METRO DIGEST || No more pumpkins

No more pumpkins

YOUNGSTOWN

Due to the strong turnout Friday, there will be no pumpkin carving today at Fellows Riverside Gardens. All 600 pumpkins have been carved, and will now be placed on display the annual Pumpkin Walk at Twilight, which will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the gardens, which are at 123 McKinley Ave., on the West Side.

Councilman pleads

NILES

Niles Councilman Edward S. McCormick, 59, of Elm Court, pleaded no contest Friday to operating a motor vehicle impaired and was found guilty in Niles Municipal Court.

McCormick, a Democrat, was charged after an Aug. 24 traffic crash on Pratt Street in which he struck a pickup truck.

Judge Thomas Townley ordered him to pay a $400 fine and court costs. His license was suspended for 180 days with driving privileges for work, medical appointments, school and church, and he was ordered to attend a three-day driving intervention program. He was not ordered to serve any jail time, according to a court clerk. His blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.228 by Niles police the day of the accident.

McCormick, a councilman since 2007, is on the November ballot for re-election to council and has no opponent.

2 homes burn

Youngstown

Two vacant houses on Ellenwood Avenue on the South Side were destroyed by fire Friday night.

Youngstown fire crews responded at 7 p.m. and tried to douse the blaze at 59 Ellenwood but realized it was too engulfed by flames. The second house, at 57 Ellenwood, ignited from the first blaze. Battalion Chief Ron Russo said firefighters were in the attic of the second house and had to hurry out before they were trapped. Crews let both homes burn. “It’s going to smoulder all night,” Russo said. He added that the homes will be submitted to the city for emergency demolition.

Acting president

WARREN

The Raymond John Wean Foundation has appointed Jennifer Roller as acting president. She has been with the foundation since 2007 and served most recently as vice president and interim president.

Alongside the foundation’s past two presidents, she has worked closely with strategic partners to ensure alignment of the foundation’s shared vision and strategic initiatives. Before coming to the foundation, she was director of Upward Bound and SCOPE at Youngstown State University. Roller earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from YSU and, in January 2013, she completed a one-year fellowship with the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Subway robbery

YOUNGSTOWN

Two men in hooded sweat shirts robbed the Subway restaurant at 830 E. Midlothian Blvd. on Thursday afternoon.

The men were wearing bandannas over their faces with their hoods pulled up when they robbed the store at 4:07 p.m.

One was wearing a maroon sweat shirt, blue jeans, red bandanna and baseball cap while carrying a red gym bag. The other had a dark sweat shirt, blue jeans, light-blue bandanna, ball cap and revolver.

The man with the revolver demanded money from the safe, but a worker said the safe would open only after a 30-minute delay. The bandits then put a cash drawer in the gym bag, took money from two employees and fled. The robbery was recorded on store video.

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