Metro digest || Mahoning courthouse front doors reopen

County courthouse front doors reopen

YOUNGSTOWN

The front doors to the Mahoning County Courthouse on Market Street are swinging open again, just in time for the annual Christmas carol sing-along at 11 a.m. today in the courthouse rotunda.

The doors reopened Tuesday after removal of the copper rooftop statues, re-roofing and shoring up of their deteriorated granite and concrete pedestal, and Friday’s removal of the scaffolding. For safety reasons, the Front Street entrance had been the public entrance since May. The courthouse and all county government offices will be closed Friday (Christmas Eve) in observance of the Christmas holiday.

Robber sought

BOARDMAN

Police still are looking for a man who robbed a couple at gunpoint Wednesday morning.

Chief Jack Nichols said a robbery was being attempted at a residence on Jennette Drive when the owners came home and pulled their car into the driveway. The man, who was wearing a ski mask, pointed a gun at the homeowners and took $60 from them. Nichols said police canvassed the area but did not find the man, who is described as a black man wearing a backpack and a ski mask. Anyone with information is asked to call Boardman police at 330-726-4144.

Official robbed

WARREN

Police say an SUV, a flat-screen television and a cell phone were stolen from the Country Club Drive home of Trumbull Commissioner Dan Polivka early Tuesday morning while Polivka slept inside. Polivka told police the garage door had been left open and a door connecting the garage to the kitchen was unlocked. The commissioner said that when he woke up, he saw the keys to his 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe were missing along with a 42-inch flat-screen television and his wallet, which contained $100. Police say the SUV was later recovered on North Feederle Drive along with Polivka’s wallet and a briefcase, but the money, television and the commissioner’s cell phone were gone. Polivka could not be reached to comment.

Library break-in

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are trying to determine who broke into the Brownlee Woods Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County on Wednesday.

Employees arriving at the library Wednesday morning had trouble operating a rear door and discovered a computer missing and damage to a cash box once they were inside the business. Police found a metal latch pried open allowing access to the building and footprints going from the building across the front lawn.

Rezoning approved

AUSTINTOWN

The Mahoning County Planning Commission approved rezoning of the former South Range High School and Elementary School complex, 11836 South Ave., North Lima, from rural residential to general commercial to allow establishment of a business incubator there.

The rezoning was approved Tuesday for Greenford Bobcats LLC, a partnership of John Monroe and Edward Shaefer, both of Greenford.

Last week, the commission approved a zone change from residential and agricultural to commercial to allow the same partnership to reuse of the former South Range Middle School, 7600 W. South Range Road, Greenford, as a business incubator. The district vacated both buildings this year as it opened a new K-12 complex on state Route 46 in Beaver Township.