Deputy is beaten

Deputy is beaten
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Trumbull County deputy sheriff was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center for facial injuries after a fight around 2:30 a.m. Thursday at Ernie McDoogell's bar on Rayen Avenue. City police found John Tatarka, 23, of Austintown lying on the dance floor with blood covering his head and face.
A witness told police that he overheard two of the North Side bar's bouncers say that they wanted to beat up Tatarka because he is a cop. Tatarka was hit with a beer bottle and punched, according to reports. The investigation has been turned over to the detective division. The bar was to have closed permanently at midnight Wednesday, because its liquor license renewal was denied.
Sledding still bannedat Mosquito Lake park
BAZETTA -- Sledding is off limits this winter at Mosquito Lake State Park. It was banned two years ago after a sledder was hit by a car on state Route 305. The ban was largely ignored, but now the Army Corps of Engineers says that areas close to the dam will remain closed.
Slopes near the dam have been closed since Sept. 11. The areas will be marked off until further notice.
Winter activities that will be permitted in some areas are ice fishing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing and camping.
Call the park office at 637-2856.
Arrest in Austintown
AUSTINTOWN -- Township police arrested a 22-year-old Boardman man for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after he ignored an officer's orders to leave the area outside The Mill nightclub on South Raccoon Road. Police reports show that bar security escorted the man, who was drunk, kicking and yelling obscenities, from the bar about 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Officers warned him twice to leave before arresting him. The man swore at officers and walked back toward the bar, when they knocked him to the ground and struck his triceps to force him to submit to handcuffing.
Dental hygiene
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Dental Hygiene Program at Youngstown State University will sponsor an open house and tour for prospective students from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 1112 of Cushwa Hall on Lincoln Avenue.
Visitors will have an opportunity to meet faculty members, academic advisers, students and staff from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. There also will be a tour of the Dental Hygiene Clinic.
The two-year dental hygiene program leads to an associate degree in applied science.
Additional information may be obtained by contacting Bonnie Winters, department of dental hygiene (330) 742-1767.
Food Stamp changes
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Hunger Task Force, in collaboration with the Youngstown State University Social Work Department and Mahoning County Help Hotline Crisis Center, is offering a free training session to social service professionals and agencies in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties regarding changes in Food Stamp Program regulations.
The workshops will be at 10 a.m. and 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at YSU. The purpose is to explain the new regulations so professionals and volunteers may better help the low-income families they serve.
Parking in Poland
POLAND -- Poland Village Planning Commission will hold a public forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday at town hall to discuss parking along roads. Village council will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at town hall to discuss the proposed Yellow Creek Pedestrian Access Corridor.
Fowl play
WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) -- A Washington County couple say their lawn ornament was a victim of fowl play.
Jack and Connie Frazier's plastic goose disappeared in May and returned just as suddenly on Monday. But the real mystery is where the goose was in the interim.
The Fraziers started receiving ransom notes in July. The first, postmarked from Steubenville, demanded $303 in cash. A similar letter from St. Petersburg, Fla., three weeks later included three black plastic feathers as "proof" that kidnappers had the goose.
A final letter last month contained a snapshot of the goose -- its legs bound with yellow rope and a blindfold over its eyes. The hand of a man was pointing a gun at the goose's head.
The globe-trotting goose apparently made one more stop. It was wearing a Hawaiian lei when it reappeared.
Connie Frazier, 63, wasn't overjoyed by the reunion. "I never did like that thing," she said.