Last-minute agreement averts employee strike

August 7, 2007 at 12:00a.m.

WARREN — Thomas Strip Steel’s 273 employees were on the verge of a strike Monday evening when the company and union agreed to an extension of the current contract. The company has promised to research alternative health plans and early retirement incentives while workers resume working, said Michael J. Boyle, United Steelworkers Local 3523 president. Employees had planned to begin striking at midnight, he said.

“We’re going to continue to bargain and it’s going to take some time to get all the information back where we can both take a look,” he said. “We were ready to go. It got close to the last phone call.”

Dennis Wist, CEO of the company, told The Vindicator earlier this week that the company has lost $28.7 million over the past six years. The company expects to lose $5.1 million in 2007, he said. Under the agreement, either party will be able to terminate the contact at any time, Boyle said.

Georgia man claims
he was hit by a taxi

BOARDMAN — A Georgia man was treated at St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center after claiming he was struck by a taxi. The man told police that he was in town for a wedding Saturday after which he went to the Youngstown Sports Grille, South Avenue. He and his girlfriend called for a taxi early Sunday to take them to her parents’ home in Poland. When the taxi arrived, the woman got in and the Georgia man was saying goodbye to friends just outside of the restaurant’s doors. His girlfriend got out of the taxi to get him, the man told police, and the taxi started to back out of the parking spot.

The man said he stepped in front of the taxi and yelled for the driver to stop because he needed a ride. He told police that the taxi came at him and he jumped in the air to avoid being run over and rolled across the hood, hitting the windshield. He complained of a back injury. When contacted by police, the taxi driver said that he was jumped at the restaurant but that he didn’t report it to police. No charges have been filed.

Committee appointment
for state Sen. Cafaro

COLUMBUS — State Sen. Capri Cafaro of Hubbard, D-32nd, announced her appointment to serve as vice chairwoman until 2008 of the transportation committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures, a group that lobbies Congress and federal agencies. The committee has jurisdiction over decisions impacting transportation funding, rail safety and aviation. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the state issues. “This opportunity allows me to bring our state to the forefront of a national debate on transportation,” she said.

Brief power outage

WARREN — About 4,000 residents were without power in the city for about an hour Monday. Luann Koch, area manager for Ohio Edison, said the first call came in at 3:18 notifying the company that the electric was out. By 4:15 power was restored to everyone. She said the cause of outage was a broken insulator outside one of the substations. She said she was not able to give the exact location because of past vandalism problems. The outage was in the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods. She said after switching all the lines, the company was able to restore the power.

Antique Tractor Show

BAZETTA — The Antique Tractor Club of Trumbull County will have its 13th annual Antique Tractor Show from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 18-19 at the Ali Babba Grotto grounds on Perkins Jones Road near the state Route 5 bypass. It will feature a garden tractor pull Saturday and antique tractor pull Sunday. For more information, call Les Shelar at (330) 544-6890 or visit the Web site at www.antiquetractorcluboftrumbullcounty.com.

Task force checkpoint

A sobriety checkpoint will be set up in Mahoning County from 10 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday. The Mahoning County Operating Vehicle Impaired Task Force will target impaired drivers. A grant for the extra patrols is administered by the Goshen Police District.