[naviga:h3]Steel plant lays off 259 in Beaver County[/naviga:h3]

MIDLAND — Allegheny Technologies Inc. will lay off 259 union and salaried employees when it idles a western Pennsylvania plant in January due to low prices for specialty steel.

The layoff figure was in a notice ATI filed with the state Thursday.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has locked out workers at 12 plants in Pennsylvania and five other states since Aug. 15 over a contract dispute. The company announced last month that it planned to idle the plant in Midland, Beaver County, and that it will idle its Bagdad plant in Gilpin Township, Armstrong County, in April, until the plants can generated acceptable profits.

The plants employed nearly 600 workers combined before the lockout. It’s not clear how many management and replacement workers have been keeping them running.

[naviga:h3]Worker allegedly kept $273K in voided sales[/naviga:h3]

BRADFORD — Police say a woman stole more than $273,000 from a northwestern Pennsylvania hardware store by voiding sales and pocketing cash since 2006.

Laurie Recny, 39, faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 7 on a theft charge.

Recny allegedly stole the money while working at Worth W. Smith Hardware in Foster Township, McKean County.

The store’s owner became suspicious and caught Recny on camera voiding a $163 sale of wood pellets and keeping the money.

A bookkeeper eventually went over the store’s cash register records and found Recny voided nearly 6,400 sales worth more than $273,000 over the years.