METRO DIGEST || Abused dog, pups found in basement

Valley ranks third in US in job growth

YOUNGSTOWN

Job growth increased in 77 of the top 100 markets in the past year, and the Mahoning Valley had the third-highest statistical increase, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan area added 5,900 jobs in the period March 2010 to March 2011, which represented a 2.75-percent increase, trailing only Raleigh, N.C., and Milwaukee.

Toledo ranked fourth, adding 7,300 jobs, representing a 2.51-percent growth.

Abused dog, pups found in basement

Youngstown

A woman is in Mahoning County jail after a Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force raid turned up marijuana and 12 sickly pit bulls.

Dave Nelson, county deputy dog warden, said that at about 4 p.m. Thursday the task force raided 331 Emery Ave. Officers found an unknown amount of marijuana, as well as a 2-year-old female pit bull and 11 puppies.

“We have all the dogs,” he said. “The mother is real thin and weak, and the puppies don’t look healthy. There was no food and no water in the basement where they were found.” Nelson said the task force arrested the 30-year-old woman who lived in the house on drug charges and booked her into jail pending arraignment. He said he plans to file animal-cruelty charges against the woman today.

Another house shot on city’s South Side

youngstown

Officers recovered nine spent shell casings outside a home at 144 E. Lucius Ave. on Wednesday. The homeowner said her house was shot up Tuesday night.

Officers talked to neighbors who said occupants of 144 E. Lucius are feuding with residents at 137 E. Avondale Ave. directly behind them.

Neighbors said they have observed a lot of traffic and gunfire at the Lucius home.

YMHA evacuated

youngstown

A ventilation problem sent staff at the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority home early Wednesday.

Firefighters were called to the West Boardman Street offices when a staff member complained of symptoms associated with carbon-monoxide poisoning around 10 a.m.

Cliff Scott, YMHA director, said staff on the first few floors of the building were sent home as a precaution. Residents on the upper floors of the Amedia Plaza building were not evacuated.

Scott said Dominion East Ohio crews located the source of the problem in the boiler room of the basement where a broken vent was not sending air out of the building.

Jubilee Gardens plans cleanup

youngstown

Volunteers will meet Saturday to clean up Jubilee Gardens on the North Side. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., residents can meet at the gardens in Brier Hill on Lafayette Street. The event will continue rain or shine. Students can receive volunteer hours for their work.

Springfield cleanup scheduled Saturday

NEW SPRINGFIELD

Springfield Township’s 2011 clean-up is rescheduled for Saturday. Waste Management’s Garfield Road site is open to township residents for drop-off, free of charge, starting at 9 a.m.