Man is indicted on obscenity charges

Man is indictedon obscenity charges
WARREN -- A 40-year-old Mineral Ridge man has been indicted on 23 counts of pandering obscenity involving minors.
The Trumbull County grand jury indicted Mark Heilman of Dumont Drive Thursday. Heilman, who also lists a West Park Avenue, Niles, address, was free on bond awaiting arraignment today.
He also faces 28 counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition. He was indicted on those charges in July after an investigation in which a female relative told police Heilman forced her to have sex for at least six years.
Niles and Weathersfield police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation Computer Crimes Unit searched the Dumont Drive home last week.
The county prosecutor's office and Children Services also are involved in the investigation, police said.
Auction, craft showto benefit woman
MECCA -- A benefit Chinese auction and craft show for Debbie Curtis, 43, of Homewood Avenue, Warren, will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Mecca Moose Lodge 1012, 6400 state Route 46 North.
Curtis underwent a pancreas transplant March 30, and while insurance has covered most of the medical costs, the family has expenses for travel and lodging and other related costs not covered by insurance, such as medications, which average about $100 a week.
There will also be product demonstrations by Party Lite and Time To Celebrate, and food and beverages.
Curtis, a diabetic since age 10, had the transplant at Fairview University Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minn., then follow-up surgery Aug. 22.
She is on indefinite sick leave from Turner, May and Shepherd in Warren, where she is a legal secretary.
She and her husband, Michael, have a 3-year-old daughter, Elisabeth.
Another West Nile case
SHARON, Pa. -- Another case of West Nile virus has turned up in Mercer County. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Thursday that a 48-year-old woman contracted the disease, one of nine new cases reported across the state.
It's the third case in Mercer County this year.
The state reported last Friday that a 24-year-old woman had the disease, and the first case was reported Aug. 22 involving an 11-year-old girl.
The state doesn't identify victims by name or community.
There have been three cases in neighboring Lawrence County as well. Cases there involve two 75-year-old men and a 30-year-old man.
Pennsylvania has had 175 cases of human infection so far this year, five resulting in death.
Arrested in car theft
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 16-year-old Hollywood Avenue boy driving a car reported stolen from his neighborhood was pursued to the 800 block of Marmion Avenue on Thursday afternoon and arrested after he abandoned the car, dropping money from a woman's purse as he ran.
The victim told police she started her car in the driveway and left her purse inside it when she went back into her house to gather a few things. She saw the car being driven off when she returned to the driveway, reports show.
The boy was taken to the juvenile justice center to face charges of auto theft, theft from a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.
Weapon, drug chargesfor two students
CANFIELD -- One student at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center is charged with taking a deadly weapon to school; another is slated to appear in court next month on drug charges.
Ashley Vickers, 18, of 12th Street, Campbell, was arraigned in Mahoning County Court in Canfield on Wednesday on a felony charge of conveying a deadly weapon, a knife, into school Oct. 3, according to police. Vickers has pleaded not guilty and faces a preliminary hearing Nov. 7.
Another student, Jamie L. Yovichin, 18, of Howard Avenue, Youngstown, will appear for a pretrial in Canfield Court in November on charges of drug abuse and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police found suspected marijuana in Yovichin's car Oct. 2.
Suspect caught
YOUNGSTOWN -- One of two boys suspected of trying to steal a car from a lot on West Commerce Street was caught by Mahoning County deputy sheriffs Thursday morning.
A deputy working security for the Child Support Enforcement Agency on Commerce saw the boys in the car and gave chase when they ran. Other deputies joined in the pursuit.
A 17-year-old Charlotte Avenue boy was caught and taken to the juvenile justice center to face a charge of attempted auto theft.
Deputies have a description of the boy who escaped capture.