MILESTONES

MILESTONES

HONORS

Judicial appointments

Judge John M. Durkin of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court recently was appointed to two official positions within Ohio’s judicial organizations, according to an article in the Akron Legal News.

Judge Durkin is the chairman-elect of the Ohio Judicial Conference, a position that brings along with it an appointment as a trustee of the Ohio Judicial College.

The judge is a Youngstown native who earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Dayton. He has served as an assistant prosecutor for the city of Youngstown and worked in private practice.

The Ohio Judicial Conference studies the coordination of the various Ohio courts and encourages uniformity through the various court divisions.

The Ohio Judicial College is where the state’s judges go to fulfill their continuing legal-education requirements. It presents classes to judges, magistrates and court administrative personnel.

Research associate

Scott Cunningham, a 1997 Youngstown State University graduate and Lisbon native, has been named the Scherago-Rubin Laureate for 2014 by the American Society for Microbiology and recently named a research associate in clinical microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

The Scherago-Rubin award is an international award recognizing an outstanding, nondoctoral clinical microbiologist.

Cunningham joined the Mayo Clinic in 2001 and is a research and development technologist in clinical bacteriology. Recently, he helped lead efforts to implement Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry, the latest technology in microbial identification. He also has presented at several national, regional and local meetings on molecular testing and mass spectrometry applications in the clinical laboratory.

Cunningham is a 1993 graduate of Lisbon David Anderson High School. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from YSU, a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science from Wright State University in 2000, and a master’s degree in biology from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He is an instructor in laboratory medicine and pathology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

Cunningham lives in Rochester, Minn., with his wife, Ginger, and two children, Regan and Evan. He is the son of William and Cindy Cunningham of Lisbon.

Boy SCOUTs

Eagle award

Michael Angelo Ramunno, son of Mark and Nancy Ramunno of Canfield, earned his Eagle Scout award, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest honor, in a Court of Honor ceremony last week at Canfield United Methodist Church.

Michael is a member of Boy Scout Troop 25, chartered to Canfield United Methodist Church. Scoutmaster is Kevin Prus Sr.

Michael joined Troop 25 on Oct. 27, 2010, and has served as chaplain’s aide, patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader and senior patrol leader. He has earned 22 merit badges.

His special Scout awards include Camp Seven Ranges 3rd Year Pipestone Award; 50 Miler Award; Junior Leadership Training (JLT); Historic Hike Award; Gettysburg Trail Award; and 2013 Camp Seven Ranges Choo Feather.

His special troop awards include the 2011 Troop 25 Jimmy Jones Outstanding Scout Award and Bob Roberts Memorial Backpatch Award with 7. He has participated in special scout activities such as the Gettysburg National Historic Trail, 50 Mile Canoe Trip and Summer camps at Camp Seven Ranges in Kensington, Ohio.

He is an Ordeal Member of Wapashuwi Lodge, Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Michael designed and coordinated the construction of a shooting bench for the Eastern Ohio Conservation Club to be used in their youth and adult shooting programs.

He is a senior at Canfield High School where he participates in the school’s bands and the Junior Engineering Technical Society. He attends St. Charles Borromeo Church in Boardman and is a member of the Mahoning County Junior Fair.

Milestones is a regular Sunday feature in The Vindicator. Articles must be submitted within 30 days of the Milestone event. Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want a picture returned. Pictures also may be picked up at the paper’s Front Street facility at the security guard station. Send items to: Milestones, c/o The Vindicator, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501.