Woman found dead

Woman found dead
CORTLAND -- Police are investigating the death of a 31-year-old Stahl Avenue woman.
Detective Tom Andrews said today that Linda Stevens was found dead inside her home around 11 a.m. Tuesday.
There were no signs of foul play.
Autopsy results are pending, but Andrews said police are "99.9 percent sure" it is not a homicide case.
Man destroys flags
WARREN -- A 53-year-old Hazelwood man was to appear in court today to face charges that he destroyed flags and markers around the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the World War II Memorial.
Keith A. Ross was being held in the Trumbull County jail pending arraignment, court officials said.
Police reported arresting Ross on the misdemeanor charges around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Giant garage sale
WARREN -- The 15th annual Garage Sale Extravaganza to benefit the Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, runs today through Wednesday in Ridgeview Plaza at Ridge and Youngstown (U.S. Route 422) roads.
The event was organized by Jim and Pam Pierce of Liberty, their daughter, Tami Dykens, and her husband, Tom.
Italian pageant
WARREN -- The Warren Italian American Heritage Festival is accepting applications until July 29 for the Tiny King and Queen pageant.
The pageant will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 10 on Courthouse Square. The festival runs Aug. 10-12.
The contest is open to children 3 through 5 living in Trumbull or abutting counties.
For more information or to get an application, call Dina Sharp at (330) 847-0916 or the festival office at (330) 393-3444.
Car show and breakfast
CORTLAND -- Dust off your hot rod, and get ready to roll to the Lions Club's ninth annual Cortland Car Show from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Jeff Payne, second vice president of the club, expects 130 to 150 cars. "We'll have any kind of car from pre-1939 up to 2001," he said.
Twenty-two trophies are up for grabs.
Show registration, which costs $8, will be from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Lions Club building on Main Street, where the club is also throwing a pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. A plate of sausage and eggs or pancakes and sausage can be purchased for $3.
All proceeds from the show and the breakfast support the Lions Club's work with the blind and the less fortunate of the community, Payne said.
Local band Five Wheel Drive will perform from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Mobile home fire
WARREN TOWNSHIP -- No cause has been determined in a fire that destroyed a mobile home in a township trailer park Wednesday afternoon.
No one was home when the blaze broke out on Blossom Drive in Villager Trailer Park. Damage is estimated at $3,500.
Trailers beside the home had heat damage, fire officials said. Firefighters weren't able to contact the trailer park manager to determine the owner of the home.
Evacuation from odor
WARREN -- Some 182 employees were evacuated from Excel Extrusions, an ALCOA aluminum fabricating plant on University Drive, Thursday evening because of a rotten-egg odor.
The half-hour work stoppage ended around 10:22 p.m., according to Madonna J. Pinkard, manager of local and external affairs for Dominion East Ohio.
The odor was sucked into the plant by ventilator fans that bring in outside air. Dominion workers checked the plant, found no gas leak and declared it safe, she said.
Afterward, Dominion workers checked nearby for the source of the odor.
There are several other industrial plants and gas wells in the area, Pinkard said, adding that Dominion isn't sure natural gas is causing the odor.
Pistol possession
CLEVELAND -- A 21-year-old Warren resident has been charged with being a felon in possession of firearms.
A federal indictment accuses Tariq A. Bowers of Mercer Avenue, N.E., with possessing two semi-automatic pistols on April 10 after having been convicted of crack cocaine trafficking Oct. 18, 1999, in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Farmers market
MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer Farmers' Market begins its 2001 season Saturday in the parking lot of District Justice Ruth French off U.S. Route 19 just southwest of the courthouse. The market will be open from 8 to 11 a.m. each Saturday until late October offering fresh produce, plants, herbs, baked goods, jams and jellies.