SCHOOL BOARDS

SCHOOL BOARDS
WARREN
The city school board and the union representing its teachers have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The teachers union, the Warren Education Association, is to meet at 4 p.m. next Tuesday to vote on the proposed three-year pact. No details will be released until after the ratification vote has been taken, according to union and school officials. Neither Jeff Pegg, president of the WEA, or Betty J. English, schools superintendent, could be reached. WEA represents 618 classroom teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, psychologists, speech and hearing therapists, teaching specialists, auxiliary services personnel and a nurse.
MCDONALD
The village school board met Monday and accepted two donations, $485 for the Richard C. Blair Scholarship Fund, and $3,000 for the Becky Styers scholarship.
The board hired Brenda Borton as high school detention supervisor and Carl Eaton as elementary supervisor, both at a rate of $11.14 an hour.
It set high school graduation for 2 p.m. June 2 in the high school auditorium and Roosevelt Elementary School students sixth-grade promotion for 9 a.m. June 4 in the high school auditorium.
The board is negotiating for a new contract with the 52 teachers of the McDonald Education Association, whose three-year contract expires Aug. 31. Talks with nonteaching employees, whose contract also expires Aug. 31, have not yet been scheduled.
School Treasurer Thomas Radabaugh updated the board on the progress of the renovations to the high school.
CITY COUNCIL
HUBBARD
Mayor George Praznik told council Monday that Flying J Travel Plaza is sending out bid packages to companies for the construction of an $8.5 million truck plaza in Hubbard Township. Contracts for the facility on state Route 7 and U.S. Route 62, just north of Interstate 80, will be awarded in 30 days. Construction will begin in mid-June. Praznik said an April 5 letter he wrote to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft complaining that state agencies were dragging their feet has resulted in the go-ahead of the project. Praznik also said a national restaurant chain is planning to locate at the plaza, though he would not name the chain. He said it will employ 75.
Robert Paterniti, safety director, announced the city has changed its tornado warning siren soundings. A tornado watch will result in a 10-second blast every hour the watch is in effect. The siren will sound for two minutes every 30 minutes during a tornado warning.
Councilman Douglas Rohrer, D-at-large, said the city will not allocate $18,000 as its share of a storm sewer enlargement project along state Route 304, between Laurel Park and Shadyside Drive, in the city and Hubbard Township. There is some flooding in the Laurel Park area. The project called for both the city and township to pay $18,000. Rohrer said the work might be done at a lower cost.
CORTLAND
Mayor Melissa Long issued four proclamations.
The first was to Delphi Automotive Systems' Cortland Molding Operation as a recipient of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. This award has been called the "Nobel Prize of manufacturing." It is administered by the College of Business, Utah State University and in partnership with several organizations including the Society for Manufacturing Engineering.
Long said the award was issued to Delphi for its excellent customer service and quality. The plant is an injection molding facility that employs 160 and has been in operation since March 2000. The award was presented at the 14th Annual Shingo Prize Conference and Awards Ceremony in early April.
Mayor Long also recognized 12-year-old resident Gina Collins for winning a Sprint art competition. The seventh-grader submitted a photo she took of her Cortland home with the American flag displayed out front. Long said that photo will be on the cover of the Sprint phone directory for Newton Falls.