Injured in wreck

Injured in wreck
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Adam Buxton, 21, of Executive Court, West Middlesex, remained in serious condition today in Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, with injuries received in a one-vehicle accident on Maple Drive. Police said he was southbound on Maple Drive around 3:25 p.m. Tuesday when his vehicle crossed the center line, slammed into a tree and rolled over. He was charged with driving under the influence and driving left of center, police said.
New Wilmingtonswears in chief
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The borough's new police chief, Carmen Piccirillo, was to be sworn in at 3 p.m. today. Mayor Wendell Wagner said Piccirillo will start his duties Friday. The 52-year-old Lakeville, Minn., man was hired in August by borough council to fill the position being left vacant by Chief Richard Hanna's retirement. Hanna has been chief since August 1981. Piccirillo is a former Pennsylvania State Police trooper and FBI agent. His annual salary will be $42,500. The department has three full-time patrolmen and two part-time officers.
Austintown boardpostpones hearing
AUSTINTOWN -- Faced with an overflow crowd Wednesday, township trustees postponed a public hearing on rezoning for the proposed Centerpointe business park to 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at Austintown Fitch High School.
With a standing-room-only capacity crowd of about 100 people inside the trustees' meeting room in the township hall on Ohltown Road and about 200 more kept outdoors by a police officer, Trustee David Ditzler asked for a show of hands. An overwhelming majority in the room favored postponement until everyone could attend in a larger facility.
Developers have said the 379-acre park south of Interstate 80 near state Route 11 could create 1,500 jobs. Neighbors have expressed concerns about drainage, noise and traffic problems. Jonathan Levy, president of Route 46 Land Partners of Youngstown, is proposing the park.
Chamber supports
sales tax renewal
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, along with other local business and labor officials, announced its support today for a 0.5 percent sales tax renewal on the ballot Tuesday in Mahoning County. The business and labor leaders said the tax revenue is needed for economic development and general operation of county services. The same group lent its support to an unsuccessful renewal attempt in May.
Rape reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Choffin Career Center student waited until she got home Wednesday evening to tell her grandmother that she had been raped by a classmate, reports show.
Police questioned the 16-year-old girl at Forum Northside Medical Center, where she was taken by her grandmother for a rape examination. The North Side girl told police that a boy raped her in a greenhouse area of Choffin and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Charged with theft
YOUNGSTOWN -- Richard W. Varble Jr. promised a taxi driver in Akron that his mother on Midland Avenue in Youngstown would pay his fare, but when the cabbie tried to collect Wednesday, the mother refused, police said.
The cabbie left without his $87.05 fare, and Varble, 24, was charged with theft. Varble pleaded innocent at arraignment Wednesday in municipal court. Bond was set at $1,200, with 10 percent allowed to be posted.
Facing charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 1997 GMC Jimmy reported stolen to Liberty police Tuesday wound up on the city's East Side on Wednesday.
The driver, Carlos T. Gowdy, 29, of Canton, faces charges of receiving stolen property and driving without a license. Police arrested him on Truesdale Avenue. He also was served with a warrant charging him with a probation violation. Gowdy was paroled from Belmont Correctional Institution on Aug. 22. He had been incarcerated Dec. 18, 2001, for attempted receiving stolen property, records show.