Temporary outage

Temporary outage

AUSTINTOWN — A truck hitting a guy wire resulted in 881 Ohio Edison customers in the township to lose power for about half an hour. The outage was reported about 1 p.m. Tuesday and had been restored by 1:38 p.m. Paul Harkey, Ohio Edison’s area manager for Mahoning County, said that a truck on 76 Drive hit a guy wire, causing the outage at the Kimberly Avenue substation. The outage affected commercial and residential customers along state Route 46 and Mahoning Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods. Ohio Edison crews rerouted power to restore electricity to customers, Harkey said.

Short causes house fire

NILES — An electrical short is being blamed for a fire Tuesday that did $30,000 damage at a Second Street home. There were no injuries, and the Red Cross was called to assist. A fire official said firefighters were called to the Bonita Coleman home at 159 W. Second shortly before 7:30 a.m. after the short caused a fire in the second floor of the two-story frame house. The blaze was contained to a bedroom. Coleman was at work at the time, and four children who were awake managed to escape. The house was not equipped with a smoke alarm.

Sanity to be tested

WARREN — The criminal case against Daniel A. Leet, 29, of Niles, accused of killing his 29-year-old wife outside of their Difford Drive home in November, will resume later this month after his mental state is evaluated. Leet pleaded innocent by reason of insanity earlier this month and is now due to be evaluated by a psychologist to determine whether he was insane at the time of the crime. His next hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 26 in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. He is in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of a $2 million bond. Leet is accused of shooting Angela S. Court Leet with three 12-gauge shotgun blasts outside their ranch-style home about 10:15 p.m. Nov. 24. He is charged with aggravated murder with a firearm specification and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Couple fights off robber

NILES — The robbery of a Smith Street couple was thwarted after the would-be thief was beaten off. The couple told police that a man dressed in black and wearing a black ski mask entered their home through an unlocked door and demanded the woman’s purse about 7 p.m. Monday. After a struggle, the man fled without the purse.

South Range pact talks

NORTH LIMA — South Range Local Board of Education will meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday for contract negotiations with the district’s teachers union, the South Range Education Association, and may continue Saturday at 9 a.m. Concluding negotiations are scheduled for Feb. 22 and could continue Feb. 23 if needed. The closed-door negotiations will be at the high school.

Fire in apartment

YOUNGSTOWN — An electrical fire in the living room of an apartment at 3115 Hillman St. around 12:10 a.m. Tuesday was caused by an equipment failure. The occupant, who had no electric service, was running electricity to his apartment with extension cords from his brother’s apartment upstairs, reports show. One extension cord tied into appliances looked as if it had been repaired many times, the fire department said. No smoke detectors were found. Damage was set at $3,500. The Mahoning Chapter Red Cross offered short-term shelter to residents displaced by the fire.

DUI checkpoint set

HERMITAGE, Pa. — The Mercer County DUI task force will conduct a checkpoint Friday night. Task force members will be checking drivers for a valid driver’s licenses, valid registrations, and signs of intoxication at an undisclosed location in the city.