Airport to get subsidies

Airport to get subsidies
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have decided to pay the full amount promised to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport for 2002.
Commissioners will send the remaining $75,000 of the $300,000 annual airport subsidy this week, commissioner Joseph J. Angelo Jr. said.
Mahoning County commissioners pledged a similar amount.
Subsidizing the airport also helps keep the Youngstown Air Force Reserve Station flying, Angelo said. The air base, which uses the airport's tower and runway, brings $86 million into the local economy and employs 2,000, Angelo said.
He also said commissioners intend to be involved in the selection of a new airport director. The current director of aviation, Tom Nolan, has announced his resignation effective next month.
Raises for wardens
WARREN -- Assistant wardens in the Trumbull County Jail will get retroactive pay raises under a contract approved by Trumbull County commissioners Thursday.
The eight members of the local unit of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association will get paid another 5 percent on hours they worked between Oct. 1, 2001, and Oct. 1, 2002, the first year of the contract. The terms of the contract are the same as those worked out with the union representing deputy sheriffs several months ago, said Chief Ernie Cook.
Under the old contract, they earned between $33,217 and $36,633 a year.
They will also get the equivalent of a 3 percent raise in the second and third years of the contract.
The new contract also increased longevity pay and the county's share of employee pension contributions.
The assistant wardens agreed to begin paying a portion of their health insurance premiums.
Changes in water bills
WARREN -- Water customers in Howland and Mineral Ridge will see changes to their bills next year, as an increasing bulk water rate trickles down through the county system.
The water it delivered to roughly 850 customers in Mineral Ridge, and 1,850 customers in Howland, is sold to the water districts by the city of Niles, said Thomas Holloway, the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer. Niles has increased its bulk water rate by 20 percent for next year, he said.
The cost is passed on to consumers. However, many Howland residents will see bills shrink because a charge for improvements to the systems is being reduced.
Under the rate adjustment, approved by county commissioners Thursday, Mineral Ridge customers across the board will pay 7 percent more on their monthly bills.
Howland customers who use 3,000 gallons a month will see their bills drop by 5.9 percent. Customers who use 5,000 gallons a month will pay 1 percent less, and those who use 7,500 gallons a month will pay 2 percent more.
School board to meet
NILES -- The board of edcuation will meet in special session at 9 a.m. Saturday in the library at Niles McKinley High School, 616 Dragon Drive, to address personnel issues and other business.
Crash kills motorcyclist
NEW SPRINGFIELD -- Daniel A. Flowers, 16, of New Springfield, was killed Thursday afternoon when he lost control of his motorcycle on Unity Road and crashed, the Ohio State Highway Patrol Canfield post said. Flowers' motorcycle, heading southbound on Unity at 3 p.m., slid off the right side of the road and struck a creek. The impact ejected the teenager, who then landed on the embankment near his motorcycle, the patrol said. Cause of the accident remains under investigation.
Levy yard signs
NORTH JACKSON -- Beginning next month, numerous yard signs will be posted around the Jackson-Milton School District. Superintendent Warne Palmer announced at Thursday's school board meeting that about 250 signs were ordered to remind residents of two renewal levies that will appear on a special ballot Feb. 4.