Sherlock is back

Sherlock is back
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock was back in the courthouse today for the first time in weeks. Sherlock, 38, had been off work since Nov. 3, when she was hospitalized for an undisclosed neurological condition.
She declined to issue any further details this morning about her illness.
Today's is the last regularly scheduled meeting of the year for commissioners, though they could call a special meeting next week if one is necessary. Sherlock said she has worked from home during her recovery and that, despite rumors to the contrary, she intends to complete her term, which expires in two years.
Critical after shooting
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sam Vona III, 30, of Struthers was in critical condition today in St. Elizabeth Health Center with a gunshot wound to the face. Police found Vona's car on Beachwood Drive near Jacobs Road on the East Side around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Vona had collapsed in the roadway.
Stolen from church
YOUNGSTOWN -- Someone smashed a side-door window to get into Hillman Church of Christ on West Avondale Avenue between 4 p.m. Tuesday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and stole 12 large windows and glass doors from a fireplace, reports show. The thief removed a side window on the building to take out the stolen windows, police said.
Rezoning advised
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city planning board is recommending to city council that land on Industrial Road owned by Mahoning County be rezoned. The recommendation is to change the zoning from residential-single family to business between Bears Den Road and Baxter Avenue.
The county had asked for one section of the land to be rezoned industrial so a new emergency management office could be built. The change to business zoning still allows that project to happen, said Bill D'Avignon, city deputy director of planning.
Suspicious mail
CANFIELD -- A 74-year-old Crory Road man who received a suspicious Christmas card filed a report Wednesday with Cpl. Candy Guzzy of the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department. The man told Guzzy that the envelope, postmarked in Alliance, had a small circle cut out and when he touched it, tan-colored powder fell out. He placed the card in a plastic bag and took it to the post office, which advised him to call the sheriff's department. Guzzy gave the card to a Canfield fire department inspector.
Lowellville school board
LOWELLVILLE -- School board members scheduled their reorganizational meeting for 7 p.m. Jan. 9. The meeting coincides with the board's regular meeting.
Batcho sentenced
YOUNGSTOWN -- Municipal Judge Robert P. Milich has sentenced Mark A. Batcho of Campbell to 180 days in jail on an assault charge, allowing the time to run concurrent with the 18-year prison term Batcho is now serving.
Batcho's no-contest plea to the assault charge was entered Wednesday by his lawyer, Jeffrey Limbian. Batcho, 34, has been jailed in Lorain Correctional Institute since August, after he was deemed too unruly to stay in Mahoning County jail, pending trial next month on a murder charge. The assault charge was filed after Batcho hit a fellow inmate in February. Batcho's prison term was handed down after he admitted trying to kill county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains and wounding Atty. Gary L. Van Brocklin in 1996.