Candidate endorsed

Candidate endorsed
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Police Ranking Officers Organization is endorsing Anthony J. Farris' bid for Youngstown Municipal Court judge. Farris, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, is challenging Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. in the May 8 Democratic primary.
"Your pledge to us to ... respect the point of view of the police department is refreshing considering the current situation," the organization wrote Farris. "Time and time again, we see violent offenders released on low bonds when it is clear that they are an obvious danger to the community and potential witnesses."
The union represents captains, lieutenants, sergeants and detective sergeants in the Youngstown Police Department. The union has about 85 members.
Woman robbed in home
BOARDMAN -- A Mathews Road woman told police two men forced their way into her home Thursday afternoon and took $23. The woman told police that as she opened her front door around 12:30 p.m., one man grabbed her from behind and said, "Don't scream!" while a second man entered the home.
They forced her to the basement and demanded her money. She gave one of the men $20, but he grabbed her, searched her pockets and took an additional $3.
The victim said both men then left her home, got in a car, and drove away.
Funeral, burial fund
WARREN -- A fund has been established at area First Federal Savings and Loan of Warren branches to help pay funeral and burial costs for 13-year-old Della Purbaugh, who died Saturday after falling through the ice on a pond in Quinby Park.
Trumbull County Children Services said Betty George and family, who had been rearing the Western Reserve junior high pupil, are unable to pay for the funeral and burial, which was Wednesday.
Contributions can be made to the Della Purbaugh Memorial Fund at participating First Federal locations in Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties.
Warren police Sgt. Joseph O'Grady and the Rev. Allan McCracken of Liberty Bible Church in Vienna raised money to fly in Della's mother for the funeral. She lives in Las Vegas.
For more information, call Children Services at (330) 372-2010.
Bill to ban drillingunder Mosquito Lake
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, D-17th, has introduced a bill that would ban drilling beneath Mosquito Lake in Cortland.
Last year, the House passed identical legislation that would have banned all drilling activity, including slant or directional drilling, from lands owned by the United States. The Senate failed to act upon the bill, however, and it died, a Traficant press release states.
The four local governments directly impacted by the proposed drilling -- the cities of Cortland and Warren, Bazetta Township and Trumbull County -- have opposed the proposed drilling. Despite the objections, officials say an oil and gas company expects to begin drilling later this month.
Man sought in theft
FARRELL, Pa. -- Police said they will secure an arrest warrant today for an Ulp Street, Masury, man accused of taking money from a Sharon woman early today.
Police said the theft started shortly before 1 a.m. when a man took money from the Malleable Street, Sharon, woman in her home. He left, but she followed him, catching up in the 700 block of Lee Avenue, where she jumped onto the hood of his car, police said. The man started driving with her holding on and wound up in the parking lot of the police station several blocks away at Spearman Avenue and Roemer Boulevard, where the woman was knocked to the ground.
Police said the man then took some more money from her and drove away. The victim suffered minor injuries and didn't require hospital treatment, police said.
Tornado siren tests
WARREN -- Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency and all townships with tornado-alert sirens will test them at noon Saturday. The tests will be done on the first Saturday of every month, EMA officials said.