Political signs to go

Political signs to go

AUSTINTOWN — Township Trustee David Ditzler says he understands that the weather has made it more difficult than usual to remove political advertising signs this year, but it’s time for the signs to go. Ditzler said there are “way too many still up” in Austintown.

Cemetery cleanup

POLAND — The township is asking that all Christmas decorations be removed from the township cemetery by March 22.

Snoop Block Watch

YOUNGSTOWN — The Snoop Block Watch will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at 3661 Neilson Ave.

Guilty of falsifying report

WARREN — A 32-year-old Warren woman has been found guilty in municipal court of falsifying a police report. Amy Hunt, of McKinley Street, pleaded no contest Monday and was found guilty of falsification. She was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to undergo counseling. Hunt told police she was abducted by a man from the parking lot of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library on Mahoning Avenue on Thursday and forced to drive to Packard Park but managed to escape when he attempted to sexually assault her.

Discipline hearing set

WARREN — A Trumbull County common pleas judge and two assistant county prosecutors are to appear Thursday before the disciplinary board of the Ohio Supreme Court. The probe of possible professional misconduct by Judge John M. Stuard and assistant prosecutors Chris Becker and Kenneth Bailey stemmed from the capital murder trial of Donna Roberts. Three members of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline will hear the case in Columbus. Judge Stuard had to sentence Roberts to death for a second time in October 2007 because of an error Judge Stuard made while sentencing her the first time, just after she was convicted of murdering Robert Fingerhut, 57, in 2001. The potential misconduct surfaced when the Supreme Court, during a review of the case, found that Judge Stuard and prosecutors had worked together in the drafting of the first sentencing opinion.

Pruning workshop

HOWLAND — A pruning workshop will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Howland Township Park on Rosegarden Drive. Tim Malinich, an extension agent from Lorain County, will speak about landscaping and gardening practices. Bring your pruning shears. The cost is $15.

Zero-tolerance blitz

To keep the roads safe this St. Patrick’s Day, the Mahoning County Operating Vehicle Impaired Task Force will be out in force Saturday evening and conduct a zero-tolerance blitz from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday in an effort to deter and intercept impaired drivers. The task force and Mahoning Safe Communities will also work with local liquor permit holders, restaurants and bars to remind people to designate a sober driver.

Driver caught after chase

LISBON — A man fled at more than 100 mph about 9 a.m. Tuesday before authorities captured him at an apartment complex across from the Columbiana County Municipal Court. Officers from the Columbiana Police Department and the county Drug Task Force tried to stop Nathanial Hodge, 29, of South Elm Street, Columbiana, in the city. Authorities said¬†Hodge drove toward Leetonia and then Lisbon, while allegedly tossing narcotics from the vehicle. He turned into the Green Square apartments on Saltwell Road north of Lisbon. He was apprehended as he got out of his vehicle. Hodge was being held at the county jail, charged with two felony counts of tampering with evidence, one felony county of failure to comply with a law enforcement officer’s order, and traffic violations of driving while under a license suspension, a stop sign violation, failure to yield at a signal violation, and crossing lanes improperly.