Metro Digest
Local
Postal clerk indicted
CLEVELAND — A federal grand jury has indicted a Mahoning Valley postal clerk on charges of unauthorized opening of mail and theft of mail, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The indictment says that the clerk, Raymond Williamson, 59, of Warren, opened and stole a letter and its contents Dec. 10, 2009, while working in the Youngstown post office. If convicted, Williamson faces up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Man to be sentenced in child-endangering case
YOUNGSTOWN — A Springfield Township man convicted of violently shaking his 2-month-old child is facing up to eight years in prison.
David Bowdish, 27, of Struthers Road, under a plea agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of felony child endangering before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. As part of the plea agreement a second charge of felony child endangering was dismissed.
Bowdish will be sentenced April 22. He could be sentenced to eight years in prison, but prosecutors, as part of the agreement, are recommending a sentence of six years in prison.
Police arrested Bowdish after shaking his 2-month-old child in December, which caused the child serious physical harm. Prosecutors declined to say how much harm was done to the child until after the sentencing in April.
Warren man faces charges
CLEVELAND — A federal grand jury has indicted a Warren man and a Toledo man on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The four-count indictment was returned against Michael Salsgiver, 37, of Warren, and Rogelio Dominguez-Rojas, 24, of Toledo, the U.S. attorney said Thursday.
Salsgiver also is charged with being a felon with illegal possession of a gun. Dominguez-Rojas, a Mexican citizen, also was charged with illegally re-entering the United States after being deported.
Indicted in another case was Frank Torres, 23, of Youngstown, on charges of heroin possession and being a felon with illegal possession of a gun.
MCCTC salon hours
CANFIELD — Cosmetology students at Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, 7300 N. Palmyra Road, now have afternoon hours at their salon for the public. The shop is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and noon to 2:10 p.m. by appointment only through May.
Services, which include haircuts and perms, are performed by students under the supervision of their instructor, and prices start at $6. To make an appointment, call Linda Tomko at (330) 729-4000, ext. 1309.
Dog owner to be sentenced
YOUNGSTOWN — A South Side woman will be sentenced in March for charges related to her dogs’ attacking a man and his pet sometime last summer.
Cheryl Mallis, 49, of Euclid Boulevard has been convicted in Youngstown Municipal Court of having a vicious dog and having a dog at large. She will be back in court for sentencing March 25.
According to police, a 28-year-old Euclid Avenue man was walking past Mallis’ home at about noon on July 5 when Mallis’ two mixed-breed dogs attacked the man and the dog he was walking. The man was bitten on right knee and the attacked dog required veterinarian attention.
Fire at steel company
WARREN — Firefighters put out a small roof fire at Thomas Steel Strip Corp. on Delaware Avenue in Warren Township Friday afternoon.
Chief Ken Schich of the Warren Township Fire Department said the 2:11 p.m. fire caused about $400 to $500 in damage and appeared to have been caused by an electrical short. There were no injuries.
Pennsylvania
Pa. corruption trial ends fourth week
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The fourth week of testimony by prosecution witnesses in Pennsylvania’s government corruption trial is drawing to a close. Jurors heard Friday from two people who worked on Democratic political campaigns, and both of them are also current employees of the state House Democratic caucus.
After Bob Caton finished his testimony Paul Martz described his trips around the state to research political opponents for campaign purposes. Martz says he destroyed incriminating campaign materials but saved some records on a thumb drive that he eventually turned over to investigators.
The trial of former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon of Beaver County and three former aides at Harrisburg’s Dauphin County courthouse is expected to stretch into March.
The defendants are accused diverting public resources and state employees for election efforts and other improper purposes.
FAA: Wind farm no hazard
SOMERSET, Pa. — The Federal Aviation Administration says 15 of 30 wind turbines at a planned wind farm in southwestern Pennsylvania would not pose an aviation hazard as initially feared.
Last year, the FAA said 15 of the 404-foot-tall turbines planned for Shaffer Mountain in Somerset County were too high to be safe or could create electromagnetic interference in nearby air space.
At the time, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the finding was the first step in a give-and-take process that could result in Gamesa Energy USA putting the turbines in a different spot or changing their size. But now, Gamesa says the FAA has determined the turbines don’t pose a hazard.
Gamesa says the wind farm will produce enough electricity for 30,000 homes.
Staff/wire reports