Developer is fined

Developer is fined
CORTLAND -- Developer Anthony Petrocco is racking up fines of $100 a day since Tuesday for failing to give city officials detailed plans for fixing drainage problems in the Shepherds Hill neighborhood. At its last regular meeting, city council gave Petrocco two weeks to come up with the plans.
The deadline elapsed Tuesday, and no plans have been submitted, Mayor Melissa Long said Wednesday. The city will notify Petrocco by mail that the fines are building up, she said.
School strike lawsuit
WARREN -- A Southington school board member has filed a lawsuit against striking classified school district employees, accusing them comments he contends injured his reputation in the community.
Jerry Kovar of Phalanx Mills Road seeks unspecified damages in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. The suit names Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 673 and nine of its members.
Union officials couldn't be reached. The union, which represents school district bus drivers, maintenance workers and secretaries, has been on strike since the first day of classes at the school. They contend the school board imposed a contract and say they want board members to negotiate a contract with them.
Kovar's suit says union members "falsely and maliciously defamed" him by saying he faces criminal charges and by other comments.
Guilty of theft
WARREN -- A former treasurer of the Kinsman Township Volunteer Fire Department has pleaded guilty to a charge of theft in office.
Harold P. Ruiter, who goes by the first name Tom, entered the plea Wednesday before Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Ruiter will be sentenced after a background check by the county's adult probation department. He is accused of taking more than $14,000 from the department.
Police Chief LeRoy Long of Kinsman has said that Ruiter wrote checks to cash and to himself during 2001 and 2002. He was voted out of office in February, and the new treasurer and the organization's board discovered the loss.
Long also has said that Ruiter told him he took the money to cover personal expenses.
Jail for unlicensed driver
NILES -- A city man who was cited several times for driving a local attorney's vehicle without a license will spend two days in jail.
Nathan Critchfield, 32, appeared in Niles Municipal Court on Wednesday on charges of driving under suspension, violating traffic control lights and a seat-belt violation. He was sentenced to two days in jail and fined $130 and costs. He is scheduled to report to the city jail at 9 a.m. Dec. 13.
Critchfield was arrested three times in less than a month earlier this summer for driving the vehicle, which was registered to Atty. Maridee Costanzo of Warren, with a suspended license. Critchfield used to work in Costanzo's office.
Fire at Howland home
HOWLAND -- Firefighters are investigating a blaze that damaged a two-story home at 2807 Orchard Road S.E. The fire started around 2:15 a.m. today. The occupants were outside when firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported, and there was no damage estimate.
Girard house burns
GIRARD -- The Trumbull County Arson Task Force has been called in to probe an early morning house fire that caused $24,000 damage. A firefighter said they were called to the house, at 406 Iowa Ave., shortly before 12:45 a.m. after flames broke out in the living room of the two-bedroom ranchstructure. The owner was not home at the time. Arson investigators were called in because the cause can't be determined.
Thefts from vehicles
GIRARD -- Police are urging residents to help curb thefts from their vehicles. Police said there were 10 reports Wednesday and early today of items taken from vehicles. In some cases, the vehicles weren't locked.
The thefts occurred on East Kline and Joan streets, Shannon Road, Royal Arms Drive and Powers Avenue. Detective John Norman said that residents should lock their vehicles and call police if they see anyone looking into vehicles. Items taken from the vehicles include video equipment, cash, credit cards, a computer and cell phone.