Metro digest

Rabies shots for pets

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown City Health District will provide rabies vaccine for dogs, cats and ferrets from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Oak Hill Renaissance Place parking deck, 345 Oak Hill Ave. Services are donated by Dr. Lisa Kurtz. The cost of each shot is $5. Call (330) 743-3333, ext. 230, for more information.

Hearing postponed

YOUNGSTOWN — A hearing on admissibility of evidence in the case of Dale Giffin, former pastor of Zion Lutheran Church who is charged with raping a female former parishioner, was indefinitely postponed without explanation moments before it was to have occurred Wednesday afternoon.

“By agreement of parties, this matter is hereby continued,” Judge James C. Evans, of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court wrote in a terse judgment entry. Natasha K. Frenchko, the assistant county prosecutor assigned to the case, declined to comment because the matter is still pending. Giffin’s lawyer, J. Gerald Ingram, did not respond to a request for comment. Giffin, 60, of Topaz Circle, Canfield, was indicted in February on six counts of rape covering the years 1993 through 1996, while the accuser was a young adult.

Grenga sues his lawyer

YOUNGSTOWN — A man whose storage building was demolished by the city after it settled an eminent-domain case with him has sued his lawyer, claiming his lawyer is holding his $235,000 settlement payment hostage in a dispute over $4,000 in legal fees.

Joseph Grenga, whose building at 128 W. Rayen Ave. was demolished to enable a street extension in conjunction with construction of Youngstown State University’s new business school, filed suit against Atty. John F. Shultz in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Grenga, who said he paid Shultz $6,000 and owes him no more, demands $940,000 and a jury trial. Shultz declined to comment. The case is assigned to Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.

Tentative teachers pact

LISBON — Columbiana County Board of Developmental Disabilities announced Wednesday it had reached a tentative agreement with the Robert Bycroft School teachers union. William Devon, board superintendent, said the agreement was reached Tuesday.

Anne Davis, union president, said she will take the tentative agreement to the 36 members of the Robert Bycroft Education Association for ratification. The board will then have to agree to the terms of the tentative agreement at its next public meeting. Contract details won’t be released until the union ratifies the agreement and the board approves it, the board announced in a press release.

Mathews levy speakers

VIENNA — The Mathews Levy Committee, which is promoting passage of a $22.5 million bond issue on the November ballot for new-school construction, is offering speakers to discuss the issue for local groups, organizations and neighborhoods.

Voters are being asked to approve an 8.1-mill levy that would finance construction of one kindergarten-through-12th-grade school that would replace the district’s four buildings, including Mathews High School.

The district will have to repay more than $3 million in interest-free bonds in 14 years, but will have 37 years to pay of the balance of more than $19 million. To request a speaker, contact Wendy Thompson at (330) 856-3982.

Competency testing

WARREN — A mental-health evaluation will be performed on Paul E. Tomczak, 60, of Browns Court, Girard, to determine whether he is competent to stand trial on charges that he raped a 7-year-old girl in June. A Trumbull County grand jury indicted Tomczak on two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition. If convicted of the rape charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison. The charges of gross sexual imposition carry a penalty of up to five years in prison each. Tomczak’s indictment accuses him of committing all four offenses against the girl June 24. His next hearing will be at 9 a.m. Oct. 27 before Judge Andrew Logan of common pleas court. He is in the county jail in lieu of $300,000 bond.