Levy to be on ballot

Levy to be on ballot
BOARDMAN -- Township trustees voted Tuesday to place a 2.5-mill tax levy renewal on the November ballot. The five-year levy has been in place since 1995 and goes toward the township's general fund. Trustees said the levy had generated about $1.7 million annually, but they are waiting on word from the county auditor's office on what it will generate in the future.
Officials to interviewcandidates for board
BOARDMAN -- The board of education will have a special meeting at 7 p.m. today in the superintendent's office at Boardman Center Middle School. The meeting will be in executive session for the purpose of interviewing board candidates to replace Atty. Mark Huberman, whose resignation will take effect July 31.
Judge changes rooms
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court has moved from the third floor of the county courthouse to a courtroom on the fourth floor that had been occupied by former Judge Robert Lisotto. Judge Lisotto resigned from the bench July 1 for medical reasons. Atty. Maureen A. Sweeney has been appointed by Gov. Bob Taft to Judge Lisotto's position. She was sworn in today and will occupy Judge Evans' old courtroom on the third floor. Common pleas judges select their courtrooms based on seniority. The third-floor courtroom is the smallest.
Teen gets 180 days
CAMPBELL -- Judge John Bixon of municipal court sentenced Justin J. Jones, 18, of Gordon Avenue to a total of 180 days in jail and fined him $1,000 for charges connected to the attempted burglary of a 13th Street home July 22. Jones was sentenced Tuesday to 180 days in jail with credit for five days served and fined $500 plus court costs for permitting drug abuse. That charge was amended from drug possession. He was also sentenced to 180 days in jail, all 180 days suspended, six months' probation and fined $500 for aggravated trespassing. That charge was amended from a burglary charge. Bixon dismissed a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Group stands up for kids
AUSTINTOWN -- The Mahoning County chapter of the Children's Rights Council will have an organizational meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Austin Manor, 3104 S. Canfield-Niles Road. The chapter recently received its international certification as it "works to transform the typical adversarial divorce process into one of conciliation and meditation," a press release says. A representative from the Ohio chapter of the Children's Rights Council will be the featured speaker. All interested in learning more about the group are welcome to attend.
Unexplained deathin Mahoning County
YOUNGSTOWN -- An investigator for Mahoning County Coroner David M. Kennedy told police to describe the death of Karen Mathers, 41, of 25 Market St. on Tuesday as unexplained until further investigation by the coroner's office. Police who were sent to Mathers' apartment building at 9:40 p.m. found her dead in her bed. Officers said they found a white T-shirt with a red substance suspected of being blood in a waste basket in the bedroom and two spots of suspected blood on the bathroom floor. A neighbor found her dead when he checked on her at 9 p.m.
Drug-abuse arrest
CAMPBELL -- Stacey Mayhew, 42, of Hughes Avenue, Girard, was in Mahoning County jail this morning on $2,500 bond pending a preliminary hearing July 30. Mayhew is charged with possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was arrested around 6 a.m. Sunday at an Andrews Street home after police witnessed her lighting a crack pipe. Police were at the home looking for a woman in regard to another investigation. Police also charged the resident of the Andrews Street home, Karen L. Bivens, 49, with permitting abuse of drugs.
Man arrested at bank
AUSTINTOWN -- Police say they found suspected heroin and drug paraphernalia in a car driven by a Toronto, Ohio, man arrested on charges of trying to cash a stolen check. James Shimmer Jr., 25, is charged by police with permitting drug abuse, possession of drug abuse instruments, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony possession of drugs and felony receiving stolen property after being arrested about 4 p.m. Tuesday at Sky Bank on Mahoning Avenue.