METRO DIGEST || Human remains found

Man arrested in deaths of father, stepmother

PITTSBURGH

Prosecutors say a man killed his father and stepmother in western Pennsylvania then tried to cover up their deaths with a story about a fiery New Jersey car crash.

Butler County Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon says 40-year-old Colin Abbott was arrested by New Jersey State Police Thursday morning after the discovery of the bodies of Kenneth and Celeste Abbott near Slippery Rock.

Simon says Pennsylvania State Police went to the property of Kenneth Abbott to investigate after receiving a report that the couple had been killed in a nonexistent car crash early last month.

Simon says Colin Abbott called family members to report the couple had died in a crash and state police there had custody of their remains.

Prosecutors say police found two piles of charred human remains near a pond on the property and a skull in the water.

Contracts awarded

NILES

The board of education has awarded contracts for site preparation and electrical work for the district’s two new elementary schools.

District Treasurer Linda Molinaro said DSV Builders, Niles, was awarded the site preparation contract with a low bid of $1.29 million while Penn Ohio Electrical Co., Masury, won the electrical work with its low bid of $111,900. Molinaro said both bids were below projected estimates.

One of the elementary schools will house kindergarten through second grade; the other will be for grades three through five. Contracts for the third building project, the new McKinley High School, were awarded last month.

The district is paying $16 million as its share of the nearly $60 million in building costs, with the rest financed through the Ohio School Facilities Commission.

Macejko to make statement next week

Youngstown

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko will make an announcement at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Atrium of the Commerce Building, downtown, the topic of which is being kept under wraps. He will also briefly address a number of issues impacting the community.

Lisa Vantell, media spokeswoman, said Thursday she couldn’t give any details and Macejko could not be reached for comment. Macejko, a Democrat, has previously expressed interest in a bid for the Mahoning County prosecutor post. Paul Gains, also a Democrat, has been county prosecutor since 1997 and said he will run for a fifth four-year term next year.

OVI checkpoint scheduled tonight

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio State Highway Patrol, in conjunction with the Youngstown Police Department, announced that an operating a vehicle impaired checkpoint will be from 9 p.m. to midnight today on Wick Avenue near Ursuline High School.

The OVI checkpoint, funded by federal grant funds, is planned to deter and intercept impaired drivers.

The checkpoint is also in conjunction with nearby saturation patrols to aggressively combat alcohol-related injury and fatal crashes, the patrol said.