Severance request

Severance request
YOUNGSTOWN -- The arena board is asking the city to make good on its severance package with its office manager. The board, which was expected to dissolve itself this afternoon, approved a severance deal in December for its only employee, Kim Henshaw. Henshaw is to get her salary, $1,083 every two weeks, and benefits such as health insurance for three months. The board has no funding, so it is asking the city to meet the "moral and legal obligation."
Police levy set in Milton
LAKE MILTON -- A 2-mill continuing levy to help pay for police operations will appear on the ballot in Milton Township this May. Trustees voted 2-1 to place the levy on the ballot. Trustee Loy Metzler cast the dissenting vote.
Judge seeks re-election
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Beth A. Smith has filed nominating petitions for re-election as Mahoning County's domestic relations judge. Judge Smith, a Democrat from Boardman, was elected to a six-year term in 1996.
Break-in foiled
BOARDMAN -- Police are looking for a man who broke into a township business and confronted an employee with a knife at the business early today. An employee at The Tire Pad on Southern Boulevard told police he was sleeping in a rear room at the business just before 2:30 a.m. when he heard a noise in the lobby. Police said the employee went to investigate the noise and was confronted by a man holding a large steak knife. Reports say the intruder pointed the knife at the employee and asked what the worker was still doing there. The intruder then left the business after the employee closed himself in another room and called police.
Chimney causes fire
YOUNGSTOWN -- A faulty chimney caused a morning fire at 2630 Brunswick Road, a city fire official said. Assistant Fire Chief Joe Jasinski said the homeowner had gone to bed with a bed of smoldering embers in the fireplace and was awakened by a loud cracking noise at about 6:15 a.m. and discovered his garage was full of smoke.
Jasinski said the fire started in the attic and caused $60,000 damage to the house and $25,000 damage to its contents. There were no injuries. Jasinski said a call to firefighters was delayed when the homeowner attempted to dial the 330 area code before dialing 911. Jasinski reminds residents no area code is needed before dialing the emergency number.
Child home alone
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 20-year-old East Side man faces a misdemeanor charge of child endangering after an 11-year-old nephew left in his care was found Wednesday crying in a field wearing only a shirt.
He told city police his uncle had given him marijuana and left him home alone. The child was taken to Forum Health Tod Children's Hospital for an examination. The uncle, of Dignan Street, was watching the child, who did not go to school Wednesday. Police said he was arrested for leaving the boy home alone.
Gun, drug charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 23-year-old North Side man faces gun and drug charges after city police saw him leave a vehicle carrying gun. Police spotted the 1995 Jeep Cherokee that they suspect is related to a homicide investigation about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and followed it to a driveway on Winona Drive on the city's South Side.
There, they saw the Fairgreen Avenue man get out with the gun and chased him to the corner of Colfax Street and LaClede Avenue, where they found a .44-caliber pistol in his possession. They said they also found 13 packets of suspected marijuana in his shoe.
Robbery report
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 47-year-old North Side man reported to city police that a woman had entered his stopped car, held a knife to his throat, and ordered him to drive to an apartment, where she robbed him.
The man said he had stopped his car at Lexington Avenue and Foster Street on the city's North Side about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday when the woman got in and took him to the Griffith Street address. She took his wallet, keys and the title to his car and gave it to a man there, he told police. The woman was arrested Wednesday when the man took police to the Griffith Street address to recover his car and saw her walking nearby. The man said the woman had tried to get him to sign over his title at knife point and he escaped out a back door when she answered a knock at the front door.