Metro Digest

Armed Forces Boulevard

YOUNGSTOWN — The public is invited to the dedication of Armed Forces Boulevard (formerly Spring Street) at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Youngstown State University.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will join local veterans and university officials at the ceremony. Festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. when a U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter lands on the infield of the track on the north side of campus.

The helicopter will fly over Armed Forces Boulevard at 5:30 p.m. to start the dedication. The ceremony features a procession of veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as the YSU ROTC, and the YSU band will perform.

In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place in the south lobby of Beeghly Center.

Canfield natural-gas rate

CANFIELD — Township officials have established a five-month, fixed natural-gas rate.

Residents who are already a part of the township’s endorsement program will automatically be enrolled for the new rate, which will run from December 2009 to April 2010, according to a new release from Canfield Township. The program is supplied by IGS Energy.

Those who receive gas from Dominion East Ohio will pay a fixed rate of $7.46 per mcf, which is nearly $2 per mcf less than last year, according to the news release. Residents who are supplied by Columbia Gas of Ohio will pay a rate of $7.92 per mcf.

The township is entering its second year of a two-year agreement with IGS Energy.

Trademark counterfeiting

WARREN — A Howland man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of trademark counterfeiting and possessing criminal tools on accusations of selling counterfeit purses, wallets and sunglasses out of his house and garage.

Kong H. Ni, 30, of 543 Laurelwood Drive S.E., was indicted on felony charges in October 2008 after police went to his home and discovered the merchandise.

Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court will sentence him after a presentencing investigation by the probation department. Ni could get up to six months in jail on each of the two convictions.

Ni told Howland police he was selling the items, which contained trademarks of Coach, Gucci and Chanel, at flea markets.

Howland police arrested Ni’s wife, Qiao L. Liu, during the raid. The U.S. Marshals Service later took her from the Trumbull County jail on a warrant from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs. Federal officials refused to say whether Liu had been deported.

Jewelry reported stolen

WARREN — A 43-year-old Fairway Drive Northeast woman reported Sunday morning that $40,800 worth of jewelry was stolen from her locked car while it was parked in the front driveway of her house next to Trumbull County Country Club.

Among the items taken were a $15,000 Rolex wristwatch, a $10,000 emerald bracelet, a box containing about $15,000 worth of jewelry, and a $500 purse.

Her vehicle sustained about $300 worth of damage during the break-in, police said.

Dinnerware theft

BOARDMAN — A Southern Boulevard business reported the theft of at least $30,000 worth of dinnerware.

An employee of Mega Co. Inc. told police that between Oct. 5 and Saturday, someone broke into the business through the back door and took items from the stockroom.

The employee estimated that between $30,000 and $40,000 worth of Fiesta dinnerware was taken.

Trick-or-treating nixed

AUSTINTOWN — Trick-or-treating for young children Tuesday at Clare Bridge Alzheimer’s and dementia-care facility, 1420 S. Canfield-Niles Road, has been canceled to reduce the chance of H1N1 or seasonal flu’s being passed from the children to elderly residents at the facility, a Clare Bridge spokeswoman said.