Man to be arraigned

Man to be arraigned
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 29-year-old city man will be arraigned this morning on charges stemming from the March 28 shooting of his girlfriend.
Marcus Jones was picked up by city police Tuesday at a home on Lauderdale Avenue. He faces charges of attempted murder, abduction and aggravated burglary. He is being held at the Mahoning County Jail.
Regina Peoples, 30, of 2020 Stewart, had just pulled into her driveway when, according to police, Jones approached and hit her several times in the head with the butt of a pistol. Jones then fired the pistol at close range, police said. Peoples drove herself to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.
At the time of the shooting, it was mistakenly reported that Peoples had been shot 18 times. The error was due to information given to the police by trauma center workers, Lt. Robin Lees said. Peoples was shot four times, Lees said, and is out of the hospital.
Proposed school closing
WARREN -- A letter sent home to parents this week from schools Superintendent Betty English recommends Secrest Elementary be closed at the end of this school year. The school board could vote on the recommendation Tuesday.
The Bennett Avenue building might be closed sooner than planned as a cost-saving move.
The school district is building four new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade buildings and a new high school.
The pupils from Secrest would be sent to Emerson, McGuffey, Alden and Horace Mann elementaries, English wrote.
School robbed, ransacked
WARREN -- Computer and radio equipment were taken in a break-in at Western Reserve Middle School, police said Tuesday.
A police report filed Monday morning also states that "many areas were ransacked" in the school.
Mercer County elections
MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer County elections officials say Monday is the last day to register to vote, change name, address or party for the May 17 primary election.
Absentee ballot applications also are being accepted for voters unable to visit their voting locations because of health reasons or absence from their community on Election Day.
Applications are available at municipal buildings, state legislator offices, libraries, district justice offices, state liquor stores and at all post offices.
May 10 is the last day to request an absentee ballot. Completed ballots must be received by 5 p.m. May 13.
Board schedules vote
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The New Castle Area School Board plans to vote to award bids for work that is to be done at Taggart Stadium.
The vote will be taken at the school board's regular meeting at 6:30 tonight.
District Business Manager Joseph Ambrosini said the work is part of an ongoing renovations project at the stadium and is to focus on track and field development including the construction of a new track and the addition of new field turf.
Updates to the electric system also are to be made.
Last year, the school board earmarked $1.2 million for renovations at the stadium.
Scholarship opportunity
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The Thomas "Bear" Mangino Memorial Foundation will award its 17th annual scholastic scholarship this year. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a Lawrence County student who will attend a four-year college or university.
The scholarship is named in memory of the late Mangino, a lifelong resident of Lawrence County. He was executive director of Beaver County Children and Youth Services, as well as a part-time instructor at Penn State University.
Applications for the scholarship are available from high school guidance counselors. The deadline for applying is April 21.
For more information, call (724) 971-6179 or e-mail matthewmangino@aol.com.