Firefighters collect items to send to troops

Firefighters collect
items to send to troops

AUSTINTOWN — The fire department is collecting items to send to the 838th Military Police Co. from Victoria Road. The unit was recently sent to Afghanistan. The collection point is at fire station No. 1 on state Route 46 north of Mahoning Avenue. The collection will go on until the unit comes home, said firefighter John Fritz. There are about 250 soldiers in the unit. Firefighters would like to send items on a regular basis. Items to donate include baby wipes, paper towels, socks, candy, snack foods, canned foods, drink mixes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, batteries, flashlights, glow sticks, gloves or money. Monetary donations will also be accepted and used to buy items the unit requests. Fritz said the fire department would like to send items in February, April, June, August, October, December, February 2009 and April 2009. The department will try to send extra items around the holidays. Call the fire station at (330) 799-4209 for more information, or just drop items off at the station.

Girard store robbed

GIRARD — Police are looking for the man who reportedly leaped over the counter at a city gas station and snatched money from the cash register.

Police said a man went to the Shell Foodmart on South State Street late Monday night and waited for the store to clear of all customers before going inside and placing a piece of candy on the counter, as if planning to buy it. The store clerk opened the cash register to complete the transaction, but the man demanded money from the cash register. The man, reports said, leaped over the counter and began taking bills from the cash register. Reports say the man took about $140.

MLK Day breakfast

WARREN — Sonja Williams, wife of Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, will be guest speaker at the Trumbull County Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast program at 7:30 a.m. Monday in Room 117 of the Technology Building at Kent State University Trumbull Campus. Williams is a program coordinator for Upward Bound at Youngstown State University. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from YSU. Her professional career involves teaching and working with at-risk children. Reservations can be made by contacting Bill Mullane, (330) 719-1199. Tickets are $10 per person, $125 for a table of 10.

Investigating accident

BOARDMAN — The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Canfield post is investigating a Tuesday morning accident in which a Vindicator truck went off the road. The truck was traveling about 11 a.m. along Interstate 680 near Western Reserve Road when the truck overturned. No one was injured. No further information was available from the patrol.

Catholic Charities grant

YOUNGSTOWN — Catholic Charities Regional Agency will receive a substantial grant from the Raymond John Wean Foundation in Warren to assist eligible individuals and families living in Mahoning and Trumbull counties who are threatened with heating-related utility disconnections. The amount has not yet been announced, though the agency said it expected to assist 30 percent more families than last year. The 2007 grant was $100,000, and 679 families in Mahoning and Trumbull counties were helped. This is the third consecutive year the foundation has provided this funding. Qualified residents will be screened according to federally mandated income criteria and must sign up for the Heating Emergency Assistance Program before receiving help from Catholic Charities. For more information, call Catholic Charities at (330) 744-3320.

New board officers

McDONALD — The McDonald board of education appointed Bob Jones new president and LaDonna Lund vice president at its recent reorganization meeting. The other board members are William Roux, Kate Harvey and Jeffrey Hughes. Board meetings will be at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of the month in the high school library.