Newton Falls schools

Newton Falls schools
NEWTON FALLS -- Members of the school district's classified employees union are considering a proposal offered by the board of education.
The two sides met Tuesday in the latest round of talks. Superintendent Linda Clapp said board members made an offer to the 52 members of the union, which represents bus drivers, cafeteria workers, secretaries and more in Newton Falls. The Association of Classified Employees has not voted on the matter.
Clapp said pending union members' decision, it's likely no new talks will be scheduled until after the holidays.
ACE members have worked under the terms of their former contract since June 30. Both sides have met several times since with no resolution.
Bread contract for jail
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners are expected to award a six-month, $9,622 contract today to Alfred Nickles Bakery Inc. of Navarre to provide bread to inmates at the county jail and juvenile detention center.
Nickles now sells bread to the facilities without a formal contract. State law requires that contracts greater than $15,000 a year be awarded through formal bidding.
The company dropped its price 20 percent when it had to compete for the business through bidding, officials say. Austintown Dairy also submitted a bid for the contract.
Contracting bribery
WARREN -- Owners of a former local contracting company are scheduled to return to federal court next week.
Dante Massacci, 80, of Central Parkway S.E., and his son, Dante Massacci Jr., 33, of Shadowood Lane S.E., who co-owned South Main Sand and Gravel, appeared in U.S. District Court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing. They are scheduled to return next week and may enter guilty pleas at that time, court officials said.
Federal officials have accused the men of paying bribes in order to be awarded city demolition contracts. FBI agents have declined to say who the men bribed. No current or former city officials have been charged.
Bribe solicitation probe
CORTLAND -- Police are investigating a complaint that a man dressed as a police officer stopped a motorist and asked for a bribe.
Police Chief Gary Mink said a resident told police that he was driving on Southdale Boulevard around 8:30 p.m. Monday when an unmarked vehicle with a flashing red and blue light mounted on the dashboard pulled him over.
The resident told police that the man asked him for $100. The resident refused to pay and left. Mink said he has not received any other complaints.
Teen program grant
VIENNA -- First Place Bank Community Foundation has awarded Teen Straight Talk a $5,000 grant.
The money is being used to maintain a Web master for Teen Straight Talk's online presence. TST's Web site serves as a point of reference for young people who are sexually active, thinking about becoming sexually active, and those who are committed to abstinence until marriage.
The site requires an administrator who provides services to an average of 150 daily visitors, plus more than 7,000 local participants of TST programs each year, and the many individuals each week who require personal e-mail assistance.
The Web site is www.teenstraighttalk.cjb.net.
Teen Straight Talk is located at 1393 Youngstown-Kingsville Road. Mary L. Duke is executive director.
Elias trial is reset
YOUNGSTOWN -- Trial has been reset for Canfield accountant Robert F. Elias, who is accused of cheating on his taxes and helping Richard D. Goldberg, an imprisoned and disbarred malpractice attorney, underreport his income by nearly $3 million.
At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus granted a defense motion and reset the Dec. 23 trial to April 14. Elias, 58, was indicted in August on three counts of tax evasion, willful failure to file tax returns and three counts of aiding in the preparation of false returns (1995-1997) for Goldberg.
Fair exhibitors to meet
CANFIELD -- The annual Canfield Fair exhibitors meeting will be at 1 p.m. Jan. 4. The arts and crafts department will meet in the Administration Building; the sheep department in the Western Reserve Inn. All other departments will meet in the Colonial Inn.