LOCAL

LOCAL
Pavlik setfor 12th bout
Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik will risk his 11-0 record in a middleweight professional boxing match against Rhon Robert (8-2-3) of Georgetown, New Ghiny on Feb. 23 in Las Vegas.
Pavlik, with 11 knockouts, will fight at Mandalay Bay. HBO will carry the eight-round bout.
Bell-Wick to hostwomen's tourney
HUBBARD -- The Youngstown Women's Bowling Association's 10th annual Senior Handicap Tournament will be March 3 at Bell-Wick Bowl.
The four categories are Class D (55-59 years), Class C (60-64), Class B (65-69) and Class A (70-over).
Entry fee is $14. Entries forms are available at all centers and due as soon as possible. Sciarra Siding and Erskine Xpress, Inc. are co-sponsors.
REGION
ONN to coverbasketball games
COLUMBUS -- The Ohio News Network and the Ohio High School Athletic Association will bring Ohio's own version of basketball madness to Ohioans in March, with coverage of all divisional girls and boys state championship games.
ONN's coverage of the girls semifinals begins March 14, leading up to the live championship games of all divisions on March 16. The same coverage schedule applies the following week for the boys semifinals and championship games.
Cavs make moves
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers activated guard Trajan Langdon on Friday and placed guard Bimbo Coles on the injured list.
Coles, who has a left knee sprain, has played in 47 games this season, averaging 3.2 points and 2.3 assists.
Langdon has played in 18 games, averaging 3.1 points. He missed 14 games while on the injured list with a right ankle sprain during separate stints in January and February.
The Cavaliers play in Chicago on Saturday night.
NATION
Padres outfielderdies in car crash
PEORIA, Ariz. -- San Diego Padres outfielder Mike Darr was killed early Friday when his car rolled over on a highway in Phoenix near the team's spring training camp. He was 25.
Another passenger in the vehicle -- 23-year-old Duane Johnson, of Reno, Nev. -- also was killed. Authorities said Darr was driving and alcohol appeared to be a factor in the one-car accident, which occurred at 2 a.m. MST (4 a.m. EST), just hours before the Padres began training for the 2002 season.
"We've lost a special teammate, a special person," Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman said, choking back tears. "There are a lot of heavy hearts in the locker room. There's a lot of shock in the clubhouse right now. ... You don't want to believe it."
Johnson and Darr were longtime friends dating to their childhood, and Darr lived with the Johnson family at one time in Reno, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Ben Howard, a 23-year-old pitcher who played for San Diego's Class-A and Double-A affiliates last season, was treated at the scene for scrapes and bruises and released, Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Frank Valenzuela said.
Bucs interestedin 49ers' Mariucci
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers asked for permission to talk to San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci about the Bucs' vacant head coaching job.
Mariucci and 49ers management met Friday to discuss the Bucs' interest, 49ers spokesman Chad Steele said.
Mariucci still has two years remaining on his contract with San Francisco. That means Tampa Bay would have to work out a trade that might include draft picks or players.
Tampa Bay officials contacted the 49ers this week, Steele said. Two of Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer's sons are in California now.
The Bucs have been looking for a coach since Tony Dungy was fired on Jan. 14.
Shotgun ownedby NBA standout
ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- A shotgun used in the fatal shooting of a limousine driver at the estate of Jayson Williams apparently belonged to the former NBA star, authorities said Friday.
Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember said it appeared the shotgun was one of several Williams kept at his 65-acre estate.
"I can't tell you specifically what the purpose of the shotgun was, but it was clearly a shotgun, and it belonged on the property," Lember said. "We have reason to believe it was one of a number of shotguns owned by Mr. Williams."
Lember wouldn't give any other details.
Limousine driver Costas Christofi, 55, was found with a shotgun wound to his chest at 2:54 a.m. Thursday inside a bedroom in the home, about 30 miles northwest of Trenton. The death was first reported to authorities as a suicide, but was later classified as suspicious after a preliminary investigation by the medical examiner.
Lember said an autopsy on Christofi's body was scheduled for Friday and results may not be available for weeks. Lember did not anticipate any immediate criminal charges.
Texas says noto Mike Tyson
AUSTIN, Texas -- Mike Tyson's application to box in Texas was denied Friday, the latest setback in the former heavyweight champion's attempt to get a sanctioned bout against Lennox Lewis.
Vindicator staff/wire reports