Living conditions probed

Living conditions probed
YOUNGSTOWN -- Children Services Board and the Youngstown Health Department are investigating the living conditions at a home in the 100 block of Willis Avenue, where seven children live.
Police were called to the house about 7:45 p.m. Thursday by a woman who said she could not control her 14-year-old son.
Police discovered trash strewn throughout the house, which was infested with roaches and rodents, a bat hanging near the fireplace, piles of dirty dishes and a five-gallon bucket of urine in the bathroom. There was no running water. Two mattresses were on a bedroom floor and there was very little furniture. Gallon jugs of water and bowls of noodles were on the kitchen floor.
The woman told police her water was shut off only two days ago because her landlord had illegally connected it. Her children range in age from 1 month to 14 years.
Gunpoint robbery
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police are searching for two men who entered an unlocked house on East Boston just after 6 p.m. Thursday and robbed the occupants at gunpoint.
According to a report, the robbers, described as two black men in their late teens or early 20s, one with a goatee, held semiautomatic handguns to the heads of a man and woman.
The report states one of the men took a gold chain from the woman's neck and a cell phone from the man.
The victims also said that one of the men fired his gun but police couldn't find a bullet hole. Other occupants of the home left before giving statements to police.
MRDD, MEADD agreement
AUSTINTOWN -- The 185-member Mahoning Education Association of Developmental Disabilities approved a new three-year work agreement Thursday with the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Mary Jo Nagy, spokeswoman for MEADD, a union which represents teachers, therapists and other professionals and support staff at MRDD, said the contract is retroactive to Aug. 31, when the former contract expired. Nagy would not reveal how many members voted for or against the contract, but said approval was "not overwhelming."
A spokesman for MRDD, which provides services for mentally retarded citizens, said the MRDD is to meet at 6 p.m. Monday at 6 p.m. at the Leonard Kirtz School to vote on the contract.
Man threatens employees
AUSTINTOWN -- Police are investigating a report that a man in a blue Wal-Mart vest pulled a knife on two employees Thursday in the store parking lot on Mahoning Avenue. One of the employees, not working at the time, said he saw the man walking out of the store with a shopping cart about 3:30 p.m. The off-duty employee said he didn't recognize the man as a fellow worker so he took the cart back into the store. Once inside the store, the off-duty employee found a bag containing eight calculators worth $1,200 in the cart. Police said the off-duty employee and another employee then went to the parking lot to confront the man in the blue vest, who then pulled a knife on them and said: "Back off, man, it's not worth it." The suspect then ran away, police said.
Lincoln Highway program
COLUMBIANA -- Bob Lichty, Director of the Canton Classic Car Museum, will present the history of the Lincoln Highway at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Columbiana Public Library. Learn about America's first transcontinental highway and enjoy a slide presentation of a cross-country trip along this historic route. Registration is required.
Call the library at (330) 482-5509 for more information.
Man charged in burglary
SHARON, Pa. -- Police charged Daniel M. Taafe, 27, of Warren-Sharon Road, Masury, with burglary and theft in the Aug. 23 burglary of the Side Pocket Cafe at 109 E. Silver St. Police said Taafe was already in jail on a Sharon charge of illegal use of a credit card when he was charged with the Side Pocket burglary Thursday. He was arraigned and returned to jail. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken in the burglary.
Break-ins attempted
SALEM -- Police have received two reports of people trying to enter homes the past two days.
Peter Zeigler of 925 South Ave., said a man attempted to enter his home through a screened window about 10:06 p.m. Thursday. After a brief struggle, the man fled.
Deana Young, East State Street, told police that someone tried to enter her daughter's room through a window at 12:18 a.m. Tuesday. The screen had been removed. Police searched but found no one.