According to a Mine Safety and Health Administration report, management failed to ensure there was direct communication between miners and contract surveyors who were working underground Feb. 25 at AmFire Mining Co.'s Nolo mine in Buffington Township.

Construction of the new $28 million Indiana County Jail remains ahead of schedule and under budget, according to the Indiana County commissioners.

The commissioners Wednesday approved the borrowing of the final $8 million from a group of Indiana County banks to complete the construction project. The county was obligated to spread the borrowing over three fiscal years, in part to maximize the tax advantages.

Mike Lockhart has wanted to be a member of the Pennsylvania State Police since he was 4 years old.

"I just like how they help others out, just seeing the way they're dressed and professional," Lockhart said. "It's just what I always wanted to do. It's kind of hard to explain."

And attending the Commissioner's Honor Camp only fuels his desire to be a part of one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country.

It's time again to renew annual permit parking applications in Indiana Borough.

And for permanent residents, the process this year is a little more pleasant. For nonpermanent residents, not so pleasant.

The fee for a permit parking sticker in Indiana has been $10 for everyone. But beginning with the renewal period starting Aug. 1, the stickers will be free for permanent Indiana residents. Nonpermanent residents will pay $120 - a 1,100 percent increase.

The boy was charged July 8 with a third-degree felony of an arson-related charge, which encompasses possession, manufacturing or transportation of incendiary or explosive material, and a first-degree misdemeanor of prohibited offensive weapons. After hearing testimony, the boy was adjudicated delinquent, or found guilty, on the misdemeanor charge, said Thomas Bianco, Indiana County district attorney.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Their meeting featured "very open" and wide-ranging talks, Merkel spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said in a statement issued after the hourlong session. Obama and Merkel also stressed the "great significance of close and friendly German-American relations," he said.

The units are likely to be small and could include engineers, ordnance disposal troops and other support forces needed to shore up fighting needs and the training of Afghan forces. Officials have not ruled out identifying a larger, brigade-sized unit before the end of the year that could either be shifted to Afghanistan from a planned deployment to Iraq or moved from some other location.