Kids' health screenings Friday in Boardman

Kids' health screeningsFriday in Boardman
BOARDMAN -- The Mahoning County Help Me Grow program is offering a health and developmental screening day Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Youngstown Hearing and Speech Center, 6614 Southern Blvd. The program targets children up to age 5. A variety of health tests will be available, including: speech, hearing, vision, nutrition, dental and developmental screenings. A lead poisoning questionnaire and safety and poison control information will also be provided. The Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services provided funding for the program. For more information, call (330) 965-7912.
Task force groupopposes state Issue 1
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Task Force Commanders Association has come out against Issue 1, the Ohio Drug Treatment Initiative, said Lt. Dave Allen commander of the Mahoning County Drug Task Force. The initiative is a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit specified jail terms and restrict the discretion of judges dealing with drug-related offenses. The amendment would mandate the option of treatment instead of jail for first- and second-time offenders. Hope Taft, wife of Gov. Bob Taft, was in town today to join others in speaking out against Issue 1 at a press conference on the steps of the Mahoning County Courthouse.
2 on trial in murderof Youngstown woman
YOUNGSTOWN -- The trial of two men accused in the beating death of an East Side woman more than three years ago has started in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Christopher Love, 25, formerly of Dale Street, and Robert Blackshear, 44, formerly of East High Avenue, are charged with murder in the death of Olivia Hubbard, 44. Both men are in the Mahoning County jail. Lawyers began jury selection Tuesday in Judge Robert G. Lisotto's courtroom. Hubbard was found in her Woodcrest Avenue home around 11:30 p.m. on July 5, 1999, her face bloodied and swollen, after police received a tip that a woman had been beaten there, investigators said. Blood was found on the sidewalk and porch leading to her house; doors and windows were locked. She had last been seen earlier that day. In July 1998, Hubbard's son, Thomas Jr., was shot to death at an Elm Street convenience store.
Innocent plea in assault
STRUTHERS -- James Brian Davenport, 33, of 56 Terrace St. pleaded innocent to assault charges during arraignment in municipal court Monday. Police reports say five officers observed Davenport punching Richard S. Hunt Sr., 29, of 166 Millet Avenue, Youngstown, in the head around 2:45 a.m. Sunday in the driveway of Davenport's home. Police said Hunt was "passed out over the driver side door" at the time of the altercation. Davenport was released on a $1,000 surety bond. Judge James R. Lanzo set trial for 9:30 a.m. June 6, 2003.
For heart patients
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mended Hearts, a support group for heart patients and their families, is offering a public Meet the Doctors event from 7 to 9 tonight at St. Elizabeth Health Center's Finnegan Auditorium. Physicians will discuss cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. Call (330) 550-5993 for more information.
2 drug arrestsin Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN -- One man was arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated trafficking in crack cocaine and illegally possessing a weapon after a criminal conviction, and another was issued a summons on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Police cited Angelo Gonzalez, 44, of West Myrtle Avenue on the drug paraphernalia charge after they said they saw him leaving the property at 1014 Parkwood Ave. at 3:21 p.m. and found a used glass crack pipe in a coat pocket on the front passenger seat of the car he had just entered. Inside the house, police said, they found a .357 Magnum on the living-room floor and 99 packets of cocaine and a larger rock of crack cocaine in the ceiling of a second-floor bathroom. They arrested the resident, Robert Hornbuckle, 41, on the trafficking and weapon charges. Hornbuckle has served jail time for receiving stolen property, police said.