Gunman takes more than $2,500 in hotel robbery

Gunman takes more than$2,500 in hotel robbery
NILES -- A masked robber got away with more than $2,500 in cash and checks from a local hotel, police said.
A clerk from the 422 Hotel on Youngstown-Warren Road called police around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday to report a man wearing a yellow bandanna to cover his face had used a gun to rob the business.
According to reports, the clerk said someone hit the buzzer at the front door but did not respond on the intercom.
When the person began knocking on the door, the clerk opened the door and the man pointed a gun at him.
The gunman ordered the clerk into the motel office, where the man grabbed a bank envelope, threatened the clerk to stay put or he would be killed and then left.
The gunman is described as a thin, black male about 5 feet 7 inches tall with very bushy hair and wearing an Ohio State University shirt.
Closed for bridge repair
HUBBARD -- Bell Wick Road will be closed between the east and west legs of Mount Everett Road through Nov. 5.
The closure will allow workers from the Trumbull County Engineer's office to replace a small concrete bridge damaged by flooding last year.
The bridge was temporarily replaced with a pipe, said highway superintendent Chris Connelly.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay the $70,000 cost, he said.
Funding for sewer service
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Planning Commission is seeking additional funding in order to go forward with a plan to bring sewer service to five businesses on state Route 5 near the Ohio Turnpike.
An engineer estimated that the project, which also included changes to the turnpike entrance ramps for the Holiday Inn Express, would cost $700,000, commission director Alan Knapp said.
But only one contractor, Marucci & amp; Gaffney, bid for the job.
The bid was about $800,000, he said.
Costs are higher than expected because of unfavorable soil conditions under the turnpike, he said. Extending sewers from Newton Falls requires digging under the turnpike.
The financing package for the project had included $250,000 from the county's revolving loan fund, $250,000 from businesses and property owners near the interchange and $200,000 from a bond property owners would pay off through their taxes.
Home buyers' workshop
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Area Urban League is looking for individuals from Lawrence, Trumbull, Columbiana and Mahoning counties to participate in the My House First Time Home Buyers Workshops.
Those completing the program will receive a certificate that Urban league officials say will enhance the individual's ability to get a home loan.
Classes start Thursday and are scheduled again Oct. 21.
Those interested should call YAUL at (330) 744-4111 or (330) 743-1384 for more information.
Domestic-violence case
YOUNGSTOWN -- Bond was set at $25,000 for Walter Pearson, 22, of Parkcliffe Avenue, who is charged with felony domestic violence.
Pearson will be back in municipal court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
Police tracked Pearson down to a motel in Liberty on Monday evening, where they also found his girlfriend.
Reports don't say if her child was there, too.
The woman had phoned relatives saying she and the child were OK.
The search for Pearson began early Monday after police went to the house on Parkcliffe in response to a domestic violence complaint and found blood in the house but not the woman and her child.
Indicted on drug charges
CLEVELAND -- A federal grand jury here indicted Calvin D. Burley, 37, of Tyrell Avenue, Youngstown, on two counts of drug trafficking, one count of drug possession with the intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.