Cops probe homicide

Cops probe homicide
VERNON -- The Ohio State Highway Patrol is seeking information on a man who was found dead last week in the Shenango Wild Life area here. OSHP officials said they would like to know where Charles Palm, of Greenville, Pa., was a few days before he was found.
Anyone with information is asked to call the patrol at (330) 898-2311. Troopers are also looking for Bruce Coxson of Vernon Township. Troopers said they want to talk to him about Palm's death. Coxson is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds. A hunter discovered Palm's body around 6:30 p.m. Friday near a gravel parking area in the Shenango Wild Life area. The patrol said Palm's death is a homicide.
Board approves budget
LIBERTY -- The board of education approved a $16.8 million budget for fiscal year 2004 on Tuesday.
General fund appropriations are $11,449,540. Some other categories are: special revenue funds, $1,144,286; debt services funds, $824,300; capital projects funds, $245,168; trust funds, $9,340; enterprise funds, $447,253. The board accepted the resignations of intervention assistant Jennifer Blasko, and Amy Perline as elementary prep bowl adviser. The board granted these supplemental contracts for the 2003-04 school year: Laura Cullumbine, assistant speech coach, $1,157; Ryan William, assistant wrestling coach seventh and eighth grades, $3,135; Betsy Weinblatt, girls and boys tennis coach at $1,995 each; Danielle DePasquale, head softball coach, $2,566; and Raymond Wells, head baseball coach, $3,136.
Zoning board action
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Township Zoning Commission will submit a proposed change in the zoning complaint procedure to township trustees.
The zoning commission first submitted the changes, however, for review by the Trumbull County Planning Commission. The county commission is scheduled to meet Nov. 12.
The township commission voted to change the complaint procedure, which now permits complaints to be lodged verbally or in writing, and also allows the complainant to be anonymous. The change, zoning inspector Sherri Craver said, will require that the current complaint form, which will be modified slightly, must be used and the complaints must come from individuals who identify themselves.
The new procedure also will require that a complaint be in writing and signed.
Meeting date changed
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township trustees have changed the date of their October meeting to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in the township administration building. The meeting will be preceded by a 6 p.m. zoning hearing on amendments to zoning laws.
Town hall meeting
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, along with several area agencies, is sponsoring a town hall meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Choffin Career and Technical Center to address alcohol marketing and its affect on youth's decisions regarding alcohol use.
Other sponsors are ON TASC, Help Hotline Crisis Center, Ohio State University-Youngstown Young Scholars Program, Prevention Partners Plus and the Youngstown City Schools Safe and Drug Free Schools Program.
The event includes a presentation by area high school students and a panel discussion with representatives from the center, Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth, the Mahoning County District Board of Health, Prevention Partners Plus and the Boardman Police Department.
Training exercise
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Health Board had a training exercise Tuesday to coordinate local response in the event of a bioterrorist attack. The goal was to become familiar with bioterrorist threats and to develop relationships among the agencies and organizations that would respond to them. Representatives of local hospitals, public health and public safety agencies participated in the exercise at Oak Hill Renaissance Place on the city's South Side.