Warren gives names of new safety personnel

Warren gives namesof new safety personnel
WARREN -- City officials have released the names of four of the 11 firefighters and police officers to be sworn in Thursday.
Police officers are John Greaver, 28, of Girard, a laid-off Girard police officer, and Nicholas Carney, 22, of Girard, a Girard police dispatcher.
New firefighters include Jared Thomas, 21, of Cortland, and John Jerina, 33, of Bazetta, a Howland Township firefighter.
The city is waiting for results of physical exams of the other four firefighters and three police officers to be hired Thursday, said Gary Cicero, human resources director.
The new hires will bring the police department up to 72 officers and the fire department to 69 firefighters.
The city plans to be back at its 1999 staffing level of 84 police officers and 75 firefighters by early 2003, Cicero said.
Easter celebration
GIRARD -- First United Methodist Church at 22 N. Market St. will have a free breakfast and Easter egg hunt Sunday.
Breakfast begins at 9:15 a.m. with the egg hunt to follow.
The community is invited for those activities and for the worship service at 10:45. The church is across from the post office.
McKinley libraryOKs work contract
NILES -- The McKinley Memorial Library board has awarded a $653,000 contract to a Howland company for construction of the McKinley Home and Research Center.
The center, planned for the South Main Street site where McKinley was born, is to be a replica of the 25th U.S. President's birth home.
Patrick Finan, library director, said DSV Builders Inc. of Howland was the low bidder. It will probably take a few weeks to get the contract signed, after which the company has 13 months to complete the project.
Trumbull improvements
COLUMBUS -- The Ohio Controlling Board has approved funds for two Trumbull County projects.
One is for $200,000 to help pay for improvements to 4,270 feet of roadway on Broad, Canal and Center streets in Newton Falls, including increasing the capacity for storm water drainage, repaving and improving sidewalks. The city will cover the remaining cost of nearly $2.4 million.
The other is $50,000 to the Trumbull County Metropolitan Park Board to buy restrooms for along the lake-to-river Greenway in Trumbull County.
8 secretly indictedon narcotics charges
NILES -- Investigators from the Trumbull County Drug Task Force and the narcotics units of Niles police and Trumbull County sheriff's departments have served secret indictments on drug trafficking charges.
The indicted:
UBenjamin Houtz, Dearborn Street, Girard.
UJohn Derrico, East Liberty Street, Girard.
UMike Shea, Lafayette Street, Niles.
UMark Metz, Bentwillow Drive, Niles.
UColin Nutt, Longview Drive, Warren.
UClinton Beeson, Rosegarden Drive, Howland.
URick Harker, Lakeshore Terrace, Mineral Ridge.
UJason Graham, Shadowood Lane, Howland.
No ages were available.
The arrests came after a nine-month investigation, during which officers made undercover buys of marijuana and cocaine.
The eight are to be arraigned in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Charity in Champion
CHAMPION -- Champion High School students raised nearly $1,300 in this year's Pennies Program to benefit the Northern Ohio Chapter of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
Last year, the students raised more than $800.
Break for Guardsmen
WARREN -- National Guardsmen and military reservists called to active duty since Sept. 11 are eligible for an extension to pay manufactured home and real estate taxes.
A new state law allows reservists, members of the National Guard, their spouses and, in some cases, their dependents, to put off paying those taxes until the seventh month after leaving military duty.
Applications for the extension are processed and approved at the county treasurer's office.