31⁄2-year sentence

31⁄2-year sentence

WARREN — A 24-year-old Niles man who took an assault rifle into a crowded Niles bar has been sentenced to 31⁄2 years in prison.

Michael Dickson, of John Street, was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to six months for the illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises and three years on a gun specification. The sentences will be served consecutively. Niles police reported that Dickson walked into Cleary’s, 1216 N. Main St., about 2 a.m. Feb. 6 with an AK-47. He pointed it in the air and chambered a bullet. Police said he aimed the rifle at several patrons. One of them tackled Dickson and disarmed him. Dickson’s blood-alcohol content was 0.283 percent. The legal limit is 0.08.

Animal cruelty plea

CANFIELD — A man originally charged with 13 counts of cruelty to animals pleaded no contest to subsections of two of those charges in county court. Thomas Skelton was charged over the condition of 13 horses taken by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office from his property at 5156 S. Raccoon Road in October. The horses were placed in foster care. Two of them were euthanized, according to court records. Skelton pleaded no contest to two counts of failure to provide wholesome exercise and change of air June 18, said court bailiff Bob Rupp. He was found guilty and ordered to pay restitution to 10 people who fostered his horses. He paid $8,772, which was divided among the 10, court records show. The other 11 charges were dismissed, and the 11 remaining horses were returned to Skelton, Rupp said.

Emerald 7s winner

YOUNGSTOWN — Emeralds and sevens turned out to be the winning combination for a city man. Richard A. Ahlquist won a top $100,000 prize scratching the Emerald 7s instant game ticket. He filed a claim in the Youngstown regional office last week. After mandatory federal and state taxes totaling 31 percent, he will receive a check for $69,000. Ahlquist bought the winning ticket from Video Encore, 618 Youngstown Poland Road in Struthers. Video Encore receives a $1,000 bonus for selling a winning ticket. Emerald 7s tickets cost $5. The game began selling May 25, 2007.

Boy, 12, arrested

YOUNGSTOWN — A 12-year-old Erie Street boy was taken into custody after a foot chase by police who responded to a burglary call in the 3400 block of Zedaker Street. Two of his companions managed to escape around 8:30 p.m. Monday. The boys dropped a bag with 29 DVDs as they ran. Police returned the DVDs to the woman whose home had been burglarized. Officers found the front door kicked in and the frame heavily damaged. The house was completely ransacked. She said two gold necklaces and a Nintendo with seven games were also missing. The 12-year-old boy was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face charges of burglary and receiving stolen property.

Conservation summit

YOUNGSTOWN — Jessica Trickett, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s manager of collections and curatorial services, will attend the National Conservation Summit in Washington D.C. today and Thursday. The summit is being sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services in response to the problems facing museums. The representatives who have been invited will meet with government officials, leaders in national preservation and leaders in private sector support for conservation to find a solution and create a national conservation initiative. “There is a crisis going on in museums because there is not enough resources to take care of the collections the way they should be taken care of,” Trickett said. Trickett has been working at the society’s Arms Family Museum of Local History for nine years.

East Side homicide

YOUNGSTOWN — Police are investigating a homicide at 1467 Woodcrest Ave. on the city’s East Side that occurred around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. No other details were available at press time.