Metro digest

Massive search under way for missing 4-year-old

GEORGETOWN, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police are seeking information on a missing 4-year-old Beaver County boy who has a congenital-heart defect requiring medication.

Wyatt Thomas Smitsky, of 635 Georgetown Road, Green Township, was last seen playing outside his family’s home around 5:30 p.m. Friday. He may have walked away and become lost, police said.

The boy is 4 feet tall, skinny, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a brown military T-shirt, blue-denim shorts and black and red Spiderman flip flops.

The state police said a massive ground and helicopter search has begun.

Anyone with information should call police at (724) 773-7400.

Impaired drivers, beware over holiday weekend

BOARDMAN — The township police department will staff extra patrols for the holiday weekend to combat drunken driving, enforce seat-belt usage and target other aggressive driving offenses.

Funding for the Labor Day weekend patrols will come from the Mahoning County OVI Task Force and the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Traffic Safety Office.

The extra patrols are part of the national campaign “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

Dying? Far from it, leaders tell Forbes

YOUNGSTOWN — A year ago, Youngstown was among Forbes magazine’s “10 Fastest Dying Cities.” A letter written by Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and community activists in Detroit and Dayton, two of the other cities on that list, is on the magazine’s Web site.

The letter points to programs and accomplishments by the cities on the list, and a recent symposium in Dayton bringing together officials from eight of the 10 cities.

To read the article, go to: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/03/dying-cities-youngstown-ohio-opinions-contributors-21-century-cities-09-williams-geyer-benkendorf.html%0A.

Mill Creek roads closed today for charity run

YOUNGSTOWN — Some roads within Mill Creek Park will be temporarily closed today because of a charity run.

The Cure Thirst half-marathon will require several streets to be closed to traffic from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. The roads are: East Glacier Drive from Orange and High streets to Mahoning Avenue, Memorial Hill at Glenwood and Falls avenues, West Glacier Drive and Price Road from Calvary Run and West Glacier Drives to Irving Place.

Fore more information on the road closings, call (330) 740-7126.

For more information about the race, call (330) 272-5144 or visit www.curethirst.com.

26 packs of heroin

CAMPBELL — A man was charged with drug trafficking and possession after police found 26 packs of heroin on him during a traffic stop, a police report says.

Police said they stopped Frank M. Carosella, 50, of Almasy Drive, in front of his residence for an invalid registration at 2:45 a.m. Friday. During the stop, police said, they found a breath-mints tin full of heroin in Carosella’s pocket.

He was taken to the city jail and arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday. He remained in the city jail after his arraignment. His bond is set at $42,500, and he must post 10 percent of it.

Searching for a robber

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Police are looking for a man who robbed the First Choice Federal Credit Union on Wilmington Road on Friday.

Police said the man walked into the credit union at 11:03 a.m. and threatened a teller with a gun.

He collected an undisclosed amount of cash from the teller in two yellow, disposable plastic bags and walked out.

The man is described as in his late 20s to mid-30s with brown hair and brown eyes.

He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 170 pounds.

OHIO

Day-care centers sued over minimum wage

COLUMBUS — The state filed a $1.2 million lawsuit Friday against the operators of a chain of day-care centers in what the attorney general said is the largest minimum-wage case in Ohio history.

The state is accusing a business and its owners and executives of paying employees less than the minimum wage at Columbus-area day-care centers. The lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court seeks back pay totaling more than $408,000 and nearly $817,000 in damages for 150 employees of Angels Learning Centers in and around Columbus.

Messages seeking comment were left Friday for Angels Learning Centers’ owners and at the Columbus office of the company’s attorney, Mark Gutentag.

Antioch College turned over to alumni group

YELLOW SPRINGS — Antioch University has turned over Antioch College to an alumni group, a further step toward creation of a new, independent school.

A signing ceremony transferring the college was Friday at the campus near Dayton.

The university temporarily closed the college a year ago because of financial problems caused by declining enrollment, heavy dependence on tuition and a small endowment.

The university announced in June that it planned to transfer the campus to the alumni group, which says reopening the school is at least two years away.

Staff/wire reports