Vacant house burns

Vacant house burns

YOUNGSTOWN — All three floors at 137 N. Evanston Ave. were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the vacant West Side house.

Crews worked to save the vacant houses on either side from exposure damage at 3 a.m. Sunday and called the street department to dig out collapsed walls in the basement of the burning house. Reports show the fire was deliberate. Damage was set at $25,000, a total loss.

Forum on rate increases

CHAMPION — A free public forum about the rate increases proposed by FirstEnergy will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Kent State University’s Trumbull Campus, Main Building, Lecture Hall A, 4314 Mahoning Ave. N.W.

The proposed increases are part of the utility’s Electric Security Plan, filed after the passage of Ohio’s energy policy (Senate Bill 221). The forum will include a panel presentation to inform customers about what the plan will mean to consumers.

Topics will include an overview of the security plan, energy efficiency, renewable energy and the impact on low-income consumers and seniors.

Experts will be available to address consumers’ questions, concerns and comments. Maps and additional information are available at www.pickocc.org.

Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel in collaboration with other groups in Ohio Consumer and Environmental Advocates is sponsoring the forum.

Consumers need to know about the electric utilities’ requests and how their household budget would be impacted, the OCC said.

Naked man at plaza

BOARDMAN — A woman at a U.S. Route 224 plaza reported a naked man walking around the plaza.

She saw the man about 9:30 a.m. Saturday behind a trash can in the back of the plaza at 1393 Boardman-Canfield Road. Police didn’t locate the man.

Man arraigned in crash with parked cruiser

YOUNGSTOWN — A 28-year-old Russell Street man who police said drove into back end of a parked police car was arraigned Monday in municipal court on charges of driving under the influence and reckless operation. John A. Brajer will be back in court Nov. 4 for a pretrial hearing.

The crash happened around 12:05 a.m. Saturday in the 2700 block of Oakwood Avenue. Patrolmen Jerry Fulmer and Shakir Perkins were headed back to the cruisers after responding to a call when they saw a Ford Explorer traveling east on Oakwood, reports show. The Ford struck the back of Fulmer’s cruiser, causing heavy damage to the trunk, and the impact pushed it into the back of Perkins’ cruiser. The marked cars had their flashers on, police said. Brajer pulled to the side of the road in front of the police cars and stumbled out of his vehicle, telling police he had had four beers. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center to treat a cut on his head and to have blood drawn for a blood-alcohol concentration test. Brajer’s vehicle was towed, as was the cruiser that had the most damage.