Airport to receive funds

Airport to receive funds

VIENNA — The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport will receive $258,000 to purchase a de-icing vehicle that can be used to de-ice aircraft, including commercial planes.

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich said it is among $1.3 million in funds being released by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Vienna Township facility is among 13 Ohio airports being funded for various projects.

Voinovich, R-Ohio, said it’s critical that the government continue to upgrade the safety and efficiency of airports.

Jobs list for Niles schools

NILES — The city has begun compiling a new list of potential staff hires for the district’s schools.

Niles Civil Service Commission recently began screening for new custodians, secretaries and cafeteria employees for the school district.

By law, the commission must prepare a new list of applicants for a city position every two years.

Plans for creating a new list of firefighter candidates will proceed next spring, the commission said.

Police investigate robbery

BOARDMAN — Police are investigating a robbery that occurred at the Southern Park Mall.

A Colwyn Court man told police that he and his wife were leaving BW3 in their minivan about 1 a.m. Monday when a car pulled up behind them at a stop sign on the East Side of the mall.

A man got out of the car, walked up to the van, opened the door and pointed a gun at the victim’s neck, demanding his wallet and threatening to shoot, a police report said. The victim told the gunman he had no money and a second man got out of the car, opened the van’s passenger door and demanded money from the victim’s wife. The second man took money from the woman’s pocket and told his accomplice to shoot them.

The gunman pointed his weapon at the male victim’s head and pulled the trigger, but it just clicked, a police report said.

The victim accelerated the van in reverse, hitting both suspects with the open van doors and knocking them to the ground. He then drove to the couple’s home and called police.

Bullet hole found in house

YOUNGSTOWN — A Harlem Street woman doing laundry in her basement heard gunfire late Monday night and then discovered a bullet hole in a stairway wall, police said. The bullet entered through a wall above the garage at the North Side residence, reports show.

Catalytic converter stolen

YOUNGSTOWN — The catalytic converter on a Mazda stored in an Everett Street garage the past 12 years was stolen, as were the vehicle’s tires and a weed whacker, police said. The theft was reported Monday, with the victim telling police that the garage does not lock and the last time anyone was in the garage was July 20. The theft of catalytic converters has been on the rise in the Mahoning Valley the past few weeks.

Harding bricks available

WARREN — Bricks from the old Warren G. Harding High School, which is being demolished, will be made available to the public until Friday as keepsakes.

As the building is being razed, bricks are hauled by truck to the first-base side of the baseball field at Laird Avenue and Atlantic Street. They can be picked up from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Councilman Alford Novak, D-2nd, a member of a group that opposed razing the old building, but who is among those who are cleaning mortar off the bricks, said about 500 bricks were given out Tuesday morning. They are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A new high school that will open this year is under construction adjacent to the old school.

Bike theft reported

YOUNGSTOWN — Four teenage boys were rounded up by police in Mill Creek Park after a North Lakeview Avenue man reported a bike stolen from his yard by a boy with a gun around 8:15 p.m. Monday.

The man told police that he chased the boy and the boy pulled a gun. The man said he was afraid he’d get shot over a bike, adding the boy was shaking badly. The boy abandoned the bike and hitched a ride on the back of a companion’s bike.

Officers who caught the four boys lined them up near Birch Hill Cabin in the park and the victim identified the thief as a boy wearing checkered shorts. The 16-year-old East Lucius Avenue boy was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center to face a charge of aggravated robbery.