Council fails to pass storm-water ordinance

Council fails to passstorm-water ordinance
NEWTON FALLS -- City council still has no answer to drainage problems throughout the city. A city ordinance that would have lessened the problem failed to pass Monday.
The ordinance would have prohibited single-family dwellings from dispensing water from sump pumps and roof drains into the street.
The new ordinance would have the water going into a storm-water collection system or into a leach bed on the property.
Flooding problems this summer forced the city to look for other ways to handle the surge of storm water. A combined sewer and storm drainage system couldn't handle the amount of rainfall the city got, officials said.
The main concern with the ordinance is that it originally was to have only affected new homes. The ordinance put forth Monday would have affected all single-family dwellings.
The city is exploring other options.
Fine Arts Councilto party on parking deck
WARREN -- Topless Two, a party to benefit the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County, will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Sept. 25 on the top floor of the Franklin Street parking deck downtown.
Tickets are $5; proceeds benefit the Fine Arts Council. For tickets and information, call FACT at (330) 399-1212.
The '90s Superband will play Motown, jazz and R & amp;B music. Food and beverages will be available. Free parking is available on the first and second levels.
In case of inclement weather, the party will be held on a lower level.
Tickets are available at the Packard Music Hall box office or at the parking deck the day of the event.
Early release is deniedin Ponderosa fraud case
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge has denied early release for a Salem-area man serving 30 months in prison for defrauding Ponderosa Park patrons.
Jeffrey Best, 32, was sentenced in June after pleading guilty to theft, misuse of credit cards and passing bad checks.
He filed a motion Aug. 21 asking Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to grant him early release.
Judge Krichbaum denied the request Monday, meaning Best will serve his entire sentence.
Best accepted money and credit-card payments from patrons of the Goshen Township park for concert tickets, but used the payments to pay for other park expenses.
The patrons got neither their tickets nor a refund.
Woman reports rape
LIBERTY -- Police are investigating the reported rape of a 22-year-old woman.
The woman told police she had been drinking and was in an apartment bathroom vomiting about 8:30 p.m. Monday when a man grabbed her, carried her to the bedroom and assaulted her.
She began to cry and the man apologized, she said.
She was treated at Forum Health Northside Medical Center.
Church to hold prayer vigil
LIBERTY -- The Unity Church's annual World Day of Prayer coincides this year with the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Locally, United Church Center, 1226 Naylor Lloyd Road, will have a 24-hour prayer vigil starting with a service at 7 p.m. Wednesday. People can contact the church to schedule a one-hour shift.
Visit www.worlddayofprayer.org.
Road work to start
BOARDMAN -- Work was to begin today on widening a two-mile stretch of Western Reserve Road, between Tippecanoe and Hitchcock roads.
Lanes will be widened from 9 feet to 12 feet, with 3-foot-wide shoulders on each side of the road. Turning lanes and new traffic signals will be added at Hitchcock and Tippecanoe roads.
A bridge, just west of the Ohio Turnpike overpass on Western Reserve, will be closed for 90 days, beginning today, for replacement.
The project is scheduled for completion by summer 2004.