METRO DIGEST || New program to be unveiled at fair

New program to be unveiled at fair

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office will unveil a new program at the Canfield Fair beginning today that allows for a database to be set up to help find missing adults and children who are handicapped or have special needs.

Sheriff Jerry Greene said the Homesafe program is especially helpful in case someone with autism goes missing, someone who may be blind or deaf, and also for senior citizens who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

Their names, as well as personal information, including what kind of disability they have and a photo will be compiled in a database that will be accessible only by sheriff’s office personnel, Greene said. Sheriff’s staff will be available at the fair from 1 to 4 p.m. to help people sign up for the database. After the fair, anyone wishing to sign up can go to the sheriff’s office at the Mahoning County jail, 110 Fifth Ave.

Dubose rape charge

Youngstown

A convicted sex offender was charged with raping a woman inside her St. Louis Avenue home early Tuesday.

Matthew Dubose, 24, whose alias is Sincere, according to a police report, is charged with rape, drug abuse, drug possession, resisting arrest, aggravated burglary and unlawful restraint.

A woman told police she awoke to find Dubose, whom she knows, in her bedroom. She said he came in through a window, would not leave, would not allow her to leave the room and forced himself on her. Police found a bag of pills and a bottle of suspected marijuana near Dubose.

According to Mahoning County court records, Dubose was ordered to register as a sexually oriented offender in 2007 after being convicted of sexual contact with a minor.

Arrested at Speedway

LIBERTY

A police officer made an arrest in a convenience store that resulted in a heroin trafficking charge.

Maurice Anderson, 30, of Church Hill-Hubbard Road in Girard was arrested at 4:37 a.m. Tuesday at a Speedway on Belmont Avenue, a police report said.

The officer was in line at the store to buy a drink. Anderson also was in the checkout line, and the officer saw a gun sticking out of his pocket, the report says.

The officer handcuffed Anderson. Police found nine packages of heroin on him, the report said. He also was charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Clarett to speak

COLUMBUS

Maurice Clarett, former standout running back at Ohio State University and Warren G. Harding High School, will be among the speakers when the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio have a news conference today.

The event, which also will encourage Medicaid expansion, will feature individuals and family members from the mental-health and addiction community sharing their stories of recovery made possible by access to treatment.

Osborne sentenced

WARREN

Wayne Osborne, 41, of Miller Road, Girard, pleaded guilty to charges of felonious assault, aggravated burglary and menacing by stalking and received a five-year prison term Tuesday from Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The charges stem from an incident Sept. 29, 2012, at a residence on Woodland Street Northeast in which Osborne injured a 40-year-old woman.

Civil service meeting

Girard

The Girard Civil Service Commission has scheduled a special meeting for 3:30 p.m. today in the conference room at City Hall, 100 W. Main St.

Brothers battle

YOUNGSTOWN

Brothers were taken to Mahoning County jail on domestic-violence charges early Tuesday after both accused the other of assault.

Police were called to an Ellenwood Avenue home on the South Side at about 1 a.m. and found Tony Cheirs, 50, bleeding profusely from the head and his brother Hence Cheirs, 54, also bleeding. Reports said both were very drunk and each man accused the other of hitting him.

Both men filled out domestic-violence complaint forms against the other and both were taken to jail after they were taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where they were treated for their injuries.

Crash with ambulance

NORTH LIMA

One person was injured after an ambulance was struck head-on by an oncoming car in Beaver Township.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash occured about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, said a report by The Vindicator’s broadcast partner 21 WFMJ-TV.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol said a car driven by William Robb, 48, struck a Life Fleet ambulance as Robb was trying to pass another vehicle on state Route 164. The ambulance was en route to a call with its emergency sirens and lights activated. Fire broke out after the collision.

Reports say Robb’s injuries are not life-threatening. No one in the ambulance was seriously injured, according to WFMJ.

Houses to be razed

CAMPBELL

The city’s board of control awarded a contract Tuesday to tear down six old houses.

Proquality of Campbell will do the work for $44,745. The funding comes from a state grant, city officials said.

The houses are at 260 Robinson Road, 191 Tremble Ave., 174 Twelfth St., 84 13th St., 76 Thirteenth St. and 16 Coitsville Road. City officials said the razing will start as soon as possible.

Park project done

STRUTHERS

A beautification project near Yellow Creek Park is finished. “They just finished putting the striping on the road today,” city safety services director Ed Wildes said Tuesday.

The project included replacing sidewalks, railings and the bridge deck on Lowellville Road.

It also included widening the entrance to nearby Yellow Creek Park, decorative street lights, benches and an overlook next to the creek.

The project began in May, Wildes said. Funding sources for the $300,000 project included Mahoning County, the city and Mill Creek MetroParks.

Niles Band Night reset

NILES

Niles Band Night performances at Bo Rein Stadium, postponed Tuesday because of wet grounds, has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 5, according to The Vindicator’s broadcast partner 21 WFMJ-TV.

In addition to the Niles McKinley High School Band performing, McDonald, Mineral Ridge, Lakeview, Howland and Warren bands will also perform.

Tickets may be purchased at Select Sportswear.

Tech donation

AUSTINTOWN

The Grainger Foundation has donated $7,500 to Shepherd’s Foundation, support arm of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Retirement Services Inc.

The grant will be used to help purchase and install wireless technology emergency call/response systems for Shepherd of the Valley communities in Niles, Howland and Poland to help ensure the safety of those who make their home there, officials said.

Jeff Hughes, branch manager of W.W. Grainger Inc.’s Youngstown location, recommended the donation. Grainger has been a part of the Youngstown business community for more than 59 years as a supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products.

Food-bank donation

YOUNGSTOWN

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley has received a $4,500 donation from Bottom Dollar, 890 E. Midlothian Blvd., through the Bottom Dollar Food Charitable Foundation, to support the Trumbull County Mobile Pantry program.

The mobile-pantry program provides food to some 280 families in underserved areas each month who may not have access or transportation to an established Second Harvest Food Bank member agency.

Second Harvest also supports mobile food-pantry programs in Lake Milton and Goshen Township in Mahoning County and Hanoverton in Columbiana County. The food bank distributes food to 153 hunger-relief organizations in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.