Man is hospitalized after being shot in back

Man is hospitalizedafter being shot in back
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jermaine Tillis, 28, of North Lane Avenue was in critical condition today in St. Elizabeth Health Center with a gunshot wound to his back.
Police found Tillis lying in the gutter about 5:40 p.m. Monday near a car parked in front of his East Side house. The car, an older-model Pontiac Bonneville, had its side windows shot out and bullet holes were found in the doors. Tillis was conscious when police found him, but he declined to say what happened, reports show.
Warrant discovered
YOUNGSTOWN -- After police interviewed 20-year-old Shawn M. Rollins at St. Elizabeth Health Center early today about what he described as an aggravated robbery on the North Side, they discovered a warrant had been issued for his arrest in June 2001 on a criminal-damage charge.
Patrolmen Bill Ward and Mike Hartzell also discovered that a domestic violence report had been filed against the Tyrell Street man about the same time -- 9 p.m. Monday -- as he said five men with nylon stockings covering their faces jumped him on Fairgreen Avenue, hit him in the face with a baseball bat and robbed him of $70.
After treatment at the hospital for a split lip and swollen jaw, Rollins was booked into Mahoning County Jail.
Theft trial continues
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jury deliberation was to continue today in the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court trial of Mark Rakocy and Christopher Lombard. Both are Youngstown police officers charged with robbery.
Prosecutors say the officers were off-duty when they stole $480 from a man in the restroom of the Pulse bar on Market Street. Lombard and Rakocy, who are suspended without pay while the case is pending, deny it. Jurors deliberated just more than two hours Monday before being sent home by Judge James C. Evans.
Board approves funds
COLUMBUS -- Without comment, the State Controlling Board approved $26,502 for architectural services for improvements to Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
The work includes providing construction documents to install a sound system and new boilers at the historic North Side facility on Fifth Avenue.
The sound system has been finished, the state said, and has come in under budget. The boiler project is still being designed, the state said.
Local sponsors have decided to pay the additional costs and have the complete boiler system done at one time rather than the partial installation project that was planned, state records say. Any costs above the amount the state approved Monday would be paid locally.
Monday's release included an unbid contract with Steel Valley Engineering of Youngstown for the services. State officials said the firm was local with a background in theater design and restoration.
Money for D.A.R.E.
AUSTINTOWN -- The township was to receive a $10,850 check today from the state attorney general's office to finance Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs.
The goal of the D.A.R.E. programs is to reduce the use of illegal drugs and violence through educational programs provided to students in the township school district and three parochial schools within the township.
The overall program is funded by the attorney general's office, the township school district, and the township police district.
Thief steals cash
AUSTINTOWN -- A thief took an undetermined amount of money from a cash box in an Internet access booth at the T/A Travel Center, 5400 Seventy-Six Drive, police reports show.
An assistant manager told police that sometime between 3:15 and 3:45 p.m. Monday someone removed three locks from the Internet booth and clipped a band on a cash box, stealing the money.
Joint meeting set
NORTH LIMA -- Beaver Township Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals will have a joint meeting at 6:30 p.m. today to reorganize for the year.
The two boards will elect officers and review and discuss proposed amendments to the township zoning ordinance. The meeting will be in the township meeting room in the South Range Plaza.