Slain woman found

Slain woman found

YOUNGSTOWN— A South Side woman was found dead on Garfield Street by a Youngstown Street Department crew.

Zina Wright, 44, of Youngstown, was found at approximately 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Although no cause of death was released, police are treating the death as a homicide.

Members of the street crew said they were cleaning an area of Overland Avenue when they saw a pool of blood coming from behind a garage on Garfield Street. Shortly after police arrived, a woman who said she’s lived on Garfield Street with Wright for about a year said she hadn’t seen Wright since approximately 5:30 p.m. Monday. Wright was taken to the Mahoning County coroner’s office.

Circumstances surrounding Wright’s death are under investigation.

If this is ruled a homicide, it will be the 23rd of the year. At this time last year, the same number of homicides were recorded.

Home tour this weekend

The 2008 Home Builders-Remodelers Association of Mahoning Valley’s Fall Showcase of Homes will take place Saturday and Sunday and the weekend of Sept. 27-28.

Mahoning Valley residents have the opportunity to see firsthand the premiere of 19 new construction and remodeling projects throughout Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. The HBA will host the showcase from 1 to 5 p.m. each day through both weekends.

“This event is the largest new-construction open house of the year,” says Paul Dieter of PMD Builders and 2008 HBA president. “This event gives the consumer the opportunity to see new-construction homes, villas, condos, developments and even remodeling projects throughout the Mahoning Valley.”

For more information, visit www.hbamv.org, or call (330) 965-9779, ext. 404 for directions to site locations. Community sponsors include Armstrong and Mahoning County Green Team, The Vindicator and Vindy.com.

Library event postponed

AUSTINTOWN— A children’s program scheduled to honor the Austintown Branch Library’s Top Readers from the “Catch the Reading Bug” Summer Reading Club has been rescheduled.

Because of power outages throughout the Mahoning Valley, the program, originally scheduled for Monday, has been pushed back to Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Austintown Branch, 600 S. Raccoon Road.

Top Readers from the Summer Reading Club will be honored and receive certificates, and children can enjoy stories, crafts and games.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

All libraries in the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County system were closed Monday because of the outages caused by the wind storm.

Harding plans open house, dedication

WARREN — The Warren school district will host a public open house and dedication ceremony for the new Warren G. Harding High School from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The ceremony will begin promptly at 2 p.m. with informal tours to follow until 5 p.m. Refreshments will also be served.

“We look forward to introducing this new, state-of-the-art high school campus to the public, and we are optimistic that they will be as proud as we are to call it the new home of the Raiders,” said Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg. Additional dates for tours will also be scheduled later.