Auction of seized items

Auction of seized items

BOARDMAN — In the market for a five-person hot tub to ease the winter blues? How about a new lawn mower and hedge clippers to get ready for all that spring yard work? If so, get your bids ready because all those items, plus about 60 other stolen goods recovered by police, are up for grabs today.

The public auction starts at 10 a.m. at Western Reserve Auction Center, 1221 Western Reserve Road. Bidders can preview items beginning at 9 a.m.

George Roman Auctioneers will auction items confiscated by the Ohio Organized Crime Commission Task Force, which has units in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

The property has been accumulating since 2007 and has been collected by numerous police departments in the tri-county area, Chris Roman said.

The owners of the items to be auctioned could not be found or could not make the necessary claims that they owned the items, Roman said.

Items include flat-screen televisions, utility trailers, yard tractors, restaurant equipment, men’s jackets, power tools, electronics and furniture. For a detailed list of items and pictures of some, visit www.georgeromanauctioneers.com.

Traffic disruption

Traffic on Western Reserve Road at Interstate 680 in Boardman and Springfield townships will be disrupted for more than a month.

Work will begin Tuesday on the Western Reserve Road bridge over I-680. The work will include the removal of the concrete median and an overlay of the bridge deck.

During this time, Western Reserve Road over I-680 will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Also, the two left-turn lanes onto Western Reserve from southbound South Avenue will be reduced to one left-turn lane.

These lane restrictions are expected to remain in place until the end of April.

In addition, I-680 under the Western Reserve Road bridge will have various daytime lane restrictions for the placement of safety platforms.

New exec for kids center

YOUNGSTOWN — The board of trustees for Children’s Center for Science and Technology (previously The Children’s Museum of the Mahoning Valley) is announcing the appointment of Suzanne Barbati as its new executive director, effective immediately.

Barbati is a small-business owner with a long history of working with schools and nonprofits throughout Ohio. She will assist the board of trustees in moving the mission of the Children’s Center for Science and Technology forward, ensuring that the center has an innovative presence and sustained growth.

Board President Ronald Cornell Faniro said, “The board is thankful for the leadership that Maggie McCloud has provided during the last eight months, which has enabled the center to emerge a stronger and more viable organization. It is time now for the center to focus on its future, and Suzanne Barbati has the proven experience and skills to take us there.”

Flag football beneficiary

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association has selected Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley as the beneficiary of its first community service event.

Today, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., YYFFA is having open registration for the league for boys and girls, ages 5-17, at St. Charles School, 7325 Westview Drive, Boardman.

Cheerleading registration, open to girls ages 5-17, is at the same time.

Registrants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to help feed hungry families through the food bank.

Death ruled a suicide

LISBON — Columbiana County Coroner Dr. William Graham Jr. said Friday he has ruled the death of a prisoner a suicide.

Jason E. Miller, 38, of McDonald Street, East Liverpool, shot himself with a .357-caliber pistol after his hands were handcuffed behind him and he was placed in the back seat of a police car in St. Clair Township.

The shooting occurred about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12, 2008. Miller, who had struggled with drug abuse, had been picked up by authorities on a minor charge. Two officers from the St. Clair Township Police Department were searching Miller’s jacket outside the cruiser when the shot was fired.

Other police agencies investigated the shooting.