HMHP moves workers to IBM building

HMHP moves workersto IBM building
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.
Innocent plea
POLAND -- John M. Braham, 18, of College Lane, has pleaded innocent to drug trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Braham was arraigned Wednesday in Struthers Municipal Court, accused of offering suspected marijuana to an undercover agent while Braham was doing community service on a vandalism charge.
Braham was under surveillance, suspected of offering drugs to another worker.
Police retrieved two bags of suspected marijuana and other suspected drug paraphernalia from Braham's residence.
Braham's court date is set for at 10 a.m. Dec. 16 in the Struthers court.
Working on bikeway
AUSTINTOWN -- Kirk Road parking for Mill Creek MetroParks bikeway will close starting Monday as crews begin work on a new bikeway facility to include a 50-space parking lot, picnic facilities, a shelter and restrooms.
The $259,400 project will be paid for by Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Work is to be completed by fall.
Mill Creek park officers
YOUNGSTOWN -- Andrew Grant, Christian Hunter, Raymond Kirshner and Robert Plak were sworn in earlier this week as Mill Creek MetroParks police officers.
The officers were sworn in by county Probate Judge Timothy Maloney at a ceremony at Fellows Riverside Gardens.
Sex-charge sentence
YOUNGSTOWN -- Charles Clark, 44, of East Dewey Avenue, was sentenced to three years' probation Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
He had pleaded guilty in April to one count of attempted gross sexual imposition, which was reduced from rape in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Judge James C. Evans ordered Clark to undergo counseling for sex offenders.
Assistant Prosecutor Deena Calabrese said Clark was accused of having sexual contact with a 4-year-old girl in 1998.
The case took so long to resolve because the victim and her mother left town for some three years and could not be located.
Defense lawyer Damian Billak said it was a fair resolution.
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.
Firearm arrest
AUSTINTOWN -- Police arrested a Campbell man Thursday and charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle after police said they found a loaded handgun under his seat.
The 22-year-old Madison Avenue man was riding in a car driven by a 23-year-old Youngstown man when it was pulled over for loud music in the parking lot of Pizza Hut on South Raccoon Road.
The driver was cited for loud music, a violation of the township's noise ordinance.