OFFICERS IN SHOOTING WILL RETURN TO FORCE

Officers in shootingwill return to force
NILES -- Two officers who were authorized earlier this month to return to work from paid administrative leave will be back in the police department this weekend.
Personnel records show officer Chris Mannella will return from military leave effective Sunday, while police chief Bruce Simeone will report back from vacation Monday.
The two were the officers who fired their service weapons July 21 at James Fambro-Wade, 43, of Warren. Fambro-Wade later died of his injuries.
Police allege Fambro-Wade was the man who shot and killed his former girlfriend, 21-year-old Erica Mechling, just minutes before police arrived.
The two were cleared to return to work by Mayor Ralph A. Infante last week, but remained off the job for their respective leaves. An internal investigation by the Niles Police Department found no violations, but an investigation by the Trumbull County prosecutor's office into all the events of that day continues.
Street to close
AUSTINTOWN -- Oakwood Avenue will be closed between Four Mile Run Road and Kenmar Court beginning Tuesday so workers can replace a culvert. Township trustees and the Mahoning County Engineer's office are paying for the work using a $110,675 state Issue 2 grant. The road is expected to reopen before the end of the month.
Three face drug charges
AUSTINTOWN -- Police arrested three men after finding suspected crack and crack pipes in a car during a traffic stop. Joel Bryant, 45, of West Laclede Avenue, Youngstown; Gregory Dunkle, 40, of West Boston Avenue, Youngstown; and Dennis Zajac, 37, of Fitzgerald Avenue, Austintown, are each charged by police with possession of drug paraphernalia and felony possession of crack cocaine.
Police said they stopped the car for not having a muffler about 1:30 a.m. Friday on South Raccoon Road near New Road. Bryant was the driver of the car, while Zajac and Dunkle were passengers, reports state.
Woman is sentenced
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Tammy Reid, 36, of Pine Oak Drive has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for her conviction of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws.
Reid was sentenced Friday in Pittsburgh by Judge Terrence F. McVerry of U.S. District Court. Information presented in court showed that Reid was involved in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the New Castle area, said Tina O. Miller, assistant U.S. attorney. After her five years of imprisonment, Reid will be on probation for three years.
Gas line repaired in Salem
SALEM -- Perry Township and Salem police and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers shut down Lincoln Avenue between Snyder and Pigeon roads for about 35 minutes Friday morning while Columbia Gas Co. crews patched a 4-inch natural gas line that had been ruptured by excavating equipment. The gas line, which was buried 1 to 2 feet underground, had a pressure of 60 pounds per square inch, said the Salem Fire Department, which stood by with Perry Township firefighters at the scene until the break could be repaired.
The contractor was working to create an additional parking area for Freshmark Foods, a meat processing plant at 1735 S. Lincoln Ave., when the gas line ruptured at 9:35 a.m. There were no injuries.
Volunteers needed
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- AWARE, Mercer County's center against domestic and sexual violence, is looking for volunteers for its hotline and emergency shelter as well as for outreach programs and special events. The nonprofit agency will have volunteer training at Thiel College on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Sept. 14. The sessions begin at 5:30 p.m. For information, contact the volunteer coordinator, at (724) 662-1870.
Applicants sought
NILES -- City officials are seeking residents interested in filling in as crossing guards.
The patrols -- which are stationed at various intersections near the city's schools -- would work on a part-time, as-needed basis.
Applications are available from the Niles Police Department's Records Office between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays.
For more information, call the records office at (330) 652-9944.