Student arrested

Student arrested
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 14-year-old Woodrow Wilson High School student was arrested at school around 9 a.m. Wednesday and charged with conveyance of a weapon in school after authorities found a handgun in his shoe, police reports show.
A teacher working at a metal detector at the Indianola Avenue entrance of the school saw a pair of blue sneakers on a heating register in a main hallway. Inside the shoes was an unloaded .22-caliber magnum holding three spent shell casings, a pack of cigarettes and a stick of deodorant.
Officers observed the student retrieve the shoes before class and took him to the office of the assistant principal. He said he did not know the gun or cigarettes were in the shoes, police reports says. He was arrested and taken to the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
Canfield schools
CANFIELD -- About 150 local residents attended a public forum Wednesday night to hear talk about the future of Canfield schools.
The forum was held so that residents could listen to the candidates for Canfield school board express their opinions about the issues facing the schools. Eight of the nine candidates for the board attended the 90-minute forum, which was held at Canfield High School.
The candidates who attended were Lynne Bellish, Mark J. Squicquero, Robert C. McClusky, David J. Moore, John E. Davis, Nicholas Maiorana, Sam Pitzulo, and Bruce E. Brocker. Candidate Bruce R. Kirkland did not attend.
They talked about communication, busing, and all-day kindergarten, among other issues.
Charged in grabbing
BOARDMAN -- Township police have charged a 20-year-old Homeworth, Ohio, man with sexual imposition after a Canfield woman said he grabbed her while she was shopping in Ames Department Store on Boardman-Canfield Road on Tuesday afternoon.
Police reports said the man ran out of the store and left the parking lot driving a red 1991 Pontiac Trans Am, but was pulled over a short time later. The man is free after posting bond.
Input on arena
YOUNGSTOWN -- Council members will be talking with city lawyers about their thoughts on a contract with the board overseeing the proposed downtown arena. An expected council committee meeting didn't materialize, Mayor George M. McKelvey said Wednesday, so direct council input to the law department is the fastest route.
McKelvey hopes council adds its input and a complete draft can be worked up by early next week. The draft then goes to the arena board for its input.
The city's hope is that council can approve the contract at its meeting Wednesday, but that is looking less likely.
McKelvey has said the contract will have to be more of a partnership between the city and the board, including decisions.
Earlier this year, the issue of whether council or the board controls the $26.8 million money secured so far resulted in weeks of sniping until it was worked out.
Drug charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 44-year-old city man was arrested Wednesday on cocaine and drug paraphernalia charges after police found a glass crack pipe, six rocks of suspected crack cocaine and two small plastic bags containing crack cocaine in his car during a traffic stop on Martin Luther King Boulevard at Funston Street, police reports show. The vehicle was searched after city police saw the pipe in the car. The man was also issued a summons for swerving.
Dinner for medical team
CANFIELD -- The Mission of Love will have a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Colonial Catering here to honor a medical team that provided treatment in Mexico. The treatment, including two surgeries, saved the life of Uba Balam, a Mayan Indian from Mexico who is an interpreter for the Mission of Love medical and construction teams there.
Medical treatment was not available for Balam in her homeland. The medical team consisted of Drs. Kathie Nelson, Todd Bodd Boliton, Nancy Gantt, Robert Rodgers, James Goettsch and Jean Lambert and registered nurse Linda Budd. Cost of the steak dinner is $20 per person. Call Kathleen Price at (330) 793-2388 for reservations.