Child endangering

Child endangering
GIRARD -- Christine Colbert, 28, of Forest View Drive, Youngstown, has been found guilty of misdemeanor child endangering. Colbert's four children -- ages 1 to 7 -- were left outside her mother's Liberty apartment Feb. 2, police said.
The oldest child told police he saw her leave with her boyfriend. She pleaded no contest Wednesday before Judge Michael A. Bernard of municipal court and was found guilty. She received a suspended a 180-day jail sentence and a $500 fine. The judge placed her on a one-year probation and ordered her to attend parenting classes.
Fund for road fix-up
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have approved putting 60 percent of property taxes generated by a new hotel for 10 years into a special fund to pay for road improvements at the site.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has determined that before a driveway can be added for a Holiday Inn Express at the intersection of state Route 5 and the Ohio Turnpike in Braceville, the turnpike exit ramp has to be reconfigured and a slowdown lane added to state Route 5, said Alan Knapp, assistant director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission.
A sewer line also will be extended under state Route 5 as part of the project, which will cost a total of $225,000, he said.
The developer, Rixit Shaw of Liberty Newton Falls Inc., said his company is still fighting to get permission from the Ohio Turnpike Commission for a 20-by-10-foot sign on an 80-foot pole to advertise the new hotel.
4% raises approved
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have approved a 4 percent raise for 43 nonunion employees at Trumbull County Department of Jobs and Family Services. The employees, including administrators, supervisors, some clerks and human resources personnel, will also get a 2 percent raise in 2003, when a new pay raise system is scheduled to go into place, said Thomas Mahoney, the department director.
The new system will base increases on performance evaluations, rather than on seniority, he said. The commissioners also approved changing the employees' health-care plan to require that they pay a portion of premiums.
Firefighter hurt
NILES -- A city firefighter was injured Wednesday in a hit-skip accident. Ron Danadic, 38, was in satisfactory condition today at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital. According to reports, Danadic was driving to a substation about 8:30 p.m. when a late-model silver-gray Camaro struck the van, sending it across state Route 46 near Cannon Street. The van, which was demolished, sheared a utility pole.
A fire department spokesman said it appeared the car came out of McQuaid's gas station. Police were unable to locate the car.
Burglars steal door
YOUNGSTOWN -- Burglars kicked in one door and removed another from its hinges but apparently didn't take anything else from a Ridge Avenue home.
The resident of the home has been away since December, police said. A relative reported the theft Wednesday afternoon. The house was intact Tuesday.
Gunfire reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 37-year-old South Side man reported to city police that two men, both about 20, shot at him as he walked along Sherwood Avenue. The man was not hit. He said he was walking in the 500 block, near his home, about 4 p.m. Wednesday when a car pulled up next to him and the two occupants shot toward him. He said the car then drove by his home three times and one of its occupants asked for his son.
Woman flees court
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 29-year-old East Side woman who was late for a court appearance on a driving- under-suspension offense ran from a municipal courtroom when she was told she'd be jailed until she posted 10 percent of a $1,000 bond, city police said.
A bailiff was phoning police to have the woman transported to jail about 10 a.m. Wednesday when she ran out of the courtroom and into the hallway. City hall security officers quickly captured the woman, who lives on Rigby Street.
Cited in tobacco sales
SHARON, Pa. -- Police cited two store owners accused of selling cigarettes to customers under age 18. Pennsylvania Department of Health enlisted Sharon police and a juvenile in a sting operation that visited several stores in the city Wednesday.
Only two people at the counters, Dennis Hanahan, 49, of Plum Street, owner of Vaughn's Market at Plum and Stambaugh Avenue, and Mohamad Taha, 39, of Nellie Street, Masury, owner of Fast Check at Budd Street and New Castle Avenue, sold cigarettes to the minor, police said. The two were given citations fining them $25 each for sale of tobacco to a minor.