YSU enrollment rises more than 5 percent

YSU enrollment risesmore than 5 percent
YOUNGSTOWN -- Enrollment is up more than 5 percent this summer at Youngstown State University.
The university has 5,036 students taking classes this summer, an increase of 252 students, or 5.3 percent, from the 4,784 that were on campus last summer, according to preliminary numbers that will be reported to the Ohio Board of Regents.
Enrollment is counted in two ways: Head count reflects the number of students enrolled, and full-time equivalent shows the number of students enrolled full-time. Officials said full-time equivalent enrollment at YSU is up nearly 5.5 percent this summer.
Enrollment at YSU has steadily risen since fall semester 2001. Last fall, enrollment increased nearly 4 percent.
Man's arraignment set
CAMPBELL -- Ernest Rayford, 20, of Robinson Road will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday on charges of aggravated burglary, felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon, obstructing justice, resisting arrest and drug abuse.
Reports say that on Tuesday afternoon, Rayford pulled a gun on an 18-year-old Tremble Avenue resident, ran from police and broke into a home on Reed Avenue to hide from police.
Police found a semi-automatic handgun, believed to be Rayford's, across the street from the victim's house and found suspected marijuana on him, reports show.
At the home on Reed Avenue, Rayford reportedly told the elderly residents that he was being chased and not to answer the door. When he saw officers outside, Rayford fled out the side door of the house, according to reports. He was arrested soon after.
Carjacking reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 24-year-old Girard woman told police she was carjacked at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon while driving in the 400 block of West Chalmers Avenue.
The East Liberty Street woman said a man wearing a white T-shirt and gray stocking cap jumped in front of her 1999 Pontiac Grand Am at 5:45 p.m., pointed a gun and told her to get out, which she did, reports show. The man then drove off. The victim said she went to a nearby house and called police.
2 drivers face charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- The drivers of two vehicles spotted in the middle of Dogwood Drive on Wednesday night had no valid licenses to show police working a Gun Reduction Interdiction Project detail.
Robert L. West, 25, of West Earle Avenue, who first identified himself as someone else, was charged with driving under suspension, providing false information to avoid a citation and impeding the flow of traffic. He was also served with a warrant that had been issued for his failure to appear in municipal court on a DUS charge.
Reginald Haynes II, 24, of Glenwood Avenue was charged with driving under suspension and impeding the flow of traffic.
GRIP officers also stopped Stan T. Jones, 21, of South Garland Avenue when he failed to dim his car's headlights on Himrod Avenue. A check through the index operator revealed that Jones had no driver's license. He was issued a citation.
Motorcyclist dies
CORTLAND -- City police are investigating a motorcycle crash that killed a 27-year-old city man.
Michael S. Schmidt of Maplewood Drive was riding his motorcycle around 1 p.m. Wednesday on state Route 46 when he lost control of the bike, police said. He was thrown from the motorcycle and his body hit a pickup truck. He died in St. Joseph Health Center.
Police probe hit-skip
SHARON, Pa. -- Police are looking for the driver of a car that rear-ended a motorcyclist on the Shenango Valley Freeway around 5:45 a.m. today, leaving him lying face down on the road.
Joseph Mihalcin, 52, of Keel Ridge Road, Hermitage, was in stable condition in Sharon Regional Health System. Police said he was westbound on the freeway and entering a construction area at Service Avenue when he was hit from behind by what witnesses described as a Ford four-door car with Ohio registration plates.
The driver fled, but police said witnesses got the license number and the car was later found in Youngstown. Police were searching for the driver.