Dems question tuition

Dems question tuition
YOUNGSTOWN -- A local Democrats group is questioning the city's tuition payment for a council member who attended a police academy. Mark Belinky, president of the Democrats of the 17th District, is asking city Law Director John McNally IV to seek reimbursement from Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st.
Gillam had city council pay his $2,000 tuition because he considers it part of his training as a councilman. Gillam recently graduated from the Western Reserve Police Academy in Boardman. He is now a reserve Mahoning County deputy sheriff, meaning he is unpaid.
Belinky argues the spending was improper. He contends the tuition is a personal matter and unrelated to Gillam's council position. McNally said Wednesday he hadn't yet seen Belinky's request and couldn't comment.
String of thefts
BOARDMAN -- Police are investigating a rash of vehicle break-ins that occurred throughout the township.
All of the thefts took place Tuesday night, and two were reported by Chester Drive residents. A 31-year-old man told police the left rear vent window was broken out and a gold tennis bracelet and other items with a total value of $650 were removed; a 33-year-old man reported damage to his driver's door window and CDs taken from his vehicle. The property was valued at $525.
Other reports include the theft of a checkbook, credit card and leather jacket from the truck of a 41-year-old South Avenue woman, the removal of a tailgate valued at $1,000 from a truck parked at the residence of a 27-year-old Glenwood Avenue man and the theft of 60 CDs valued at $600 from the vehicle of a 20-year-old Oak Knoll man.
Firearms indictment
CLEVELAND -- A federal grand jury has indicted a Youngstown resident on firearms charges. Adrian L. Gordon, 26, of Parkcliffe Avenue, was charged with possessing an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The case was investigated by Youngstown police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Bound to grand jury
YOUNGSTOWN -- John R. Whitelock Jr.'s charges of carrying a concealed weapon and illegal conveyance of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone have been bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury from municipal court. The 52-year-old Parkview Avenue man was stopped last month near Williamson Elementary School in a home-decorated police car. Charges of speeding, driving without a valid license, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, not wearing a seat belt and failure to display a front license were dismissed in municipal court. The car Whitelock drove is owned by Alpha Omegas Evangelistic Association, a church at his home.
Stolen credit card
BOARDMAN -- A New York woman called local police after someone used her credit card and had some of the purchases sent to a Boardman address. The 73-year-old Yonkers woman called police Wednesday afternoon saying numerous charges from March 23 appeared on her Discover card. The card was used to make purchases over the Internet, three of which were delivered locally. The local address and the value of the items purchased were not made public.
Suspect sought
AUSTINTOWN -- Police are looking for a man who they say was driving a car when it nearly struck the Wedgewood Lanes building on Raccoon Road early today. The man is described as black, in his early 20s, and wearing his hair in a tight weave. Police said at about 1 a.m. they watched the man drive over the sidewalk curb in front of the building several times, almost striking the building.
As a police car approached the man, he drove off, speeding onto New Road. An officer pulled the car over on New Road near Yolanda Drive. As the officer was getting out of his cruiser, the man drove off, heading north on South Meridian Road at about 80 mph.