Driver identified in fatal car crash

Driver identified in fatal car crash

NILES – Authorities have identified the driver in a March 7 fatal traffic accident as Michael A. Diceglie, 21, of Niles. A passenger in the car he was driving, Joseph D. Nave, 20, also of Niles, was killed.

Police Chief Bruce Simeone said Tuesday the car Diceglie was driving west at high speed on Fifth Avenue went off the left side of the road and struck two trees. The driver and passenger were ejected, and the car caught fire. Nave died at the scene and Diceglie was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center. He remains in a coma.

City police working with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Diceglie was the driver and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.209. The legal limit in Ohio is 0.08. Toxicology results for Nave are pending. No charges have been filed, the chief said, because investigators have been unable to interview Diceglie because of his physical condition.

Ballots rejected

WARREN — The Trumbull County Board of Elections rejected more than 470 of 2,379 provisional votes cast in the March 4 primary election.

Provisional ballots are cast if the voter has moved, had a name change or no identification. The votes were rejected during a special board meeting Tuesday. Rokey Suleman, election board deputy director, said it won’t be known until next week if the rejections changed any results.

Suleman said 222 votes were rejected because the voters were not registered, 182 because they voted in the wrong precinct, 67 because they had no identification and didn’t present the ID within 10 days of the election, and three voted twice. There were 77,768 votes cast in the election.

Jail chief named

WARREN — Donald A. Guarino of Howland has been named chief of jail operations by Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere. Guarino attended Youngstown State University from 1963 to 1969, is a former Niles police officer, former operations manager with Ohio Security Systems Inc. and a former member of the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority. He will be paid nearly $65,000 annually.

He replaces Robert Montgomery, who retired. Chief Deputy Ernest Cook will oversee road patrols, court security and the Trumbull-Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force.

Guarino, who was active in Altiere’s re-election campaign, begins his duties Monday. The sheriff said he selected Guarino because he is a good manager, leader and organizer.

Fund use change at KSU gets OK

COLUMBUS — The state Controlling Board approved a Kent State University request to use previously released funding to renovate classrooms and laboratories, instead of adding new lab space.

The board, without comment, approved the “change of intent” for $10,660, to be used at the Trumbull Classroom Building at the Warren campus.

Originally, the funds were slated for a science laboratory addition, but a program review determined that renovating space “would be the most cost effective and provide the best learning and teaching environment,” according to documents. The project will involve updates to about 5,600 square feet of biology, chemistry and general science laboratories, with “only minor reconfigurations to the existing labs and adjoining support areas,” according to documents. The funds will be used to hire a firm to monitor asbestos removal from the site.

Zoning change approved

AUSTINTOWN — Township trustees approved a zone change for three acres on the west side of South Canfield-Niles Road (state Route 46) about 750 feet north of New Road. The rezoning from residential and agricultural to business will allow Community Medical Partners of Poland to expand its offices there, said Michael Kurilla, township zoning inspector.