METRO DIGEST || Phone scam targets elderly

Phone scam targets elderly

NEWTON FALLS

The Newton Falls Police Department has received multiple complaints from village residents regarding a potential money scam.

In some calls, individuals try to get money by claiming to be a relative needing help. The calls typically involve questions regarding finances, target the elderly and often involve the use of Western Union to send money.

The perpetrators appear to be calling from outside the United States, and the phone number that appears on caller ID is not valid, police said.

Child-sex verdicts

YOUNGSTOWN

A nine-man, three-woman jury took a mere 45 minutes of deliberation on Wednesday afternoon to find Milous Brown, 34, of 13th Street, Campbell, guilty of two counts of gross sexual imposition. The offenses were against 4- and 5-year-old girls early in 2009.

After reading the verdict at the end of the three-day trial, Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court revoked Brown’s bond and jailed him pending sentencing at 1:30 p.m. May 9. Brown faces one to five years in prison on each count.

In a separate case, Judge Durkin acquitted Brown of raping a 6-year-old girl May 30, 2009, after a two-day nonjury trial last December. Had he been convicted in that trial, Brown could have faced life in prison.

Care boxes for troops

liberty

Residents at Campus Health Care Center on Colonial Drive packed about 50 boxes of treats, snacks and personal-hygiene items for three troops in Iraq that they adopted. Residents have been corresponding with the soldiers for months.

Campus staff collected the items, and residents packed the boxes and included cards and pictures.

Medication disposal

SALEM

The Salem Police Department will be taking and disposing of unwanted prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at city hall.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the city police will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft. People can get rid of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted drugs with no questions asked. Liquid medications are not being collected. The free service is anonymous.

Last year, the nationwide program, which included Salem, collected 121 tons of drugs.

Another drug disposal

NEWTON FALLS

The Newton Falls Police Department, in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration, will have a drug disposal event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the police department, 19 N Canal St.

Nationally, teenage prescription drug abuse is rapidly increasing, and the family medicine chest could become a teenager’s best supplier, the DEA says. This is a confidential program, and no personal questions will be asked, Newton Falls police said, adding that all prescription labels should be removed before arriving.

MVOC event in Salem

SALEM

The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative announced Wednesday that workers, community residents and members of the faith-based community will be in Salem today to dramatize the harm that would result from proposed Congressional budget cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Residents will gather at the Columbiana County Office of Aging, 785 East State St., at 11:30 a.m. and march to U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s office at 192 E. State St. Residents will ask for support in opposing cuts to Social Security benefits, which include the raising of the retirement age.