Metro digest || Gov. debate on C-SPAN

Gov. debate on C-SPAN

YOUNGSTOWN

Today’s gubernatorial debate will air live on C-SPAN. The hour-long debate, which begins at 8 p.m., pits Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, against Republican John Kasich.

The debate is the second sponsored by the Ohio Newspaper Organization, which consists of the state’s eight largest newspapers including The Vindicator.

Among those on the debate’s four-member panel is Dennis Mangan, editorial page editor for The Vindicator.

The debate will be at the Driscoll Alumni Center in Toledo.

Pneumonia contributes to Girard girl’s death

girard

A preliminary report from the Mahoning County coroner’s office said a 16-month-old Girard girl died of natural causes with pneumonia as a contributing factor.

Police and rescue personnel responded to a call about a non-breathing toddler at 6:20 p.m. Saturday on Crumlin Street. The girl was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, where she later was pronounced dead.

A resident at the home told police he had put the girl down for a nap in a crib in a second-floor bedroom. After an hour, he checked on her and found she was not breathing. He picked up the child, took her to the first floor and began CPR.

The Trumbull County Children Services Board and the detective bureau initially were called to investigate, which is the procedure in child deaths. In the home at the time of the incident were the baby’s 19-year-old mother; her boyfriend, who found the child; and three other children, age 6, 4 and 2.

Warren fatality

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A Warren man was killed when he lost control of his car and hit a telephone pole at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Jermaine McDonald, 26, was driving east on U.S. Route 422 in Warren Township. He tried to change lanes and ran off the right side of the road, hitting a mailbox, fence and the pole. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His passenger, Glenn A. Williams, 29, of Warren, was seriously injured and taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he was in stable condition Wednesday night.

Woman abducted

youngstown

Two brothers were arrested after an abduction late Wednesday morning on the North Side, city police report.

Ronald Pearson, 50, of West Judson Street, and Wesley Pearson, 50, of Cleveland, were arrested at Ronald Pearson’s home about 1 p.m. The 64-year-old victim, Ronald Pearson’s girlfriend, was found there, police said.

Police said the victim went with her brother to a muffler shop on Belmont Avenue for a car repair. When they arrived shortly before noon, the Pearson brothers rushed them from behind the building, the report says. They dragged the victim out of her brother’s car at knifepoint, dragged her through a nearby yard and into their car, the report said.

Ronald Pearson told a witness not to call police because the victim is his girlfriend and they were just fighting, the report said.

Police took the suspects to detectives at the station, the report said.