Post your pothole rage

Post your pothole rage

Ah spring! ’Tis the season when young (and old) drivers’ fancy lightly turns to thoughts of ... potholes. Your daily commute is no longer a routine task. No, you must learn keen driving maneuvers worthy of champion race drivers. You could — and probably do — curse these potholes. You wish you had a better outlet for your rage. Now you do. Welcome to the “Pothole Patrol” at Vindy.com. Let the world know of the worst potholes you encounter. Submit them for all to see. We’ll do all the work — even map out the exact location so everyone else can avoid your pain (and repair bills). Hopefully, those helpful cold-patch and hot-patch workers will take notice. And you could even win a prize. Visit Vindy.com and click on the Pothole Patrol section just below News Watch.

2 area men charged with copper-wire theft

WARREN — Two men are charged with the theft of $4,500 worth of copper from a McDonald business. Gary Stayer, 22, of Oakdale Avenue, Hubbard, and Joseph Tennant, 34, of Tod Avenue, Warren, appeared Wednesday in municipal court before Judge Terry Ivanchak on charges of receiving stolen property — three copper bars which weigh 50 pounds each — and about 50 feet of wire. They were stolen from Truck Electric, McDonald. Preliminary hearings were scheduled for April 2 and bond was set at $3,500 each. Police reported receiving a call Tuesday from Atlas Auto Crushers on Burton Street about two men trying to sell the bars. The owner of Truck Electric was able to identify the copper as being stolen from his business. The men, who were trying to sell the metal, told police they found it in the trash. McDonald police told city police Stayer and Tennant had been charged there with criminal trespass at Truck Electric.

Accused in purse theft

AUSTINTOWN — Police have charged a 33-year-old Youngstown man with theft after he was accused of stealing a Youngstown woman’s purse at Rulli Bros. on Kirk Road in Austintown on Monday morning. Stacy L. Dunlap of North Schenley Avenue is charged with the fifth-degree felony after officers with the Austintown and Youngstown police departments found him at his home Monday morning. Austintown police said store employees saw a man carrying a purse get into a car and gave a description to police. Youngstown and Austintown officers later found the car in Dunlap’s driveway. Officers later recovered the purse.

Water is safe to drink

AUSTINTOWN — The water on Ayrshire and Edinburgh drives, site of a storm waterline installation, has been tested and deemed safe to drink, the Youngstown Water Department reports. The department advised residents in the 3700 and 3800 blocks of Ayrshire and a home at 3764 Edinburgh to boil water Monday and Tuesday. But the water was safe to drink without boiling starting Wednesday afternoon.

Acquitted of felony DUI

YOUNGSTOWN — A jury has acquitted a 48-year-old Austintown man of a felony drunken-driving charge. The jury rendered its verdict Wednesday in the case of Michael G. Coleman of South Raccoon Road. The trial began Monday before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Coleman was arrested by a state trooper at 11:45 p.m. Dec. 31, 2004, on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown, but he declined to complete the field sobriety test and refused to take a breath-analysis test, said Michael J. McBride, assistant county prosecutor. The charge was a fourth-degree felony because Coleman had three prior drunken-driving convictions in the last six years, McBride said. The defense lawyer was John B. Juhasz.

Audubon Society event

YOUNGSTOWN — Audubon Ohio and Audubon Society/Mahoning Valley has a Global Warming Action Training from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 12 at the D.D. Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center at Mill Creek MetroParks Fellows Riverside Gardens. The free training will feature global warming issue briefings and activist workshops led by conservation policy experts. The event is open to the public but registration is requested by April 7. Lunch will be provided. To register, e-mail murso@audubon.org or call (888) 846-8851.