METRO DIGEST || Poland Library cafe reopens

Library cafe reopens

POLAND

The cafe at the Poland Library, which closed in early February, reopened Tuesday with the Rosetta Stone, a downtown Youngstown restaurant, as its new operator. Serving beverages, soups, sandwiches and home-baked desserts, the cafe is open seven days a week. It will pay the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County $600 a month in rent and have a monopoly on catered food service at social events in the Poland Library meeting room.

Dedication concert

WARREN

The Robert E. Fleming Band Shell will be dedicated Sunday during a concert by the Warren G. Harding High School band. The concert starts at 3 p.m. in the cafetorium. A reception will follow.

Fleming became director of bands at Harding High School in 1958. Under his direction, the Panther Marching Band achieved acclaim for its halftime shows and performed on national television. Fleming later became director of bands at Youngstown State University.

After his retirement from YSU, he became a professor of music and director of bands at Hiram College. The W.D. Packard Concert Band executive board and Packard Park board of trustees have conferred upon Fleming the honorary designation of Conductor Laureate and Conductor Emeritus.

Federal indictments

CLEVELAND

Three Mahoning County residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they stole thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits issued in the names of their mothers after failing to report their mothers’ deaths, the U.S. attorney announced Tuesday.

Those indicted and the reported amounts stolen were Bruce A. Keck, 54, of Poland, $31,420; Aretha V. Blankenship, 42, of Campbell, $13,672; and Cecil H. Miller Jr., 62, of Youngstown, $74,437.

Miller also was charged with bankruptcy fraud after authorities said he fraudulently transferred and concealed two Youngstown properties in contemplation of a bankruptcy filing. The U.S. attorney said he then made a false statement under oath to the bankruptcy trustee.

Accident lawsuit

YOUNGSTOWN

A Boardman woman has filed a lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking unspecified damages stemming from a 2008 accident that involved a school bus.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Gail Dundon, naming Michael Koman, a Boardman school-bus driver, the school district and Nationwide Insurance of Canton as defendants. It says that Dundon suffered injuries in the March 5, 2008, accident. Superintendent Frank Lazzeri declined to comment.

According to a police report, Koman’s bus hit the back of Dundon’s car when Dundon slowed down as a car traveling in front of her turned into a driveway. Koman was cited for failure to maintain assured clear distance ahead. Nationwide was Dundon’s insurance company.

Fighting hunger

YOUNGSTOWN

Protestant Family Service, 486 Glenwood Ave., is joining in Alan Shawn Feinstein’s 13th annual $1 million giveaway to fight hunger. Feinstein’s past challenges to fight hunger have raised a record $1 billion for more than 2,000 agencies nationwide.

Agencies report donations received during March and April that will go toward the Feinstein challenge. Donations can include cash, checks and food items (valued at $1 per item or pound). Feinstein will award agencies between $250 and $40,000, and the awards are proportionate to the amount that each agency receives during the collection.

Also, the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio award Protestant Family Service a $7,000 grant to address the needs of seniors. PFS is a nonprofit agency that helps individuals and families.