YDC is Back Up On the Market.”

State Representative Aaron Bernstine posted a few moments ago on Facebook a live update on the future of the New Castle Youth Development Center (YDC) property. “We now have confirmation that YDC is back up on the market,” he states. “Hopefully we will be able to get this thing sold, get it back into the community, exactly doing what it should do, creating jobs right here for our area.” Previously, the 140-acre property with several standing buildings, was pending a purchase by HIRA, an Islamic-based educational company. The sale had fallen through due to several issues and the property has…

October 5, 2017

Lincoln Graduate Gets First Career Sack Against Cornell

Nicholas Ioanilli, Lincoln graduate of 2016 is now attending Colgate and playing for their football team as a middle linebacker. Last week, Colgate squared up against Cornell, leaving the opposing team in the dust with a final score of 21-7. Ionanilli was excited about his first sack. “It felt so good –really amazing! All my hard work that I had put in finally showed through with an awesome play! My Mom and Sister, Shae, were at Cornell and I knew they were screaming and excited. So, being able to do that for my Mom at that game, made it even…

September 28, 2017

Sick Puppy Given Away with Dog Crate

Gentle Ben’s Giant Breed Rescue, a dog rescue in Zelienople, recently acquired a very unhealthy 11 week old puppy who was given away with a dog crate that was being sold. “Kelly, a very good friend mine, saw this sweet boy on some type of farm ad where the owner was selling a crate and said a puppy came with it. The ad indicated the puppy was a Fila Brasilerio, which is a type of mastiff. Kelly immediately contacted the owner and said she would take the puppy,” the rescue’s Facebook post states. ” Little did we know what was…

September 27, 2017

Lion’s Club Fountain Reappears After Years of Absence

After years of absence, the Lion’s Club water fountain is back in Ellwood City – bigger and better than ever! On the corner of Lawrence and Sixth, a brightly colored lion statue sits, donated by the kindness of one of the Lion’s Club founding member’s daughter. After nearly 30 years in the community, the old fountain had to be taken down due to wear and tear about 5 years ago. The club then started fundraising for a new fountain and the daughter of Floyd V. Scheidemantel, Sally, donated the money to the club to purchase a new one. It took…

September 26, 2017

Domestic Human Trafficking Seminar: “Together We Can End This Modern Day Slavery”

Earlier this year, two Lawrence County men were charged with domestic human trafficking – an issue that Barb Bohizic, activist against human trafficking and co-founder of Stop Taking Advantage of the Needy, Disabled and Disadvantaged (STANDD), says happens a lot more in the community than people realize. Several years ago, after personally meeting an underage boy in Wayne Township who had admitted that his father would offer him to friends in exchange for drugs, Bohizic knew she had to do something to raise awareness in the community. “The boy admitted to me what was happening and after an investigation they…

September 20, 2017

Free Public Wifi Hotspot to be Installed at Pittsburgh Circle Playground

By early October Circle Playground should have public wifi installed courtesy of Armstrong Cable. This will be the third borough-owned property in the community to have free public wifi. The other two areas are the Community Plaza on Lawrence Avenue and the public pool at Ewing Park. Borough Manager Bob Villella says the wifi installation will be beneficial for the Borough as well as the local community. “This will be a great thing not only for the community, but for the Borough as well,” Villella stated. “We will now have the ability to install security cameras to monitor the premises…

September 19, 2017

VIDEO: Lawrence Avenue, Bell Avenue Demolition

The demolition of the buildings stretching from Bell Ave., to Lawrence Ave., is making “great progress,” according to Borough Manager Bob Villella. Recently the construction group has brought in an even larger – more specified machine to complete the job due to the tight space. The Volvo [pictured below] is larger than the standard, standing at over 70ft tall, and has extra features including a retracting and expanding axle, water sprayer to keep dust down, and cameras all around for a complete 360 view around and on the claw for precise viewings of everything going on from inside the cabin….