METRO DIGEST || MARTIN trial postponed

Trial postponed

WARREN

The trial for David Martin, 29, charged with killing Jeremy Cole, 21, and attempting to kill Melissa Putnam, 29, Sept. 27, 2012, has been pushed back from Jan. 22 to April 9.

Attorneys for Martin, of Cleveland, asked Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court this week for more time to prepare for the mitigation phase of his trial, in the event that he is convicted of aggravated murder and other charges.

If he is convicted, a jury will be asked to decide whether to give Martin the death penalty.

Martin is accused of entering Putnam’s house on Oak Street Southwest, ordering her to tie up Cole and give him the keys to Cole’s car, then shooting Cole, who lived on Robert Avenue Northwest in Warren.

Martin recently was sentenced in federal court to nearly 22 years in prison for selling a firearm to undercover investigators. The sentence was elevated because Martin previously was convicted of three violent felonies.

Man assaulted

WARREN

A 55-year-old Warren man suffered a severe facial laceration in an assault Tuesday afternoon and was taken to St. Joseph Health Center for treatment.

The man said three teenage males approached him while he was walking on Atlantic Street near Mercer, and one of them struck him in the face with a club or pipe. The males did not try to take anything from him or ask him for anything, he said.

The man walked to the intersection of North Park Avenue and Hall Street Northeast, where someone at a restaurant called 911 for him. The man said he didn’t call police himself because he has been “hit in the head before,” and that “it was not a big deal.”

Political meeting

NILES

The Trumbull County Young Republicans will host a meeting 7 p.m. Friday at the new Trumbull County GOP headquarters located in the J.C. Penney corridor, across from Fiesta Hair Salon, in Eastwood Mall, 5555 Youngstown Warren Road.

Guest speakers during the Friday meeting will include Jim Shaw, who is with the fiscally conservative policy group Americans for Prosperity, and Sarah Fowler, who represents District 7 on the State Board of Education. For information, call 330-307-9871.

Fundraiser set

NILES

A fundraising effort named for Courtney Miller, a 2009 Niles McKinley High School graduate who died in a car accident in March, is accepting donations at Courtney’s Coats for Kids, P.O. Box 146, Niles, OH 44446.

Miller was set to graduate in May with honors from The Ohio State University and planned to become a teacher. Her family started the fundraiser in her honor. Coats, hats and gloves are being purchased for children at Niles Primary School with a goal of extending it to other schools in the future. More information is available on Facebook at Courtney’s Coats for Kids.

Senior safety tips

CORTLAND

A free safety tips for seniors program will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the Cortland branch of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, 578 Lakeview Drive. Senior adults will learn about actions they can take to protect against identity theft, financial scams and investment fraud.

Melissa Ames of the Better Business Bureau will be speaker, as well as Cortland police Chief Tom Andrews.