The Ohio Township Volunteer Fire Company will hold its annual carnival at the Ohio Township Community Park (325 Nicholson Rd.,) on July 15 and 16.

The traditional fire truck parade will begin at the new OTVFC fire station at 7 p.m. and will end at the Park.

Other changes this year include new games like Stryker (a test of strength), Black & Gold wheel, Angry Birds and new basketball hoops. Traditional games of chance, Kiddie Land (with new slides) and hayrides will be available. There will be more food and better parking.

There’s no season quite as fun as summer, you have to admit, and you don’t have to travel far to have a great time.

It was standing room only at Avalon Field for the annual North Boroughs Independence Day fireworks. Pyrotechnico promised us lots of "oohs" and "aahs," and that's exactly what they delivered. Unfortunately there was a slight problem getting the CD to work, so the fireworks went up without musical accompaniment. We'll try that again next year!

After 15 years of service from the Ben Avon fire department, Ben Avon Heights emergency calls will be answered next year by the Avalon Volunteer Fire Company. Of possibly even greater significance, however, is the fact that the change is being laid squarely at the feet of Ben Avon’s elected officials at a time when a joint Avonworth community fire department is being proposed.

A proposed consolidation of fire services in several Avonworth communities got an official nudge forward from Emsworth Council Wednesday evening.

Council unanimously approved a motion to file a letter of intent to form a “fire district” for the purposes of consolidating buildings and equipment. According to Emsworth Council member Paul Getz, filing the letter of intent allows the municipalities involved to obtain additional state assistance with the consolidation process at no charge to any of the communities.

The Emsworth Volun-teer Fire Company willsponsor its third annual Community Day on Sunday, May 22, from noon to 5 p.m.

There will be free food and beverages as firefighters showcase different activities in which people of the community can participate in order to introduce them to the work done by the volunteer firefighters. There will be activities for adults and children, including "hands-on" use of fire hose, extinguishers, vehicle rescue equipment and the protective equipment that firefighters wear when entering burning buildings.

Editor:

This letter is in response to one written by James Rupert and published in The Citizen March 25, 2011.

Since Mr. Rupert has never attended an Emsworth Borough Council meeting nor is he a member of the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Company, it is very hard to understand why Mr. Rupert decided to inflame an entire community by such erroneous statements.

The very first inaccuracy to be addressed is that Emsworth Borough does not own the volunteer fire company, so not such action is possible.

BY LOIS THOMSON

For more than two years, Ben Avon has been discussing a possible consolidation of the Ben Avon and Emsworth fire departments. At Tuesday's council meeting, council member Michael Bett gave a comprehensive presentation, emphasizing that any plan must provide both a good experience and good equipment for the firefighters.

The presentation showed the differences between Ben Avon's situation remaining status quo and continuing to operate as an independent volunteer fire department, as compared with merging with the other communities.

PAYMENT QUESTIONED

Editor: I just read in The Citizen that Emsworth has to pay an engineering firm $29,496.80 for plans that are not able to be used for a bridge. My question is,what are the council members thinking?

The Avalon Volunteer Fire Company has elected officers for 2011:

Chief, Bill Carney; assistant chief, Chuck Berie;

Captain 1, Jim Barzon; captain 2, Dan Cooper; captain 3, Bill Silay; captain 4, Joe Miller;

President, Dave Dixon; vice president, Jim Carroll; treasurer, Tad Parkhill; secretary, Pat Narcisi.

Named to the board of directors were: Dan Cooper, Fred Fisher, Dave Zivic, Ryan Payne, Jack Downey, Bill Fisher and Mike Hebor.

This marks Carney’s 28th year as chief.

A Bellevue man now faces multiple charges after he reportedly ran from police during the investigation of vandalism to a vehicle parked on California Avenue.

Police were called on Oct. 22 after a patron at Johnny’s Hideaway reported that someone had slashed the tires on her vehicle. officers were reviewing security tape footage and questioning Jamey Monroe, 21, of Forest Avenue, when Monroe reportedly ran from the bar.

By LOIS THOMSON

Frustration was evident on both sides as members of Ben Avon Council and members of the Ben Avon Volunteer Fire Department discussed a possible consolidation of the Ben Avon and Emsworth fire departments at Tuesday's council meeting. Ben Avon firefighters told council that they are happy with the status quo, and see no need to consolidate or merge the departments.

The question of open burning was addressed at Tuesday's Ben Avon Council meeting when Council member Judy Konitsney said that she had been receiving complaints about it.

When pressed for details, Konitsney said she didn't have any, but said someone told her they had seen embers going up. She added that she knows "the county doesn't allow it." However, council member Dan Herchenroether said, "We have to know what it is about (before we can do anything)."