Remains identified

Remains identified
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dental records were used to identify Michael L. Jordan, 28, of 249 Alameda Ave. as the man whose remains were found in the basement of the house over the weekend.
Workers who noticed an indentation in the basement floor dug into it and found bones.
Coroner David M. Kennedy said a ruling on the death is pending further investigation. He has enlisted the help of an archaeologist with the sociology department at Youngstown State University.
Jordan had been missing about 31/2 years, police said. The case has been turned over to homicide detectives.
Arrests in store robbery
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two additional arrests have been made in Monday night's robbery of the Big Apple Market on McGuffey Road, which left the store owner, Jihad S. Mahd, shot in the mouth. He is recovering.
Arrested Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and aggravated robbery were Ronald L. Robinson, 17, of Berkley Avenue and Christian Little, 17, of Oak Street.
Also charged in the crime are Phillip J. Austin, 20, of Rosewood Avenue, whose bond was set at $500,000; Montrell D. Sims, 16, of South Truesdale Avenue; and Isael Roman III, 16, of Rosewood Avenue. The juveniles are incarcerated at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.
School board buys land
YOUNGSTOWN -- The board of education authorized Wednesday the purchase of additional land for the construction of a new Mary Haddow Elementary School.
The land, adjacent to the present school on Oak Street Extension, is owned by Ohio Edison Co./First Energy Corp. and is being offered to the district for $25,000.
Also on Wednesday, the board awarded a $72,520 contract to Apex Structures of Dublin, Ohio, to replace a modular classroom at Cardinal Mooney High School through the district's nonpublic Auxiliary Services Fund. The Apex bid came in lowest among bids from five companies that ranged up to $86,569.
5 years for robbery
YOUNGSTOWN -- Rashad W. Riggins, 23, of North Lakeview Avenue was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for the strong-armed robbery of two men on a street corner last year.
Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Riggins to two years for robbery. He also imposed a mandatory three-year sentence because Riggins used a gun. By law, the terms must be served consecutively.
Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews said Riggins robbed two men at Steel Street and Manhattan Avenue on March 21, 2003. He got $20, a cellular telephone, a pager and a hat.
YSU professor resigns
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Youngstown State University sociology-anthropology professor who was removed from classes this term has submitted his resignation.
Dr. Gary Fry's resignation is effective in May 2005, said Thomas Maraffa, special assistant to YSU President David C. Sweet. He has taught at YSU since September 1970.
Fry, who is paid an $87,526 salary, was removed from classes midway through the current term, and alternate instructors were assigned to teach his courses. Maraffa has declined to say why Fry was reassigned.
In 2002, Fry was found guilty in Girard Municipal Court of attempted unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and having a weapon while intoxicated. He was fined by the court and placed on probation.
Talk about mob
CORTLAND -- Atty. James B. Callen, executive director of Northeast Ohio Legal Services, will talk about the mob in the Mahoning Valley at 10 a.m. April 13 in the Viets Museum.
Continental breakfast will be served before the lecture. The cost is $5.
School direction forum
McDONALD -- The public is invited to attend a forum in the high school auditorium, 600 Iowa Ave., at 7 p.m. Monday.
The forum is being held so that the school administrative staff can discuss the direction the school district will take for the 2004-05 school year.
Items for discussion will include open enrollment, school finances and budget, and elementary and high school curriculum and technology.
Residents are encouraged to attend.
Band to perform
HUBBARD -- The high school marching band will perform Saturday in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C.
Band director Bill Forrester said 160 of the 190 band members will leave Friday morning, participate in the 10 a.m. parade Saturday and return Sunday night.
Forrester said the individual band members are paying their own expenses.