Hearing postponed

Hearing postponed
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A hearing to determine if Donald Conti can remain on the Lawrence County Housing Authority was postponed. Conti was to appear Monday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. County commissioners have asked for his removal since Conti pleaded guilty to gambling charges earlier this year. Tom Bashara, the attorney handling the matter for the county, said the hearing was canceled because Judge J. Craig Cox is involved in a trial. A new date hasn't been set.
Drug arrest
YOUNGSTOWN -- A New Middletown woman who gave a false identity when arrested with drug instruments on the East Side admitted to having a dose of heroin in her bra before a search at the Mahoning County Jail, police said. Lindsay Pavlina, 18, of Mapleview Avenue, was expected to be arraigned today on charges of possession of heroin, possession of drug abuse instruments (syringes) and possession of drug paraphernalia (marijuana pipe). Street Crimes Unit officers who pursued a green Chrysler Sebring in the Rigby Street area Monday evening recognized it as one seen last week and recalled the driver had been warned not to return to try to buy drugs. The car was pulled over after the driver failed to signal a turn, reports show.
Dancer assaulted
YOUNGSTOWN -- A dancer at Christie's Cabaret in North Lima told police that when she left work at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, a customer followed her home to Rexford Road, punched her in the back of the head and groped her. The 23-year-old woman said the man came up behind her as she leaned into her car to retrieve a bag. The woman said she screamed and the man ran to his truck, parked a few houses away, when a vehicle passed by.
Cruelty, theft charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police filed charges of animal cruelty and theft against Robert Reed, 44, of East Ravenwood Avenue. A housing inspector saw Reed remove siding from a vacant house at 180 East Ravenwood and store it in his garage, police said. While at Reed's home Monday, police saw a brown bull terrier tied in the back yard, standing in mud without food or water and in a state of starvation, reports show. Reed was in court Tuesday on an unrelated open-container charge, and warrants were issued on the new charges.
Lawyer gets citation
YOUNGSTOWN -- Boardman lawyer Brian J. Tareshawty received a traffic citation that charges he drove left of center Monday morning on East Midlothian Boulevard to pass a funeral procession and then drove through a red light. The citation was issued Tuesday to Tareshawty by a police officer who was part of the funeral procession for his grandfather. Tareshawty's ticket shows his vanity license plates read L84CORT (late for court). He must answer the charges May 3 in municipal court.
Voting machine demos
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County voters will have a chance to try out the new voting machines. Commissioner Ed Fosnaught will have a machine available to voters from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the New Castle Public Library. The iVotronic touch screen machines will be used in the May 16 primary.
Driver hurt in crash
AUSTINTOWN -- A woman was injured in a wreck after she was hit by another driver, said the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Nicole Gries, 24, of Canfield, was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center after the accident at 4:35 p.m. Monday. A passenger in the car, 11-month-old Allie Gries, was uninjured, the patrol said. The patrol said Gries was northbound on Four Mile Run Road and was hit by James Kerr, 67, of Columbiana County, who was eastbound on Mahoning Avenue. The patrol cited Kerr for running a red light.