Returning from Iraq

Returning from Iraq
AUSTINTOWN -- The 141 soldiers of the Austintown-based Company C, 216th Engineer Battalion of the Ohio National Guard will be returning home next month after a one-year tour of duty in Iraq. The unit's family support group is having a night at the races fund-raiser from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Christy Armory on Victoria Road. Proceeds will be used for a welcome-home celebration. Shannon Royea, support group leader, said the group is asking for the participation of businesses and community leaders to help to make the celebration as successful as possible. The unit was activated Dec. 18, 2003, and deployed the first week in January of last year. Upon returning to the United States, they will be debriefed for several days at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and then return to Austintown. For more information, call Royea at (330) 792-0927.
Pretrial for deputy
AUSTINTOWN -- A final pretrial will be Feb. 14 for Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey L. Haney II in Mahoning County Area Court. Haney is accused of stealing eight 50-pound bags of ice melt on Nov. 25, 2004, from the sidewalk outside Sears Hardware Store on Mahoning Avenue. The bags were worth $85.52. Haney, 36, of Youngstown, continues to work pending the outcome of the case. A jury trial is set for March 18. If convicted, Haney faces up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine. He would also face disciplinary action at the sheriff's department.
Drug indictment
CLEVELAND -- A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Levar Johnson, who is also known as Varde V, 27, of 253 Butler Drive N.E., Warren, and Olivia Johnson, 52, of 1780 Ferndale Avenue S.W., Warren, with violating federal narcotics laws. Gregory A. White, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said that the indictment alleges that Levar and Olivia Johnson engaged in the distribution of crack cocaine and that Olivia maintained a drug-involved premise.
Pavilion reservations
NORTH LIMA -- Beaver Township residents may make reservations now to rent the pavilions at Woodworth and Memorial parks. Nonresidents may begin reserving the pavilions Feb. 1. The cost is $40 for residents and $70 for nonresidents. For more information, call the park board office at (330) 549-9552.
Sentenced in burglary
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Michael Miller, 45, of Hudson Avenue to two years in prison on a burglary charge earlier this week. Police said Miller broke into a Fairgreen Avenue home last July 23. Miller pleaded guilty to the charge in November.
Boy admits car theft
YOUNGSTOWN -- Paul George, 15, of Benita Avenue admitted to police that he stole a Buick Regal from Cleveland Auto Wrecking when he found keys in the ignition. The boy told police Wednesday that he drove it through the fence of the locked tow yard on Youngstown-Hubbard Road the previous night, reports show. Police arrested George after finding him in the 2300 block of Elm Street, where he was being detained by a man to whom he had admitted the car theft. The plates police found on the Buick belong on a Mercury. The boy was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face a charge of receiving stolen property.
Weapon charge
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jason Rushton, 18, of Ayers Street was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant charging him with illegal possession of a weapon, based on a previous drug conviction. Police said Rushton was found with the weapon, a .40-caliber handgun, on Jan. 19. The warrant shows that Rushton was convicted of drug abuse (cocaine) in March 2003 in juvenile court. He was 17 at the time.
Workshop on Saturday
YOUNGSTOWN -- Information on becoming a Wild School Site will be part of the eighth annual Environmental Education Resource Fair Workshop on Saturday at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm. The workshop, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., will make information available on Ohio's Wild School Sites and Project Wild programs as well as a host of other environmental curricula. The workshop is $20 and includes lunch. Contact Joyce Gottron at (330) 793-0718.