Firefighter exercise

Firefighter exercise
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two vacant homes will be burned at 10 a.m. today as part of the city school district's facilities project. The Youngstown Fire Department will burn two homes on Parker Street, behind the existing East Middle School, to clear the recently purchased land for the future construction of Eastside High School. The activity will also serve as a training exercise for new firefighters.
Wire fraud
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ronald E. Friend was sentenced Thursday to 10 months' imprisonment for wire fraud.
Friend, 43, of Kinsman, was convicted of scheming to defraud the Cadle Co. of Newton Falls of $100,000. Judge John M. Manos of U.S. District Court also ordered Friend to pay full restitution to the Cadle Co.
The indictment charged that beginning in 1993, Friend tried to defraud his employer, the Cadle Co., by fraudulently transferring properties owned by the company to a confidant in Atlanta at no cost. The Cadle Co. buys mortgage loans from institutions in distress.
Friend had managed the real estate properties for Cadle and was supposed to foreclose and sell property for the company's benefit.
New firefighters
WARREN -- The city administration has added two more firefighters. Mark Thigpen, 34, of Warren, and David VanDevender, 31, of Howland, were sworn in Friday afternoon.
Traffic charges
MERCER -- Jean Yates, 33, of Highland Avenue, New Castle, was sentenced to one to four years in jail on two traffic charges. Judge Michael Wherry of Mercer County Common Pleas Court sentenced her to six to 24 months for each of two misdemeanor convictions for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and the terms were ordered served consecutively. She was also fined $600.
Victorian concert
MERCER -- The Mercer Community Band, under the direction of Dr. Hendley D. Hoge, will present a Victorian concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the Mercer County Courthouse square.
Guest instrumental soloist, Joseph M. Pisano, will perform a trumpet rendition of "Variations on Stand Up and Cheer." Pisano is the director of music and fine arts technology and associate band director at Grove City College.
Guest vocal soloist will be Dr. Misook Yun. She has performed in Italy, Australia, the United States and her native South Korea. Yun has been an assistant professor in voice at Youngstown State University since 1999.
Health center project
YOUNGSTOWN -- Phase One of the two-phase project to renovate St. Elizabeth Health Center's emergency department is nearing completion, and the hospital's expanded emergency walk-in area will reopen Monday. For visitors, the main entrance driveway on Parmalee Avenue will also reopen Monday with new traffic flows to ease entry, parking and exiting. Phase Two, an expansion, will begin later in the year.
DNA fingerprinting
WARREN -- The DNA LifePrint Child Safety Tour will offer free DNA fingerprinting for children at the Seven Seventeen Credit Union, 3181 Larchmont Ave. N.E., from 2 to 6 p.m. July 17. The procedure involves rubbing the inside of the child's cheek for several seconds with an applicator, which is inserted into a solution, and the child's DNA is captured and will be preserved for more than 80 years. After each child goes through the line, the parents are handed the DNA sample.
GOLFF program
HOWLAND -- The United States Golf Association has awarded a $20,500 grant to Forum Health Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital to help support its GOLFF (Go On Living For Fun) program, which offers instruction in the game to seniors, individuals with disabilities and youths. The grant will be used for funding instruction, course fees and adaptive equipment.
One-lane traffic
LISBON -- Traffic on a section of state Route 164 south of Lisbon will be restricted to one lane beginning July 22. One-lane traffic is necessary to allow crews to replace four culverts on a four-mile stretch of the highway, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced.
The section of state Route 164 to be affected lies between state routes 39 and 518 in Wayne and Washington townships. Traffic will be maintained using temporary traffic signals. Work on the $878,500 project is to be completed by Oct. 31. BOG Construction Inc. of Berlin Center is doing the job.