Politicians to debate

Politicians to debate
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Pa. State Rep. Michael Gruitza, D-7th, and James Lumpp, his challenger in the May primary election, will meet in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Mercer County. A three-member panel will question the two in a public setting at 7:30 p.m. May 14 in the Artman Elementary School community room. Questions will also be taken from the audience.
Candlelight vigil
SHARON, Pa.-- Alternatives for Women: Advocacy, Resources and Education will hold a candlelight vigil for victims and survivors of sexual violence from 6 to 8 p.m. April 30 at the Forker Lab building on the Penn State Shenango Campus, 147 Shenango Ave. "The Clothesline Project," consisting of T-shirts designed by victims, has been hanging in the building foyer all month in observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Lawyer sues client
YOUNGSTOWN -- One of two city policemen acquitted of robbing a man in a bar last year is being sued by his lawyer. Mark L. Rakocy of Cordova Avenue has not paid the $20,000 he owes Atty. Dennis DiMartino, who represented him in the criminal case, according to a lawsuit filed by DiMartino in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Rakocy and officer Christopher Lombard were accused of assaulting and robbing a Struthers man in the restroom of a Youngstown bar while they were off-duty in March 2001. A common pleas court jury found them innocent in January.
To serve time
WARREN -- A 36-year-old Brookfield man, convicted of four counts of gross sexual imposition, has been sentenced in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to a year in prison.
James Binion, no street address available, gets credit for the four months he served awaiting sentencing, court officials said.
He is accused of having sexual contact in November 2001 with an 8-year-old girl.
Charges bound over
YOUNGSTOWN -- Charges against a 26-year-old South Side man accused of firing a sawed-off shotgun into the School Street home of his ex-girlfriend have been bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury.
Adrian Gordon of Parkcliff Avenue faces a felony charge of discharging into a habitation and two felony weapons counts.
Municipal Court Judge Robert P. Milich sent the case to the grand jury Monday.
Gordon is accused of shooting at the house about 1:30 a.m. April 11.
Arrest in murder
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police arrested a third man in last month's murder of a 29-year-old McBride Street man.
Lorice Moore, 24, of McGuffey Road, faces a murder charge in the death of Stephen Shackleford, who was found March 19 outside his home in the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority's Victory Annex complex on the East Side.
Witnesses told police Shackleford was chased from his home by two men who were shooting at him. Investigators said four men were involved. They shot at him then came closer and shot him again.
Moore was arrested Monday. Two other men have been indicted in the slaying. Eddie Bryant, 24, of Cohasset Drive, and Armin D. Moore, 23, of Kendis Circle, each face one count of murder and a firearm specification.
An outstanding warrant remains for Calvin Moore, 30.
Counterfeit money
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police confiscated a counterfeit $100 bill Monday that was found in a cash register at the McDonald's restaurant on Mahoning Avenue. The bill turned up in a cash drawer Sunday. Restaurant policy prohibits employees from accepting $100 bills. A manager told police that three employees had access to the drawer during the shift but none recall accepting the bill. All refused to take a polygraph test.