TRUMBULL COUNTY Lordstown delays ban on smoking till Oct. 1

The chief will receive the same clothing allowance other department administrators get.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Postponing a smoking ban in all village buildings until this fall gives a local fraternal organization "valuable time" to figure a new path, a representative said.
Bob Johnston, secretary of the Lions Club of Lordstown, thanked council Monday for delaying the ban until Oct. 1.
"This is a great relief to us," he said.
In recent weeks, several Lions Club members had asked council to forgo the ban altogether, saying it would cripple attendance at the weekly bingo games, conducted in the village's administration building on Salt Springs Road.
Lions Club members said every player was needed, because money raised through bingo -- the group's largest fund-raising activity -- is used for several projects throughout the village, including buying eyeglasses for the needy and awarding scholarships to graduating high school seniors.
More time
Though council declined to forgo the ban, it did agree to wait, giving the Lions Club time to poll bingo players for alternatives.
"Over the next month to six weeks we will ask all of you to come up with ideas on a way(s) to handle this situation," Johnston wrote in a letter addressed to the club's bingo players and read during the council meeting.
"That would be the very best result for everyone," the letter continues. "You as players, us as Lions and those in need in the long run."
Also at the meeting, council unanimously agreed to approve an annual clothing allowance and clothing maintenance allowance for police Chief Brent Milhoan.
Like other administrators in the department, Milhoan will be granted a $650 annual allowance, and a $200 annual maintenance allowance.
Councilman D. James London had said he believed it was only fair to grant the allowance to Milhoan, who regularly wears a police uniform during working hours and when representing the village on official business.
Previous chiefs of police in the village did not receive the clothing benefit, but none wore a uniform, he said, but rather civilian dress clothes.
slshaulis@vindy.com