Call for lower gas prices

Call for lower gas prices
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, is among numerous co-sponsors of a bill calling on President Bush to lower gasoline prices.
The House resolution urges the president to suspend deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; increase funding for renewable energy; work on plans to reduce crude oil prices and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil; and push OPEC to increase oil production.
"My constituents should not be forced to bear the burden of a shortsighted energy policy," Ryan said. "With prices continuing to rise, the public needs decisive action from this administration. Now."
Regular unleaded gas prices in the Mahoning Valley are close to $2 a gallon.
Concealed gun charge
CAMPBELL -- Michael L. Green, also known as Gabriel Green, 23, of Front Street, Warren, was in the Mahoning County jail today, unable to post $7,500 bond. His preliminary hearing is May 21 on a concealed weapon charge.
Green was arrested Friday after police said they saw Green pull a gun out of his pants and toss it behind a Jean Street apartment building.
Purse-snatching charge
BOARDMAN -- Township police have charged a Niles man with robbery in a purse-snatching May 3.
Police say Samuel J. Collins, 18, of Garland Avenue, snatched the purse from the shoulder of a 33-year-old township woman as she loaded groceries into her car at Giant Eagle on Boardman-Canfield Road.
Collins was arraigned Tuesday and scheduled to appear in court again June 1. He is in Mahoning County jail on an $8,000 bond.
Septic problems
NEWTON FALLS -- The Trumbull County Health Department will meet at 7 p.m. June 8 at the Newton Township Community Center to discuss septic problems in the Scott Street area of the township.
Residents, township trustees and representatives of the Ohio EPA and county sanitary engineer's office are expected to attend.
The area is second on the health department's priority list of public health nuisances in Trumbull County.
Telemarketing scam
GIRARD -- The police department is warning all residents, especially senior citizens, of a telemarketing scam.
The department is investigating two complaints from elderly residents who were contacted over the phone and informed they had been awarded a large sum of money, but needed to wire money to a location out of the country. In both cases, reports indicate, the residents did not send money.
Chief Anthony M. Ross advises anyone receiving a similar call to ask for verification in writing from the caller and also to contact the police department.
For tips on how to recognize a fraud, contact Project Phone Busters at (888) 495-8501 or check the Web site at www.phonebusters.com.
Neighborhood cleanup
YOUNGSTOWN -- Business and property owners on Andrews Avenue will have a cleanup at 9 a.m. Saturday in the vicinity of the U.S. Route 422 overpass.
Volunteers will meet at Dutch Auto Body, 504 Andrews. Volunteers are asked to bring gloves, rakes, shovels and trimmers.
The Andrews Avenue Industrial Parkway property committee, part of Wick Neighbors Inc., is organizing the event. There will be beverages and pizza available at Dutch Auto after the cleanup.
Free on bond
CAMPBELL -- Samir S. Awadallah, 38, of Dorothy Avenue, Youngstown, is free on $8,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing and pretrial May 25 on charges of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, falsification and driving without a license.
Awadallah was arrested Sunday afternoon during a traffic stop. During the stop, police said, Awadallah gave officers a fictitious Social Security number. The owner of that Social Security number had suspended driving privileges, prompting officers to arrest Awadallah.
While searching him, officers found Awadallah's Human Services identification card, which shows a different Social Security number, and a small plastic bag with suspected crack cocaine, the report states.