Thursday, February 20, 2003
FBI takes business files
WARREN -- FBI agents removed files from a North Park Avenue business Thursday.
An FBI spokesman couldn't be reached this morning regarding the activity at Acute Care Homenursing Services Inc.
No one at the business was available to comment.
Judge: Convictionwill be expunged
WARREN -- Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruled Thursday that city auditor David Griffing's conviction on two misdemeanors will be expunged, meaning all information related to the case will be sealed.
Griffing was convicted in June 1999 of one count each of operating a gambling house and gambling.
The charges stemmed from Griffing's job as treasurer of the Elks Lodge on Youngstown Road, from which authorities confiscated machines.
Several other club officers were charged.
Couple pleads innocent
BROOKFIELD -- A Masury couple has pleaded innocent in Eastern District Court to charges of child endangering and domestic violence.
Joseph Simpson, 43, and his wife, Theresa, 40, of Ohio Street, were charged Monday by township police after they said they found Joseph Simpson outside chasing his 16-year-old son, who was barefoot and in pajamas.
Police said the boy showed signs of several injuries in various stages of healing.
The Simpsons are free on $2,500 bond each.
Zoning commissionapproves a change
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Township Zoning Commission has approved a zone change from agricultural to residential-D for a new section of a mobile-home park on more than 23 acres at Westwood Lake Mobile Home Park at West Park Avenue and Austintown-Warren Road.
Developers want to put in lots for doublewide homes, but plans are not complete.
Zoning inspector Sherry Craver said the developers will not be able to use the full acreage some of it is wetlands.
Westwood Communities Inc. applied for the zone change. Two sections of the land are owned by Westwood Lake Mobile Home Park and two other parcels are owned by associates of the business, Craver said.
The property abuts Paramount Lake.
The commission also amended zoning regulations, allowing self-storage in commercial-A districts for retail businesses that supply commodities or perform services primarily for local residents and allowing places of worship in all districts.
Students to take partin mock trial in court
WARREN -- Students from Warren John F. Kennedy and Leavittsburg LaBrae high schools will join Akron Hoban High in a mock trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 21.
The first trial begins at 9:30 a.m. and the second is at 1 p.m.
This marks the first round of district competition in the annual Ohio Mock Trial Competition.
The case is loosely based on a significant event from the Civil War era. Students are to determine to what extent the federal government during times of national emergency should be allowed to restrict individual protections such as freedom of speech and the right to trial in a civil court.
The local round is part of what is billed by the Ohio Center for Law-related Education as Ohio's largest academic competition featuring more than 3,500 students from 395 high schools in 28 districts.
Forty-eight teams will advance to the state competition in Columbus on March 13-15.
Girard man woundedat Youngstown house
YOUNGSTOWN -- James Whitaker, 53, of Shannon Road, Girard, was in guarded condition today in a local hospital with shotgun wounds to his stomach.
Whitaker, who was shot about 3 a.m. at Jody Dougherty's house on Atkinson Avenue, went to his nephew's house on Avon Street and collapsed, reports show.
Police arrested Dougherty, 39, at her home on unrelated previous warrants charging her with tampering with records, forgery and possession of criminal tools.
Police said Dougherty told them she shot Whitaker twice after he kicked in her back door and forced his way into her house.