Pumping-station work

Pumping-station work

Youngstown water customers in Canfield Township and parts of Boardman and Austintown are asked to conserve water from midnight to 6 a.m. Friday while the city works on the Webb Road pumping station. The work being performed will require the pumping station to be shut down. It will affect Canfield Township, Austintown customers west of Raccoon Road and south of New Road and Boardman customers from Mill Creek Park west to Tippecanoe Road. Low water pressure is expected in the areas during those hours, and those affected are asked to conserve water during that time.

Homicide trial update

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Prosecutors rested their case in Dennis Reed’s homicide trial in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. Reed, 36, could face the death penalty if convicted in the shotgun death of his estranged girlfriend Wendy Miller, 28, who died in December 2002. Prosecutors offered nearly 20 witnesses this week before resting their case Wednesday morning. The defense was expected to begin its case today. District Attorney John Bongivengo and Tom Minnet, assistant district attorney, are handling the prosecution. Randy Hetrick of Mercer is Reed’s attorney.

Lane on overpass opens

VIENNA — One lane of the Niles-Vienna Road overpass at state Route 11 has been reopened to traffic. The bridge had been closed since a Dec. 18 accident in which the boom of a roll-off trash container truck hit the superstructure of the bridge, heavily damaging two of the five beams that support it. The truck driver, Raymond F. Cross Jr., 46, of Mercer, Pa., was killed. Randy Smith, chief deputy for the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office, said bidirectional signals have been installed on either end of the bridge. Traffic at one end of the eastbound lane will be allowed to pass over the bridge and then traffic in the opposite direction will be allowed to pass. A concrete barrier has been installed between the two lanes to keep traffic off the damaged westbound lane. Ohio Department of Transportation intends to rehabilitate the bridge later this year.

Meet Salem’s mayor

SALEM — Mayor Jerry Wolford, along with the Salem Chamber of Commerce, will be co-sponsoring a “Meet the Mayor Breakfast” to discuss any business issues and concerns. The event, expected to be the first of many, is designed to build better relationships within the city. The breakfast will be at The Center, Second Street, at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The cost is $8 per person for a full breakfast. To make reservations, call the chamber at (330) 337-3473 no later than today.

Public indecency charge

BOARDMAN — Police arrested a Hermitage, Pa., man on a public indecency charge after a woman reported a man masturbating in his vehicle at the Shops at Boardman Park. The victim, 18, of Canfield, reported the offense about 7 p.m. Tuesday. She said she was sitting in her car waiting for her mother, who was shopping. She noticed a vehicle pulling into and out of a nearby parking space and the driver, looking at her. The man then leaned back in the car seat and the woman saw he wasn’t wearing pants. She drove away. She tried to return to the parking spot to get the license plate, but the man drove away. While a detective was speaking with the woman, the man returned and was stopped in the parking lot. After questioning, Christy Foltz, 49, of Hermitage acknowledged he did what the victim said he did, a police report said. He was released after posting bond.

Teacher negotiations

NORTH LIMA — The South Range Board of Education meeting scheduled for Friday will be a closed session for contract negotiations between teachers and the school district. Superintendent Dennis Dunham explained that at that session, at 7:30 p.m. at the high school, the board will open negotiations with the teachers union, the South Range Education Association. He said contract negotiations at South Range involve board members meeting face-to-face with the teachers. He said the session could be continued to 9 a.m. Saturday. If needed, negotiations also will continue during special meetings scheduled for Feb. 22 and 23, Dunham said. He said talks likely will be concluded by the end of February, if not sooner, and he expects the board to vote on the contracts at its public meeting in March.