Cars damaged in Niles
Cars damaged in Niles
NILES -- Car vandalism continued in the city as three more people reported windows damaged.
In the past week, city police have handled more than a dozen calls where BB pellets were shot through vehicle windows, shattering them. The latest reports were filed Wednesday by residents on Difford Drive, Walnut Street and Lincoln Avenue.
Indicted on charges
WARREN -- A 40-year-old Liberty Township man is indicted on charges of aggravated robbery, failure to comply with order or signal of a police officer and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. A Trumbull County grand jury issued the indictment against Larry Johnson of Belmont Avenue on Wednesday. He was to be arraigned today in the courtroom of Judge John Stuard. Johnson is accused of helping to rob the BP gas station at Belmont Avenue and Gypsy Lane on Sept. 11. Johnson's co-defendant, Anthony Smith, 43, of Norwood Avenue, is facing charges of aggravated robbery, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest. His case is pending.
Sex-crime imprisonment
WARREN -- A 32-year-old Fowler Township man who pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual battery has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Tony Winchell of Bradley-Brownlee Road was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Andrew Logan in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Tom Wrenn, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said Winchell is accused of having sexual relations with a boy he knew in August 2003.
Trumbull jail crowded
WARREN -- Trumbull County Sheriff's Department officials will meet with municipal and common pleas judges Friday in hopes of finding a solution to the jail overcrowding problem.
Ernie Cook, chief of operations at the jail, said the jail is designed to hold 280 inmates but this past week they had 380.
"We need to do something," Cook said.
Judges will be asked to release some nonviolent offenders and to consider alternatives to jail, such as electronic-monitored house arrest.
Special school meeting
HUBBARD -- The board of education will have a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at Reed Middle School. A caucus will be at 5:45 p.m. This replaces the September meeting because none was held during the month.
Industrial park grant
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have accepted a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development to improve roads in a Vienna industrial park.
Improvements, to take place next year, include widening AEROPark Drive, which is the Ridge Road entrance to the AEROPark industrial park, and reconstructing an intersection within the park.
Timken and Delphi Packard Electric are tenants in the park, which is owned by a holding company affiliated with the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber.
Culvert replacement
HARTFORD -- Custer Orangeville Road will be closed north of Drake State Line Road on Tuesday and Wednesday so workers from the Trumbull County Engineer's Office can replace a culvert.
Seeking contractors' bids
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners are seeking bids from contractors to renovate the Trumbull County Health Department building on Chestnut Street Northeast.
A cost estimate will be available when specifications are completed for the project by Ricciuti, Balog & amp; Partner Architects.
Burglars steal from Amish
MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio (AP) -- Burglars ransacked the homes of at least eight Amish families last weekend, stealing hundreds of dollars while the residents were attending church, law enforcement in northeast Ohio said.
Most of the thefts in rural areas of Ashtabula, Geauga and Trumbull counties involved several hundreds of dollars, but one family reported $11,000 missing, said Ernie Cook, chief deputy at the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department.
Thieves took only money in all but one break-in.
The sheriffs' departments in all three counties plan extra patrols and are cooperating on a joint investigation, officials said.
Officials said the churchgoers returned home to find that thieves had rummaged through cupboards, desk drawers and even cookie jars.