Malnourished pit bulls

Malnourished pit bulls

YOUNGSTOWN — The hunt for a fugitive at 763 Fairgreen Ave. turned up seven malnourished pit bull dogs, some inside the house and some tied up outside without food or water, police said. Deputy Dog Warden Sean Toohey was called to the scene and removed the dogs around 11 p.m. Monday. Police said the residence was in deplorable condition with trash, dog feces and drug contraband throughout.

Sewer project contract

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners are expected to award a contract Thursday for a $750,000 sewer project to serve Ellsworth Township. The meeting will be at 5 p.m. in the township’s Old Township Hall on U.S. Route 224, just west of state Route 45. The street address is 11125 Akron-Canfield Road. Joe Warino, county sanitary engineer, said the project will extend sewers north from a sewage treatment plant at Berlin Station — about 13⁄4 miles south of the Route 224 and state Route 45 intersection and continue north along Route 45 to Western Reserve Elementary.

The new sewers between Berlin Station and the elementary school will serve a mostly residential area there, Warino said. A one-mile long commercial area along Route 224 on either side of the intersection also will receive the sewers, he said.

Motorcycle fatality

MIDDLEFIELD — A 65-year-old McDonald man died after his motorcycle went off the road Monday afternoon. Joseph Ragazzine was westbound on state Route 87 in Middlefield Township when his 2002 Honda Shadow went off the left side of the roadway, striking a ditch and a fence. He was wearing a helmet. He was pronounced dead at Geauga Regional Hospital. The crash is under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Man killed on I-79

MERCER, Pa. — A Maryland man was killed on the side of Interstate 79 in Findley Township. Pennsylvania State Police said Charles H. Payton Sr. of Glen Burnie, Md., had pulled off the berm and was outside his vehicle at 5:55 p.m. Monday at the I-79 off-ramp to Interstate 80 east bound. Police said he was struck by a car driven by Heidi M. Wise, 31, of Harrisville, Pa. Police said they are still investigating.

Fire damages house

YOUNGSTOWN — A mattress placed against the furnace at 30 W. Boston Ave. ignited around 11:55 p.m. Monday when the furnace kicked on, the fire department said. The Red Cross was called to provide temporary living arrangements for the occupant and her 5-year-old son. Damage was set at $3,000.

Body identified

YOUNGSTOWN — A man found behind a boarded-up house at 312 Ayers St. on the East Side around 12:15 p.m. Monday is from Greenville, Pa. Police said Stephen C. Paxton, 34, of Quarry Hill Road appeared to have died from a drug overdose, and the body had apparently been there for a couple of days, said Detective Sgt. Daryl Martin. A lawn-care worker who takes care of the vacant house found Paxton, police said. Suspected drug paraphernalia was found near his body, they said.

Work to begin on facility

SHARON, Pa. — Work on a new, long-awaited wastewater treatment plant will begin today.

A formal groundbreaking is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the site of the new plant along Riverside Drive. The $33.5 million construction project will expand the city’s wastewater capacity from 4.66 million gallons per day to 8.66 million gallons per day.

The city is under federal mandate to improve its waste treatment facilities. The construction is expected to last about 21 months and includes facility improvements, a new interceptor sewer and siphons. There will also be a consolidation of the administrative office.

The original facility was built more than a decade ago.