Apartment kitchen fire

Apartment kitchen fire

STRUTHERS — A kitchen fire ripped through a Poland Avenue apartment Monday evening, leaving a family of four without shelter.

The fire is reported to have begun in a cooking accident where grease splashed from the stove. Smoke was billowing from a bottom level apartment when firefighters responding at about 5 p.m. All occupants had been evacuated.

The family was assisted by the Mahoning Chapter Red Cross Disaster Team after firefighters determined the apartment was uninhabitable.

Court drops juror case

AKRON — A federal court will not pursue the matter of a woman who was fired from her waitressing job because she appeared for juror duty in the Donna Moonda murder trial. U.S. District Court Judge David Dowd said both sides came to a satisfactory conclusion after a hearing Monday in his courtroom, but there will be no public disclosure of the conclusion. He noted there will be no further intervention by the court. Judge Dowd issued an order two weeks ago calling Jennifer Kaser, owner of the Virginia Restaurant in Carrollton, to court to answer questions about the termination of Paula Abrahims. Abrahims told the court that she was fired June 4 after reporting for jury duty in Judge Dowd’s court. Abrahims had worked at the restaurant for 22 years.

Fires set at vacant houses

YOUNGSTOWN — Vacant houses on Pasadena Avenue and Falls Avenue were intentionally set on fire early Tuesday. Firefighters sent to 422 Pasadena around 4 a.m. found the structure fully engulfed in flames, with the front door open and windows broken. Damage was set at $18,000, a total loss. Earlier, at 2:15 a.m., firefighters responded to a fire at 317 West Falls and found the house fully engulfed in flames. Damage was set at $15,000, a total loss. Vinyl siding at a neighboring occupied house at 321 West Falls sustained heat and water damage estimated at $7,000.

Rat poison found in yard

YOUNGSTOWN — A package of rat poison was found by a Winona Avenue woman in her fenced-in backyard where she keeps her two dogs, reports show. The woman told police Monday that she believes two teenage girls in the neighborhood placed the poison because she heard talking and laughing near the fence the night before. The poison packaged was open and had been chewed but the woman wasn’t sure if her dogs ingested any of the contents. She said onions, which are harmful to dogs, had previously been placed in the yard. The report was turned over to detectives and a humane investigator.

Blood Donor Challenge

YOUNGSTOWN — Give blood and a little extra at the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation’s “Blood Donor Challenge,” 9 a.m. Thursday at the Jewish Community Center.

Thanks to the continuing support of an anonymous benefactor, $25 will be donated to a charity of the blood donor’s choice with every pint of blood given. First time donors will have $50 to give to his or her favorite charity.

More than 40 area not-for-profit agencies have benefited from the event since 1996, according to Deborah Grinstein, endowment director for the federation.