Firefighters battle 2 Youngstown blazes

Firefighters battle 2 Youngstown blazes

YOUNGSTOWN

Firefighters battled fires at two locations Sunday afternoon, but the occupants of both homes were not there at the time, and no injuries were reported.

At 3:32 p.m., they were called to the 2900 block of Rexford Road on the West Side for a fire that damaged the home. A neighbor helped put out the fire before firefighters arrived because he didn’t know whether anyone was inside.

Another fire was reported at 5:52 p.m. at 626 Glenwood Ave. near Woodland Avenue. No injuries were reported in that fire either, the Youngstown Fire Department said.

Help wanted: Actors for annual Ghost Walk

WARREN

The Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County needs volunteer actors in this year’s Ghost Walk to be Oct. 12, 13, 26 and 27.

Needed are two male actors in the range of 30 to 55 years old and one female actress.

Tours leave from First Presbyterian Church, 256 Mahoning Ave NW. about every 10 minutes between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

To volunteer, call 330-240-6931.

Rocktoberfest will be Oct. 20 at the Downtown Amphitheater in between the two weekends of Ghost Walk. Rocktoberfest gates open at 3:30 p.m. with music starting at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $7.

Three tribute bands will perform — Full Moon Fever (tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Hollywood Nights (tribute to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band), and 7 Bridges (tribute to the Eagles).

Parade and rally set for Nonviolence Week

youngstown

The second annual parade and rally to begin Nonviolence Week is planned at 3 p.m. Oct. 7 on the square downtown.

Sponsors are Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, Youngstown city schools, Youngstown State University Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the city of Youngstown and Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods.

Praise dancers, flag and/or mime ministries from churches may participate.

For information, call Penny Wells at 330-788-0545 pennywwells@sbcglobal.net.

Pruning seminar

Canfield

Ohio State University Extension, 490 S. Broad St., will present a landscape pruning seminar from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

Participants will learn to prune for maximum flower potential, to minimize disease and make shapes in the landscape. The seminar will cover how to prune landscape plants, hedges, trees and more. There will be a review of proper tools and techniques, followed by a walk around the grounds to test pruning skills.

There also will be a review of what plants can be pruned in the fall and how to prepare landscapes for spring.

Event registration is $20, which includes a set of hand pruners or a folding pruning saw. Those interested can register at go.osu.edu/pruningclinic.

CIRV meeting set

youngstown

Clergy in the city and leaders of Community Initiative to Reduce Violence will meet at 9 a.m. Friday at Metro Assembly of God, 2530 South Ave. Prayer will be at 8.

Guy Burney, CIRV coordinator, will speak. Discussion will focus on specific ways the church community can help in this initiative. DeMaine Kitchen, the mayor’s chief of staff, will attend.

YSU designated military friendly

YOUNGSTOWN

For the fourth-consecutive year, Youngstown State University has been named a Military Friendly School.

The 2013 Military Friendly Schools list, produced by Victory Media, a media entity for military personnel transitioning into civilian life, honors colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace military service members, veterans and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.

“Inclusion on the 2013 list of Military Friendly Schools shows Youngstown State University’s commitment to providing a supportive environment for military students,” said Sean Collins, Director for G.I. Jobs magazine and vice president at Victory Media.

The Military Friendly Schools website at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com features the list of all schools, as well as interactive tools to help military students find the best school to suit their needs and preferences, according to a press release.

College fair planned

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University and the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc. will have an “Educators and Community Helping Hispanics Onward College Fair” from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Boardman High School cafeteria and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. the OCCHA offices, 660 Shirley Road.

The event is part of YSU’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration and is geared toward Hispanic/Latino high-school students and their parents. For information call Maaggie McClendon at 330-941-3243.

Professor to speak

YOUNGSTOWN

Eric Mazur, Balkanski professor of physics and applied physics at Harvard University, presents “The Scientific Approach to Teaching: Research as a Basis for Course Design” at 3 p.m. Thursday, in Ward Beecher Planetarium at Youngstown State University.

Mazur is the author of Peer Instruction: A User’s Guide, a book that explains how to teach large lecture classes interactively. In 2006 he helped produce the award-winning DVD Interactive Teaching.

An internationally recognized scientist and researcher, Mazur is the winner of the 2008 Millikan Award for contributions to the teaching of physics. He leads a vigorous research program in optical physics and supervises one of the largest research groups in the Physics Department at Harvard University. He has received the Presidential Young Investigator Award and the Esther Hoffman Beller award from the Optical Society of America. He is author or co-author of 249 scientific publications and 12 patents.

Walking tour

NILES

Historian Wendell Lauth will take the public on a walking tour of Niles Union Cemetery at 5 p.m. Oct. 21 to talk about the prominent citizens of Niles buried there.

Among them are President William McKinley’s sister, Abigail; Harry Stevens; the Harris brothers; pioneer families and a famous murderer who committed his deadly crime on Christmas Eve in the late 1800s.

Those attending are asked to meet at the cemetery entrance at the corner of Niles-Cortland Road (state Route 46) and Vienna Avenue. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing, and bring a flashlight.

To register, stop at the Reference Desk at the McKinley Memorial Library, 40 North Main Street, or call 330-652-1704, ext. 212.