Metro digest

Maldonado pretrial set

YOUNGSTOWN — A final pretrial for Ivan Maldonado, president of Youngstown State University’s Association of Classified Employees union, has been reset for Oct. 1. A trial date has been set for Oct. 7 in Youngstown Municipal Court. He was charged with menacing after a 42-year-old female facilities department employee said she believes Maldonado will cause her physical or emotional harm. He is accused of harassing the employee in a telephone call March 10. Maldonado works in the payroll department and is a 20-year YSU employee.

Liberty audit online

LIBERTY — The audit for Liberty School District is available online at www.auditor.state.oh.us. A news release from state Auditor Mary Taylor indicated that her office found no problems with how public funds were spent or accounted for in Liberty. The audit covered July 1, 2003, to April 30, 2007.

$80,000 in fire damage

BOARDMAN — A child playing with a lighter is believed to be the cause of a blaze that resulted in about $80,000 damage to a South Cadillac Drive home. The fire was reported around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at 67 S. Cadillac. No injuries were reported. The child caught clothing on fire with the lighter, fire officials said.

Free program for kids

BOARDMAN — Good Hope Lutheran Church will offer a free program, “Summer Fun,” from 6:45 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Aug. 5, 12, 19 and 26, at the church, 98 Homestead Drive, for children who have completed first through fifth grades. It will help them with school skills that may have slipped over the summer. Three teachers from the congregation will coordinate the sessions. Children are not required to attend each Wednesday but must register by the Sunday before the first class they do attend. For more information, visit www.goodhopeboardman.org or call the church at (330) 782-8109.

Library board meeting

AUSTINTOWN — A special meeting of the board of trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County to discuss its property-tax levy proposal and potential cutbacks in service due to state budget cuts has been changed to 4 p.m. next Thursday at Austintown library, 600 S. Raccoon Road. The meeting will follow an 11 a.m. public meeting between library Director Carlton Sears and Mahoning County commissioners to discuss the 1.7-mill, five-year levy the library board has proposed for the Nov. 3 ballot.

Supervisors reject plan for day-care building

HILLSVILLE, Pa. — Mahoning Township supervisors rejected a land-development plan and conditional-use permit for Sweet Pea Patch, a day-care facility in Hilltop Plaza on U.S. Route 224. Owner Tina Robinson wanted to construct a new building on land on the side of the plaza. About 40 residents who live in the development behind the plaza signed a petition, which was presented to supervisors, asking that the permit be denied because it is too close to the residences. Supervisors Vito Yeropoli and Poncho Exposito agreed. Supervisor Gary Pezzuolo abstained, explaining later that he rents the plaza building to Robinson and abstained to avoid a conflict of interest. Exposito said he would have voted for the business if it were closer to the road. The proposal needed a conditional-use permit because the building would have been set back farther than the 500 feet where such a use is allowed.

Trustees honor officer

BOARDMAN — Township trustees Wednesday honored police Sgt. John Allsopp with a proclamation marking his work on the Mahoning County Operating a Vehicle While Impaired Task Force. The task force began in 2004 to combat the number of alcohol-related crashes and fatalities in the county. Allsopp leads the township’s contingent on the task force that has led to 1,000 traffic stops and 115 arrests. The task force also has reimbursed the township for $64,000 in overtime in two years. Allsopp said that in 2004, Mahoning County saw 15 alcohol-related traffic fatalities, six in Youngstown and nine in outlying areas. So far in 2009, there haven’t been any, he said.