Motorcyclist 'critical' after Friday accident

Motorcyclist 'critical'after Friday accident
COLUMBIANA -- A motorcyclist was reported in critical condition late Friday in St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown, after running off state Route 558 just west of Fairfield School Road in Fairfield Township earlier in the day.
Roy B. Owens, 41, of Millbrook Road, New Waterford, was westbound when he went off the right side of the road, struck a ditch and overturned at 1:15 p.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Lisbon said. Owens, who did not wear a helmet, was ejected and hit the pavement, the patrol said.
Murder trial nears end
YOUNGSTOWN -- Testimony continues Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where Shawn Greene is on trial, charged with murder.
Greene, 30, of West Warren Avenue, is accused in the April 1999 shooting death of 24-year-old Daniel Wilkerson. Judge Maureen A. Cronin sent jurors home for the weekend Friday after they'd heard testimony from Greene and another witness.
Defense attorneys James Gentile and Ronald Yarwood are expected to finish their case Monday, after which jurors will hear closing arguments and begin deliberating.
Hearing right waived
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- An East Wallace Avenue man charged with attempted homicide, recklessly endangering another person and terroristic threats has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
New Castle police arrested Donald Ray Jones, 24, Sunday night at a block party in the Lincoln Terrace public housing units. Police said he got into a fight with another man and pulled out a gun and fired two shots. The man was not injured, police said.
Assistant District Attorney Birgitta Tolvanen withdrew a charge of carrying a firearm without a license. She said they later learned Jones is licensed to carry a firearm. Jones will be formally arraigned in common pleas court in the next month and then a trial date will be set.
Garage fire in Poland
POLAND -- Firefighters spent about an hour extinguishing a garage fire at 6004 Frontier Drive. No one was injured.
The fire started at about 2:40 a.m. Friday in the garage wall, said personnel at the Western Reserve Joint Fire District. Fire officials think it was caused by an electrical problem.
Firefighters tore out the wall to put out the fire. There was no damage to the home.
Assault charges
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Leon Drive man has waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment and burglary.
He will be formally arraigned in common pleas court and a trial date will be set.
Police said that on May 7, Dewayne Johnson, 25, forced his ex-girlfriend out of her Farrell home and told her to take him to her new boyfriend's house.
Police said the woman picked a house at random on Epworth Street, ran inside and hid behind the 46-year-old man who answered the door. Police said Johnson stabbed the man in the upper arm.
Police said Johnson then grabbed a golf club and hit the woman in the forehead as she ran and hid under a truck. Johnson ran off and was arrested by police in Mercer County. He was in the Lawrence County Jail on Friday in lieu of $50,000 bond.
Drug case going to trial
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Dana Austin, one of 12 people arrested in a drug sweep in March, was ordered to stand trial by District Justice Melissa Amodie.
Austin, 23, of Moravia Street, is accused of four charges of criminal use of a communication facility. The Pennsylvania attorney general's office conducted the investigation and is handling the prosecution.
Jesse D. Pettit, deputy attorney general, said 10 others arrested in the drug sweep have either waived their rights to preliminary hearings and are waiting trial or have also been bound to trial by the district justice.
The last person charged will have his preliminary hearing Friday, Pettit said. Austin was taken back to the Lawrence County Jail after his hearing when he failed to post $25,000 bond.
5th Ward meeting
WARREN -- Councilman Brendan J. Keating, D-5th, will have a ward meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Devon Elementary School.
Keating will give an update on current city issues and take questions from ward residents on other matters.
The councilman said residents unable to attend the meeting can call him at (330) 399-2210.