Man receives sentence in death of girlfriend

Man receives sentencein death of girlfriend
WARREN -- A 27-year-old Bristolville man who pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide has been ordered to serve six months in an alternative sentencing program, which allows people to go to their jobs but they're confined at other times.
Michael Jarrett, of state Route 45, was sentenced Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Jarrett was accused of negligently handling a shotgun that resulted in the death of his girlfriend, Patricia Gibbs.
The Trumbull County Sheriff's Department said Gibbs was found dead Feb. 2, 2003, at the Bristolville home she shared with Jarrett. She had been shot once in the neck, a sheriff's official said.
Charges dismissed
NILES -- Charges against a Weathersfield Local Schools bus driver were dismissed in Niles Municipal Court, but because of budget cuts she will not return to work.
Michelle A. White, 36, of Salt Springs Road had been charged with child endangering and permitting an unlicensed driver to take the wheel after police said she allowed fifth-grade pupils behind the wheel of a bus.
The misdemeanor charges stemmed from September, when White reportedly allowed four fifth-grade pupils to participate in a safety exercise in the Mineral Ridge High School parking lot, court records show.
According to police reports, White pretended to faint and had the pupils slide into the seat and stop the bus. The exercise was not sanctioned by the school district or the board of education.
White has been a bus driver for the district since August 1997 and was on unpaid leave.
Because of budget cuts in the district, however, the schools' six bus drivers were laid off earlier this year.
Principal to retire
NILES -- Michael A. Lastic, principal at Niles McKinley High School, has tendered his resignation to the board of education, which approved. He will retire March 1.
An educator with the district since 1967, Lastic has served the schools as a teacher, coach and principal.
He is the only person to have served as principal for both the high school and Edison Junior High School, which closed at the end of last school year.
Lastic also serves as an at-large councilman for the city. The board of education will meet next week and is expected to discuss how to replace Lastic.
Woman sentenced
WARREN -- A 42-year-old Cortland woman has pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of drug documents and possession of drugs. Monica Anstadt entered the pleas Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
She will be sentenced after a background check by the county adult probation department. Prosecutors say Anstadt used her husband's medical credentials to obtain prescription painkillers. Her husband, David, is a medical doctor.
Applying for grant
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Planning Commission is applying for a $300,000 grant to replace faulty septic systems in the Maplewood Park neighborhood in Hubbard Township.
The grant could be used for road repairs and water, sewer and sanitary sewer lines in the neighborhood west of state Route 7 and north of the county line.
Planning Commission Director Gary Newbrough said there are about 130 homes in the neighborhood.
Officials are discussing if the township will also offer money for the project and improve its chance for funding, Newbrough said.