Office plans abandoned

Office plans abandoned
WARREN -- Howland developer Brian Ross has abandoned plans to build a $10 million office building and hangar at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, preferring instead to locate offices in front of his Howland home.
In November, the Western Reserve Port Authority Board, which runs the airport, approved leasing Ross one acre off Ridge Road for the facility, which would have had runway views.
"Since the date of the approval, plans have not materialized," Ross said in a letter to the port authority and Trumbull County commissioners. "There has been no progress."
In the letter, he said he remained interested in building a hangar at the airport.
Ross did not return a phone call to comment.
Campbell workers laid off
CAMPBELL -- Seven city employees received notices Friday that they will be laid off beginning April 30. Mayor Jack Dill hand-delivered the notices to the building custodian, two workers in the street department, two workers in the water department and two firefighters. "None of the workers liked the idea of getting laid off," Dill said, "but they understood."
Murder, arson trial set
YOUNGSTOWN -- Trial is set for May 12 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for Jose Rosado, 28, of South Truesdale Avenue, on charges of aggravated murder, arson and tampering with evidence. Rosado is accused of killing 35-year-old Luis Vila on Jan. 6, 2003. Vila's badly burned body was found inside his mother's 1993 Ford Explorer, which also had been burned. The vehicle had been parked behind a vacant house on Harvard Street, on the city's North Side.
Seeking release from jail
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man convicted of carrying a concealed sword into the Mahoning County Courthouse is asking to be let out of jail. Dwayne Pixley, 35, of South Hartford Avenue, was sentenced to six months in jail April 6. He says in court documents filed Friday that his continued incarceration will cause him to lose his job and create a hardship on his family. A decision is pending before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court.
Deputies stopped Pixley going into the courthouse in April 2003 when a security scanner revealed an 18-inch blade inside the shaft of his cane. Pixley said he didn't realize the blade was there.
Mosquito-control funds
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council safety committee members say they will consider boosting the budget for mosquito control. The usual $25,000 allocation has been cut to $10,000 in the 2004 budget. More is needed to control mosquitoes and contain the West Nile virus that the bugs carry, said George Finnerty, who handles mosquito control for the city.
The committee also talked about an animal cruelty investigator position in the police department. Often, humane investigator Dave Nelson, who works for the nonprofit Animal Charity, responds to cruelty and wild animal calls in the city. Nelson, however, has had some of his duties trimmed because of the agency's financial limits. City officials said his job with the agency may be cut in the future.
Sexual-assault charges
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Volant man wanted in a sexual assault turned himself in Friday to Pennsylvania State Police. Michael Jay Foster, 35, is charged with involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful restraint and terroristic threats. Police said he went to the home of a 26-year-old woman he knew on Thursday and asked to speak to her about a problem he was having with a girlfriend. He held a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her, police said.
Campbell house fire
CAMPBELL -- A fire that caused $40,000 in damage to a home on Dumont Avenue about 6:10 p.m. Wednesday appears to have started at the gas stove, the fire department reports. The single-family house and its contents each had about $20,000 in damage; no one was injured.
Indicted in bank robbery
PITTSBURGH -- Two men, one from New Castle, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of bank robbery, said U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan. John Beck, 38, of York, Pa., and Shawn Beck, 32, of New Castle, Pa., are accused of robbing Sky Bank on Butler Avenue in New Castle on March 17.
Horseback riding program
CANFIELD -- On Angels' Wings Riding Center, which provides therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities, is having a presentation about its program at 7 p.m. Monday at McMahon Hall, Mill Creek MetroParks Farm on state Route 46 across from the Canfield Fairgrounds. The program is open to the public. Spring riding sessions begin the week of April 28 and are offered Monday and Wednesday at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. For more information, call Angels at (330) 702-8561.