Plates charge dismissed

Plates charge dismissed
YOUNGSTOWN -- A charge of use of unauthorized plates against Haspen Leggette, 49, of Youngstown-Warren Road was dismissed this week in municipal court. Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. dismissed the charge after determining that Leggette had a valid title and registration for the truck he had been driving when stopped by police. When the officer checked the vehicle identification number, it came back that the truck was owned by the city so he had it towed and held for the auto theft division. At the time of the stop, Leggette told the officer that the truck was his and the plates were his wife's.
Warrant to be dropped
YOUNGSTOWN -- A warrant issued for Diane Knaff, 40, of Hill Creek Court, Columbus, on charges of receiving stolen property and forgery will be dismissed, said Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains. The warrant was issued Friday. It had accused Knaff of using a credit card in Boardman that belonged to homicide victim Suzanne M. Dalton, 43, of Columbus. Dalton's charred body was found Sunday morning in the trunk of her husband's burning car on the East Side. Gains said Knaff apparently has an alibi for Sunday, the day the card was used. He said the investigation continues.
Homeland security
COLUMBUS -- Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties each received $45,830 federal homeland security grants, administered by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. The grants will allow county emergency management agencies to either hire staff or contract for planning assistance as they revise their local emergency operations plans. In all, the state received $3.9 million in federal emergency management grants distributed to all 88 counties in Ohio.
Heart help on turnpike
BEREA -- To help save turnpike travelers from sudden cardiac arrest, 18 automated external defibrillators have been purchased by the Ohio Turnpike Commission. They will be installed in the lobby of each turnpike service center, next to the 911 phone. Service plaza managers and other employees will be trained. Turnpike patrol personnel already received training.
Man critical after wreck
MERCER, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police said Shane Clokey, 23, of Scrubgrass Road, Grove City, suffered serious injuries when his pickup truck ran off Springfield Church Road and struck a tree and utility pole. Police said Clokey wasn't wearing a seat belt when his truck ran off a curve as he was driving south around 12:35 a.m. Thursday. He was taken to United Community Hospital in Grove City and then transferred to UPMC in Pittsburgh where he remained in critical condition late Friday.
Health-O-Rama is set
BOARDMAN -- The Health-O-Rama Health Fair is scheduled for March 7 and 8 at the Southern Park Mall. Health-O-Rama is a nonprofit event at which any agency that offers health related service or supplies may exhibit and provide information and screenings at no cost to the public. Health-O-Rama, in existence for 26 years and managed by a volunteer council, has established a scholarship fund at Youngstown State University for students in health related fields. Agencies may receive registration information by calling (330) 629-6289 by Dec. 27.
Midland has its donkey
MIDLAND, Pa. (AP) -- This Beaver County borough now finds itself burrowing through offers of burros.
Local officials had put the word out that they were looking for a donkey to be used in a Christmas pageant, and they've gotten quite a response.
Midland Mayor Bill Shovlin announced Wednesday that a live Nativity scheduled for Dec. 21 and sponsored by churches in the borough, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, could be canceled for lack of a live donkey in the stable scene.
But Thursday, Shovlin said borough phones began ringing at 7:30 a.m. with offers from donkey owners all over the county who were willing to let their animal participate.
"It's definitely on," Shovlin said of the pageant, called "A Christmas Journey", which is sponsored by the Midland Area Ministerium.
Campus center opens
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The University of Pittsburgh has opened the school's new Center on Race and Social Problems, a week after a black professor went public about a small noose he says was left on a lectern in his English classroom.
The purpose of the center, which opened Thursday, is to fund and develop research projects, to provide information on race and race relations to regional groups, and to train students to conduct racial research.
"The time was right," said Larry Davis, dean of the university's school of social work, which oversees the center.
Campus police and the FBI are investigating a report by Stefan Wheelock, a black assistant professor who said that last month he found a noose made of string next to a copy of "Invisible Man," a book by black author Ralph Ellison.