METRO DIGEST || Free coats for kids in need

Coats for kids

YOUNGSTOWN

The fourth annual Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mahoning Valley & Western Pennsylvania’s “Give-A-Coat” campaign will provide $20,000 in free winter coats for needy children in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Children who live in Mahoning County will have their opportunity to select new winter attire from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Salvation Army, 1501 Glenwood Ave. Invitations for pre-qualified participants will be distributed to their parents or guardians.

Coat-distribution events in Trumbull and Columbiana counties will take place in November.

Walker rifle stolen

WARREN

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the fatal shooting of Taemarr Walker, 24, early Saturday by Warren Patrolman Mike Krafcik, said one of the weapons found in the car with Walker was stolen.

The HK MP5 22LR HV rifle found in the car was stolen June 22 during a residential burglary in Warren Township, a BCI spokesman confirmed Friday.

Krafcik fired upon Walker multiple times on Risher Road near Palmyra Road at 1:50 a.m. after Walker’s car went into a ditch, and Walker crawled to the front of the car and reached under the front seat and retrieved a handgun, police said.

New citizens

YOUNGSTOWN

Thirteen new U.S. citizens were sworn in Thursday by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Their names, hometowns and countries of origin are: Hadi Georges Chammas, Poland, Lebanon; Rizuana Jahan, Boardman, Bangladesh; Durbek Abdurakhmanov, Youngstown, Uzbekistan; Rey John Tumanda Mejo, Austintown, Philippines; Georges Antoine Abi Habib, Poland, Lebanon; Lina Thi Thu Nguyen, Youngstown, Vietnam; Bilal Hamad Alhmeed, Liberty, Jordan; Mohamad Askar, Boardman, Lebanon; Karen Vivo Williams, Boardman, Philippines; Haitham Yousef Emaishat, Boardman, Jordan; Francisco Suy Chumil, Canfield, Guatemala; Gaeton Wayne Thompson, Boardman, Jamaica; and Akram Ahmad Abdallah, Liberty, Jordan.

High Street closing

YOUNGSTOWN

High Street between Oak Hill Avenue and School Street on the South Side will be closed to through traffic Monday through Thursday. The closure is necessary in order to make repairs to a retaining wall along the roadway. Local detours will be posted using Mahoning Avenue.

Coletti pleads innocent

WARREN

Stella J. Coletti, 42, of Deer Creek Trail, Cortland, pleaded innocent Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to 13 drug charges.

Coletti, who was sentenced to 10 days in the Trumbull County jail and placed on four years’ probation in 2007 for stealing $5,314 from her former job at the Trumbull County Clerk of Courts office, returns to court Nov. 13.

Her newest charges are 12 counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug and one count of illegal processing of drug documents.

The charges pertain to her purportedly obtaining the drug Focalin, which is used to treat people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The charges date from March 2012 to October 2012. Bond was set at $5,000.