Cancer Society holds Relay for Life event

Cancer Society holdsRelay for Life event
LISBON -- The American Cancer Society is set to kick off its first Relay for Life held in Lisbon.
The fund-raiser begins today at 6 p.m. and continues until 6 p.m. Saturday at Bud Bucher Football Field, 263 W. Pine St.
Organizers have set a $25,000 fund-raising goal for the 24-hour event in which relay team members will take turns walking, jogging or running around the field's track for a 24-hour period.
Cancer survivors are spotlighted during the relay. They will be taking the opening lap.
The community is invited to stop by during the 24 hours to watch.
Jailed on drug charges
MANSFIELD -- A 23-year-old Lisbon woman was in Richland County Jail pending her initial appearance today in municipal court here on a third-degree felony charge of attempting to convey drugs into a correctional facility.
The woman was arrested Thursday afternoon when she sold about a tenth of an ounce of heroin to an undercover state trooper at a prearranged Richland County location, with the understanding that the drugs would be brought into the Mansfield Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The heroin has an estimated street value of $1,200, but inside the prison would sell for about $12,000, the patrol said.
The woman was also charged with minor misdemeanor possession of a small amount of marijuana. The patrol investigates allegations of criminal activity pertaining to state institutions.
Trustees to meet
NEW SPRINGFIELD -- Springfield Township trustees will conduct a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. Monday in the township administration building to approve payment for the Unity Road paving project and discuss the audit committee.
Poems for festival
EAST PALESTINE -- The East Palestine Memorial Public Library is accepting poems for the ninth annual poetry festival to be 6:30 p.m. Aug. 1. The festival is open to poets of all ages with a limit of five poems per person. Poems are due by July 22. Everyone who submits poems will receive a gift at the Aug. 1 program. Attendance at the Aug. 1 program is not required, but a moderator will discuss the poems entered by those who are present.
Poems can be dropped off or mailed to the library at 309 N. Market St., East Palestine, Ohio 44413.
Working on bikeway
AUSTINTOWN -- Kirk Road parking for the Mill Creek MetroParks bikeway was slated to close Monday while crews began work on a new bikeway facility.
The facility is slated to include a 50-space parking lot, picnic facilities, a shelter and restrooms.
The $259,400 project will be paid for using money from the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Work is expected to be complete in the fall.
Vet gets diploma
NORTH JACKSON -- If Robert Bletso had graduated from high school when he planned, he would have received his diploma in 1942. Instead, Bletso left school a few months early to serve in World War II. About 60 years later, the World War II veteran was presented his diploma, at Thursday's Jackson-Milton school board meeting.
The Mahoning County Veterans Service Office approved the application Bletso submitted April 8. In addition, various family members verified that he served in the war and sent it to the Jackson-Milton School District, which ordered Bletso's diploma, explained Superintendent Warne Palmer.
HMHP moves workers
YOUNGSTOWN -- Humility of Mary Health Partners moved 90 patient financial services workers from St. Elizabeth Health Center to the downtown IBM building today.
HMHP said it is moving the staff to the Federal Plaza East location because of the availability of the office space and its commitment to the city.
Thirty-five additional finance department workers, including financial reporting, budgeting, reimbursement, accounts payable and payroll staff, will relocate to the building later this year, HMHP added.
HMHP includes St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph health centers, Assumption Village, Humility House, Hospice of the Valley and several home-care agencies.