Nearly back to normal

Nearly back to normal
BELOIT -- The halls and classrooms of Beloit Elementary are again alive with pupils after 37 children were affected by a mysterious rash March 15. Only two classrooms, where a group of fourth-graders first experienced symptoms of noncontagious dermatitis, remained locked Monday.
The cause of the rash is still not known; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency made more tests last week and said Monday that preliminary results showed "no smoking gun" as the cause.
A couple of Beloit pupils complained of an itch or rash, the district said Monday, but it was not clear if they were connected to the first cases.
Recurring symptoms in 11 pupils prompted administrators to close the school last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Recycling drive results
YOUNGSTOWN -- A three-day drive drew 345 vehicles bearing 530 appliances to be recycled last week, said Jim Petuch, director of the Mahoning County recycling division, or Green Team. Items collected were 102 refrigerators, 108 air conditioners, 15 stoves, 175 dehumidifiers, three water coolers, nine hot water tanks, 12 freezers, a water softener, and 105 miscellaneous appliances. Bringing unwanted appliances to the drive at Youngstown Iron and Metal were 57 vehicles on Thursday, 70 on Friday and 218 on Saturday. Despite rain part of each day, Petuch said the response greatly exceeded his expectation of 200 vehicles and he hopes to conduct the drive again next year. Featuring free Freon removal, the drive was an unprecedented partnership of the state, which funded it with a 10,000 grant, the county, the city and the scrap metal processing company
Ice cream giveaway
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown Community Food Center Inc. and Gleaners Food Bank, 94 Pyatt St., will have a "Grand Ice Cream Giveaway" from 10 a.m. to noon today. Photo ID and proof of income required. Recipients must bring a big bag, box or laundry basket.
Siren test, tornado drill
YOUNGSTOWN -- Emergency warning sirens will sound at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday as Mahoning County participates in a statewide siren test and schools conduct tornado drills marking the beginning of tornado season, the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency has announced.
Treated after assault
BOARDMAN -- A 15-year-old Poland boy was treated at Forum Health Beeghly Medical Center after he was assaulted. The boy's mother told police that the boy was at a concert Saturday at St. Luke Social Hall on South Avenue when another boy attacked him for no reason. The other boy punched the 15-year-old in the nose and then on the right side of his face. With the second punch, the boy was cut with some type of an edged weapon. He was taken to Beeghly by a family member and received three stitches above his right eye.
Woman reports rape
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 40-year-old Halleck Street woman told police she was raped by a friend of her daughter's who offered to give her a ride home. The woman said they left her daughter's on Ellenwood Avenue around 11 p.m. Sunday and the 20-year-old man she knows only as "Baby Boy" took her to a vacant house on a street somewhere off South Avenue and raped her, reports show. The accuser said she punched the man until he began to choke her. He left her at the house and she started walking home, flagging down police she saw near South Avenue.