Metro digest

Annual Latino Festival

YOUNGSTOWN — The public is invited to enjoy Latino food and culture at the fourth annual Latino Festival, 1361 Shehy St., from noon until 9 p.m. Saturday.

A band will provide music, and a clown will entertain kids. Puerto Rican and Spanish food will be for sale. Admission is free. The Latin American Motorcycle Association will be honored for its work with the Hispanic community.

For more information, call (330) 746-7865.

Volunteer Advocacy Unit

YOUNGSTOWN — Community Legal Aid, a nonprofit law firm serving the civil needs of the low-income community, is seeking volunteers for the Volunteer Advocacy Unit Program.

Volunteers assist victims of domestic violence in Mahoning County with the process of obtaining a civil-protection order. Volunteers must complete 16 hours of training and be available twice a month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Those interested should contact (330) 742-5857.

Buhl Day Parade

SHARON, Pa. — The Buhl Day Parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

A 5K race will begin at 9:15 a.m. These streets will be closed: East State Street at Buhl Boulevard, and Buhl Boulevard from East State Street to the Buhl Park entrance.

The parade is expected to last one hour.

Lowellville survey

LOWELLVILLE — The village is asking residents to complete a confidential low-to-moderate income survey so it can qualify for state grants for street, sidewalk and infrastructure projects.

The police department will be going door-to-door to conduct the survey. The village is asking people who receive the survey while away from home to fill it out and call city hall at (330) 536-6415 to have it picked up.

Incumbent withdraws

YOUNGSTOWN — Joseph M. Mersol, an incumbent Springfield school board member, has withdrawn his candidacy for the November general election.

Mersol, of Struthers Road, did not provide an explanation to the Mahoning County Board of Elections for his decision.

That leaves four candidates running for three Springfield school board positions. Those candidates are Kathy Lipp of Rapp Road, Jon Schoenike of East Middletown Road, Len Fagnano of Beard Road, and Zonda Haase of Felger Road. Fagnano is the only incumbent seeking re-election.

MetroParks meeting

CANFIELD — A special Mill Creek MetroParks board meeting and work session will be at 1 p.m. today in Classroom A at the MetroParks Farm on state Route 46.

Health-care forum

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown faced people with strong feelings on either side of the health-care debate during a public forum at the University of Cincinnati.

One woman who stood before the crowd Tuesday told of her brother’s death after treatments for melanoma. She said the current health-care system is not working and allows insurance companies to make profits off sick people.

That drew boos from others in the audience, including one woman who shouted, “Stop criticizing people who want to make money!”

Still, Brown said he thinks there’s overwhelming support for insurance reform.

Records recovered

CLEVELAND (AP) — County officials in Cleveland say a box of sensitive records that fell off a truck has been recovered and the information was never compromised.

The box contained encrypted tapes with Social Security numbers and other personal information on 300 people who do business with Cuyahoga County. Officials say it was headed for storage Aug. 24 when it dropped off a truck and was then struck and moved down a street by another truck.

County Administrator Jim McCafferty said that later that same day, the box was found and picked up for safekeeping by an employee whose company works with the storage vendor.

The box was turned over Monday. Officials say they opened it Tuesday and verified its contents were intact.