Drug charges

Drug charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 17-year-old boy was arrested on drug trafficking charges Tuesday night near his home in Rockford Village on the East Side.
Police approached the boy after watching possible drug transactions. The Rayen School student handed over 10 packaged-for-sale bags of marijuana and five of crack cocaine, police said.
He was taken to the juvenile justice center at 11:30 p.m.
East Side chase
YOUNGSTOWN -- Antoinette Stephens, 42, of Neilson Avenue sped off from a bank drive-through Tuesday afternoon on the East Side when police pulled behind her with a warrant charging her with trafficking in cocaine, reports show.
Stephens crossed McCartney Road, nearly causing several accidents, then drove north on Fincastle Street to Oak Street to Jacobs Road to Orrin Avenue, where she lost control and rammed into Reed's Chapel on McGuffey Road, police said.
After the crash, she ran. When caught, Stephens struggled and refused to be handcuffed until two officers held her down, reports show.
Police said she ran every red light and stop sign during the pursuit, ignoring traffic and people. Police said she has no valid driver's license.
Bank robbed
NILES -- Someone robbed National City Bank on Main Street across from the McKinley Memorial at 9:16 this morning.
Authorities were not immediately releasing any information, including a description or how the robber got away.
Flag disposal ceremony
POLAND -- Sons of The American Legion Mahoning Valley Squadron 15 will sponsor its fourth annual flag disposal ceremony at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Post 15 Home, 35 Cortland St. The public is invited to participate in the ceremony where worn, frayed, torn or faded American flags will be honorably retired. Flags may be dropped off at the post home in the receptacle marked flag disposal, or by contacting (330) 750-0488.
Scholarship available
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city school district is sponsoring a $3,500 scholarship for a district graduate who is attending a historically black college or university.
The scholarship, provided through the Tom Joyner Foundation, is available this fall to a student entering the junior year.
Applications are available at the district office, 20 W. Wood St.
Deadline is Monday.
Call (330) 744-6930.
Held in county jail
CAMPBELL -- John R. Hovanec, 21, of Tenney Avenue, charged with two felony counts of receiving stolen property, is being held in the Mahoning County Jail with bond set at $9,000.
He was arraigned in municipal court Tuesday and a preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday.
Police arrested him Saturday afternoon after finding two stolen vehicles -- a Yamaha four-wheeler and Honda motorcycle -- locked inside a shed in his yard. Both vehicles were reported stolen earlier that day from a home on Bright Avenue. They are collectively valued at $3,900.
Crash shears off wheel
SALEM -- No one was hurt when a tractor-trailer ran a red light Tuesday afternoon and hit a pickup truck at U.S. Route 62 and Benton Road. The semi driver, 27-year-old Wendy McMullen of Manville, Ill., told Perry Township police she was headed east on Benton, watching for a route marker and didn't notice that the light was red. The right-rear wheel was sheared off the southbound pickup truck being driven by Thomas Knoedler, 56, of Seacrist Road, and became lodged under the trailer of McMullen's rig. McMullen was cited for a red light violation.
False fireworks alarm
SALEM -- City police were dispatched to the 600 block of East Third Street around 12:35 p.m. Tuesday after a resident reported hearing someone setting off fireworks. When officers got there, they discovered the noise was just some children popping balloons.
Cost of lodging rises
BEDFORD, Pa. (AP) -- Spending the night in Bedford County's motels and hotels just got a little more expensive. The county's 2 percent hotel-motel tax, also known as a bed tax, went into effect this month. The tax, which will be on top of the state's 6 percent sales tax, is expected to generate about $200,000 annually. Still, Bedford County's bed tax is lower than the 3 percent tax already being charged in surrounding Cambria, Somerset and Blair counties. Motel owners say the tax will have little impact on lodgers.