Local digest

Bridge work slated

CANFIELD — Work on a Canfield Township bridge is expected to begin soon now that the contract for the project has been awarded, officials said. Paula Putnam, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation, confirmed the $1.7 million project was awarded Wednesday.

Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Company of Youngstown had the lowest bid. A preconstruction meeting will be Aug. 19, when the start date will be determined, Putnam said.

The bridge deck on state Route 11 between U.S. Route 224 and Western Reserve Road will be replaced. The project should take about a year to complete, and lane restrictions will be announced later.

Family Garden Day

YOUNGSTOWN — Family Garden Day will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek MetroParks.

Children with their families can have an afternoon of fun, activities and snacks in the Family Garden. Pot a plant, paint a stepping stone and make a coiled neckpiece to take home. Listen to a story with the Puppet Lady, and unearth shells in the digging garden. Add your handprint to the Family Garden canvas, look for plants with animal names, or rest and read together. This free event will provide children of all ages with an afternoon of gardening fun.

Niles man arrested

HUBBARD — Hubbard Police arrested Eric Taylor, 22, of Wood Street, Niles, on a charge of obstructing justice, a fifth-degree felony, in a July 5 rape and home invasion on Fox Street.

Police said Taylor purposely provided false information in a criminal investigation. He is not a suspect in the rape, which remains under investigation.

Taylor made an initial appearance Wednesday in Girard Municipal Court, where bond was set at $5,000. His preliminary hearing will be at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 2.

No bond for suspect

WARREN — Michael L. McDonald, who turned himself in to police Tuesday, is in the Trumbull County Jail without eligibility to make bond in the shooting deaths of two people at a Colt Court apartment complex Sunday morning.

Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court also entered innocent pleas for McDonald, 25, of Lener Avenue Southwest, to two counts of murder.

If McDonald is not indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury, he will appear again in Warren Municipal Court at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

Police believe McDonald gunned down Donte Broadus, 31, and Mocha Jones, 25, both of Warren. Police have offered no motive for the killings.

Bullets riddle car

YOUNGSTOWN — Police are looking for the man who fired several shots from a car, riddling a city woman’s car with bullets.

The 48-year-old West Chalmers Avenue woman told police a man she does not know pulled in front of her house in the 100 block of West Chalmers at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and began firing at her parked car with a rifle. No one was injured.

For first-graders

GIRARD — Any St. Rose Church parishioner who will be entering first grade in the fall and would like to register for CCD should contact Susan Lipkovich at the Religious Education Office at (330) 545-1216 by Sunday.

All students who were enrolled in the CCD program at St. Rose last year will be receiving their registration form in the mail by early next week.

PTA sets meeting

AUSTINTOWN — The Lloyd Elementary PTA is having a planning meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Austintown Community Church, 242 S. Canfield-Niles Road.

Anyone interested in joining the PTA is welcome to attend. Questions can be directed to Lynn Mickey at (330) 799-0474.