Literacy fair at gardens

Literacy fair at gardens
YOUNGSTOWN -- Altrusa International will host a Literacy/Book Fair at the Mill Creek MetroParks Fellows Riverside Gardens, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday. Participating will be Sue Ann Taylor of The Vindicator, representatives from Parents magazine, Barnes & amp; Noble, WYTV-Channel 33 news anchor Angie Shaker, various story tellers, Men's Garden Club, Public Library of Mahoning County, Target, Pete the Penguin from Youngstown State University mascot, Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Chris Leper, the artist who did the poster, which will be signed and given out to the children.
Murder charge dropped
LISBON -- A judge has dismissed an aggravated murder charge against a Guilford Lake man who has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas signed the order earlier this week at the request of John Gamble, an assistant county prosecutor.
James Kovach Jr., 66, of Camp Boulevard, was accused of shooting and killing his sister, Kathryn Anderson, at the home they shared, in 2005.
But Judge Tobin found in 2005 and 2006 that Kovach was incompetent to stand trial.
Kovach suffers from Huntington's disease, a genetic disorder characterized by dementia that often leads to death 15 to 20 years after its onset. He is in a health-care facility in Massillon.
More for Pymatuning
MERCER, Pa. -- A Pymatuning Township water project will receive an additional 8,636 in 2007 Community Development Block Grants because the county's allocation was slightly higher than expected. Mercer County commissioners said Tuesday that they will give 52,756 to the township for replacement of water treatment equipment. Earlier this month they had approved 44,120. The reason for the increase is that the county has been notified it will receive 326,531 for 2007 instead of the 316,000 it expected.
They said the Pymatuning water project was the only one eligible for the extra funds because a Pymatuning Township sewer project, the only other "bricks-and-mortar" project in the list of grant awards, had already received full funding. All the other 2007 CDBGs were made to service organizations, and the amount they got was 15 percent of the grant total, which is the most allowed for nonconstruction projects.
Pickup truck set on fire
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Hermitage police said someone set fire to a 1998 pickup truck as it was parked on the 900 block of North Water Avenue. Police said they were called about the fire at 11 p.m. Tuesday. There was about 2,000 worth of damage done to the vehicle.
Murder trial continues
LISBON -- Testimony continued Wednesday in the trial of an East Liverpool man accused of stabbing a female acquaintance to death.
Authorities said Emily Foreman, 21, was stabbed to death at a house owned by her mother at 916 Anderson Blvd. in Liverpool Township on Aug. 23, 2006.
Andrew G. Irwin, 25, of East Liverpool, who told authorities he used heroin, has been charged with murder. Authorities have said Irwin may have killed Foreman over drugs. Defense attorney George Kafantaris asked one officer who had been at the scene if he had left any information out of his report. The officer said no.
When the jury was out of the courtroom, county Prosecutor Robert Herron complained to Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court that Kafantaris "has gone to great lengths to imply we're withholding evidence."
More copper piping stolen
WARREN -- Thieves destroyed a wall at the Warren G. Harding High School construction site when they ripped out 5,000 worth of copper piping Monday night. Workers for the W.G. Tomko Construction found the masonry wall destroyed and the copper stolen when they went to work Tuesday morning, according to a police report. The damage to the wall was estimated at 2,000. This is the sixth time copper has been stolen from the Harding construction site. No one has been arrested.