Free summer camp for kids starts today

June 17, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s Park and Recreation Department’s free summer camp begins today at seven parks — Fosterville, Homestead and Lynn on the South Side; Crandall and Wick on the North Side; MVSD on the West Side; and John White on the East Side.

Camp is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes field trips, free breakfast and lunch, arts and crafts, sports and a character-building program.

The camp is for kids between age 5 and 15. Kids can be registered at the park sites or at the park office on the first floor of city hall, 26 S. Phelps St.

Workshops at YWCA

WARREN — The YWCA Warren and the Community Collaborative Against Violence will have the first of several workshops at the YWCA from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The workshops will serve as a collaborative effort to try to prevent violence in the community and make neighborhoods safer in the aftermath of the drive-by shooting that killed 11-year old Lloyd McCoy Jr. of Wick Street Southeast on April 13. Registration for the workshop is asked but not mandatory at (330) 373-1010.

Art celebration set

WARREN — The Trumbull Art Gallery, 196-198 E. Market St., gets ready for its Summerfest celebration with an opening party at 6:30 p.m. today.

Meet the art instructors. See a puppet show. Light refreshments will be served. In addition to the creative workshops, area artists will decorate the empty downtown windows in the spirit of the late Andy Warhol, a leader of the pop art movement in the 1960s.

Safety coalition

RAVENNA — The Ohio State Highway Patrol and local law- enforcement agencies today will announce formation of the new Motorcycle Safety Coalition to cover a seven-county area in Northeastern Ohio.

The counties in the initiative are Mahoning, Trumbull, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Stark and Portage.

These counties are being targeted due to the volume of motorcycle-involved crashes in their respective areas. The coalition’s goal is to reduce the number of motorcycle-involved crashes through a combination of education and enforcement.

Civil Service meeting

GIRARD — Girard Civil Service Commission has scheduled a special meeting for 4 p.m. today in the conference room in the mayor’s office in City Hall.

Fund-raising walk

YOUNGSTOWN — The public is invited to an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday about the third annual National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk. The meeting is at The Center at The Grove at 3801 Shady Run Road. The NAMI Walk is Oct. 3 at the Canfield Fairgrounds. For more information call (330) 718-8097.