Guilty plea in arsons

Guilty plea in arsons
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jeffrey King, 28, of Woodhurst Drive pleaded guilty Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to two counts of arson. He faces six to 18 months in prison on each charge. Judge R. Scott Krichbaum ordered a background check before King is sentenced in January.
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Pochiro said King set fire to a vacant house on Mildred Street in Austintown in April. The house did not completely burn, so King burned it again in August, Pochiro said.
Columbiana Co. lawsuit
LISBON -- A former worker with the Columbiana County Highway Department is suing county officials over a pay dispute. Robert Thompson of 614 W. Lincoln Way, filed a lawsuit in common pleas court last month seeking $13,748 in accumulated, unused vacation pay he says the county still owes him after his retirement in December 1999. Named as defendants in the suit are county Engineer Bert Dawson and county commissioners.
Kidnapping charge
CAMPBELL -- Vincent D. Marbley is being held in Mahoning County Jail on $700,000 bond. Police said he kidnapped his girlfriend at gunpoint Thursday.
Marbley, 36, of Campbell, was charged before Judge John P. Almasy in municipal court Friday with felonious assault, kidnapping, carrying a concealed weapon and having a weapon while under disability.
Police said the kidnapping was foiled when Marbley made his 35-year-old girlfriend buy gas for their vehicle while he waited in the car. The woman notified a McCartney Road BP gas station attendant. An officer with the Mahoning County Sheriff's department pulled over the car minutes later. A preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday.
Mahoning River cleanup
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners are asking local companies to contribute to the cleanup of the Mahoning River.
Letters were mailed Friday to 42 major employers, asking for a cash donation by Nov. 20.
Commissioners are trying to raise $36,000 by the end of the month to ensure that the next phase of the river cleanup will proceed as planned. Mahoning County is also contributing toward the $75,000 total cost.
City and county leaders have been informed of their community's "suggested contribution," should fund-raising efforts come up short.
Meeting change
MERCER -- Mercer County commissioners have changed their second meeting of November to Thursday because their regular meeting falls Thanksgiving Day. They have also set two special meetings. Adoption of a preliminary budget is set for Nov. 27. Final action on the budget will take place Dec. 27. All three meetings will be at 10:30 a.m. in the commissioners meeting room in the basement of the county courthouse.
Lake Vista craft event
CORTLAND -- Carol Wise from Michaels Arts & amp; Crafts will speak about holiday trimming crafts from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Lake Vista of Cortland, 303 N. Mecca St. (state Route 46).
The event, which will be in Lake Vista's gathering room in the clubhouse, is free, and breakfast pastries will be served. Reservations are required, however, by Wednesday. Call (330) 638-2420.
Art exhibit at gardens
YOUNGSTOWN -- Artist Marilena Pistoia of Milan, Italy, will have an exhibit of her art at Mill Creek Park's Weller Gallery in the Davis Center in Fellows Riverside Gardens from Friday to Jan. 6. The art in this exhibit was selected from her gift of 223 original watercolor paintings to the Hunt Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Miss Pistoia has degrees from the Academy of Fine Arts, Milan and the Anatomical Design School, Bologna, Italy. She teaches painting in Bologna. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2001 Tenant Forum
YOUNGSTOWN -- "Your rights and responsibilities as a renter'' is the topic of the 2001 Tenant Forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday in St. Dominic Parish Center (the former St. Dominic School), 3403 Southern Blvd.
Speakers will be Atty. Robert Christian, a Youngstown lawyer whose practice includes landlord-tenant law; Michael Damiano, city housing inspection supervisor, and Lt. Rod Foley with the city police community services. The program is sponsored by the South Side Weed and Seed Program and the Southern Boulevard Block Watch.