Struthers man robbed after paying for gas

Struthers man robbedafter paying for gas
YOUNGSTOWN -- An 18-year-old Struthers man was the victim of an armed robbery at the BP gas station on East Midlothian Boulevard after he paid $35 for gas and received $65 cash back, police said.
The victim said he was waiting for change around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday when two teenage boys approached, one of whom struck up a conversation.
The boys followed the Struthers man to his car, ostensibly to get his phone number so they could contact him for a basketball game.
The victim said one of the youths pulled out a gun when he began to reach for his cell phone in the car. The boys took the $65 and ran north through rear yards. The gas station's surveillance tape was to be turned over to detectives.
AAA honors 2 cities
The cities of Hubbard and Lordstown recently received traffic safety awards at the annual AAA Community Safety Awards Luncheon. Hubbard hasn't had a pedestrian fatality in 33 years, while Lordstown's streak is 12 years. Ohio Motorists Safety Foundation and AAA congratulated police chiefs and mayors from 80 Northeast Ohio communities for safety achievements in their communities.
Kyrsten Studer, 14, was struck and killed April 4, 2003, as she and five friends walked off state Route 304 at Pine Lakes Golf Course. At the time, the area was in Hubbard Township but has since been annexed into the city.
Raffle tickets to be sold
GIRARD -- The Girard citizens group GUARD will be selling raffle tickets from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Community Booth in the Target concourse at the Eastwood Mall, Niles. Tickets are $5 each. The grand prize is $2,500 cash; six other prizes including getaway trips, and dinner packages also will be given away.
The drawing will be Dec. 21 at the Golf Dome here.
All proceeds will go to help defray legal costs associated with the group's efforts to fight the proposed construction and demolition debris landfill in Girard.
Recycling awareness
POLAND -- The Mahoning County commissioners' Reuse and Recycling Division, The Green Team, and Poland Township are sponsoring a recycling awareness day 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the recycling center at 7474 Clingan Road. Residents bringing recycling, including plastics, bottles, newsprint magazines and cardboard will be treated to refreshments and can enter to win prizes. For more information, call the Green Team at (330) 740-2060.
Work set on sewer lines
WARREN -- East Market Street will be closed between Pine and Vine avenues from 7 a.m. to about 1 p.m. Saturday to allow Utility Contracting Inc. of Youngstown to install storm sewer lines across Market Street as part of the city's downtown storm and sanitary sewer separation project. Traffic will be detoured to High Street.
Arsonist destroys house
HOWLAND -- A fire Thursday morning in a vacant house at 2537 Athens Ave. S.E. has been ruled arson, the fire department said. Howland and Weathersfield firefighters battled the 2:41 a.m. blaze, which caused an estimated $7,500 damage to the house and $7,000 damage to its contents. Utilities to the house had been turned off.
Boys carrying knives
WARREN -- A 6-year-old boy who threatened to stab a fellow pupil during class, and his 8-year-old brother were found to be carrying knives Wednesday morning at the Academy of Arts and Humanities, 1400 Tod Ave. N.W.
A police report filed by Wendell Yorkman, school principal, says a teacher found a knife on the 8-year-old, and a utility knife and tool were found in the book bag carried by the 6-year-old. The boys were suspended from school and released to their mother. No charges were filed, but police notified the Trumbull County Children Services Board.
The academy, located in Riverside Square (the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital), is a charter elementary school in its first year of operation.