Traficant still in Minn.

Traficant still in Minn.

Ex-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. was still a prisoner at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., as of Monday, according to Mike Real, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The bureau typically sends nonviolent prisoners to a halfway facility about six months before their release day.

Convicted in 2002 of 10 counts, including bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, Traficant’s term is up Sept. 2. Based on that, Monday was the first day he could have been transferred to a halfway house.

Sewer project meeting

ELLSWORTH — Residents along state Route 45 and U.S. Route 224 who are affected by the Ellsworth sanitary sewer project are invited to an informational meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. March 17 at Ellsworth Township Fire Station, 6036 S. Salem-Warren Road.

Art Spellman, chairman of the township trustees, said representatives of the Mahoning County Board of Health and Mahoning Valley Sanitary District will offer information about the project and programs to help residents pay the tap-in fee.

He said there is no linear-foot charge to residents for the line, installation of which was paid for with $611,000 in state Issue 1 money.

Demolition in Brookfield

BROOKFIELD — Part of the old building that once housed Valley View Department Store is no more.

Crews on Monday began tearing down the Warren-Sharon Road structure that housed the historic department store from 1959 to the early 1990s. A flea market used the building after the store closed its doors.

Philip Schmidt, township trustee, said the building had been deteriorating since the early 1990s, and parts of it were no longer worth fixing. The warehouse and section used as a bank, he said, are not being demolished.

Once the demolition is complete, the remaining building and land will be put up for sale, Schmidt added.

Fire destroys city home

YOUNGSTOWN — A fire Monday morning destroyed one home and damaged another.

Firefighters arrived at 55 N. Bon Air Ave. on the West Side about 4:08 a.m. and had the blaze under control about five minutes later. The vacant home was engulfed when firefighters arrived, a report shows. According to the report, the source and cause of the fire are undetermined, but firefighters believe it was intentional. Damage was set at about $55,000.

Strong winds also caused the flames to ignite a neighboring home, resulting in undetermined damage.

Suspicious fire probed

YOUNGSTOWN — A fire set in a Republic Avenue home might have been set to cover up a burglary, officials said.

The homeowner returned home Saturday evening and found the living room on fire, went upstairs to retrieve a money box and found his home had been burglarized.

Reports say the fire was contained within the living room, but adjacent rooms sustained significant smoke damage.

The source and cause of the fire are under investigation. Damage was set at $8,000.

Injury prompts probe

GIRARD — City police are trying to determine how a local woman ended up in the hospital with a 3-inch gash on her forehead.

According to police reports, officers went to Forum Health Medical Center early Sunday to speak to the 30-year-old North State Street woman who said a friend shoved her into a mirror during an argument, causing the injury.

The woman and her boyfriend, however, refused to tell officers the identity of the woman who did the pushing.