5 years for manslaughter

5 years for manslaughter
YOUNGSTOWN -- John Griffin, whom police described as a drifter, was sentenced to prison for five years Monday in the death of 51-year-old Matthew Saunders of Elberon Street, Salem.
Griffin, 50, had pleaded guilty in March to one count of voluntary manslaughter. Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court had ordered a background check on Griffin before he was sentenced.
Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews said Griffin stabbed Saunders while the two were fighting in the parking lot of a South Avenue bar in December 2003.
Saunders got into his van, apparently to drive himself to the hospital, but crashed along the way on Interstate 680. Doctors discovered during surgery that he had been stabbed. Saunders died at the hospital later that day.
Church windows stolen
FRANKLIN SQUARE -- Columbiana County Sheriff's Department is seeking information about the theft of leaded stained-glass windows from Franklin Square United Methodist Church.
Anyone who sees or hears of anyone trying to sell a quantity of stained glass is asked to contact the sheriff's department. Deputies responded to the church around 10:50 a.m. Sunday after several members of the church discovered nine stained-glass windows missing from the church. The windows were removed Saturday evening or early Sunday, members said. Deputies said the doorknob on the main door to the basement was broken. Trim on the nine windows was pulled away and the windows neatly removed. Several other windows not removed were damaged.
Bingo robbery fails
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man with a gun tried to take the bingo proceeds from Sallmen's Social Center on East Division Street. Police said bingo workers were loading a van at 11:37 p.m. Friday when a man with a handgun, wearing dark clothes and a bandanna over his face, demanded the bingo money. A 71-year-old man grabbed the robber, whopunched him several times, police said. The robber then fired a shot into the ground, they said. Another bingo worker took the money and locked it in the van while the robber and the other man struggled, police said. The robber ran off without the cash, police said.
Police warn of vandalism
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- City police are warning people to look out for vandals and to call police if they see anything suspicious. Police said there was a rash of car break-ins, smashed windows, slashed tires and graffiti over the weekend. Residents are advised to lock their car doors at night. Items were taken from cars on Crescent, Center and Border avenues Sunday night. The rear side window of a car was smashed that same night on Fourth Street, police said.
Burglary, assault charges
SHARON, Pa. -- Rose M. Askins, 42, of Roemer Boulevard, Farrell, was freed on her own recognizance after her arraignment on charges of burglary, simple assault and criminal mischief. Askins turned herself in Monday afternoon after learning a warrant had been issued for her arrest. Police said she went to the home of a woman in the 100 block of Buhl Court around 6:30 p.m. Friday and attacked the woman in an apparent dispute over a man. She chased the victim into her house and damaged furniture and assaulted the woman, police said.
Board rehires retiree
COLUMBIANA -- Crestview Board of Education hired Andrus Baltputnis on a one-year contract as athletic director and assistant high school and middle school principal. Superintendent John Dilling said the board accepted Baltputnis' retirement from the positions in April. The one-year contract is for $46,460, which represents 80 percent of his previous salary, with no benefits.
The board also approved moving elementary teacher Margaret Garwood from the Title I program to first grade. Dilling said the addition of Garwood as a first-grade teacher gives the district four first-grade teachers
Dilling said four first-grade classes are needed because the districts' offering of all-day, every-day kindergarten resulted in increased kindergarten enrollment the past two years.