METRO DIGEST || US 224 road restrictions Thursday

Road work planned

BOARDMAN

Thursday and Friday, U.S. Route 224 between Interstate 680 and Tiffany Boulevard will be reduced to one lane in each direction for construction crews to drive bridge piles in preparation for the widening this spring. This work is part of a $5.4 million project to widen the Route 224 bridge over I-680 and improve the I-680/Route 224 interchange. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by late October.

Pa. woman arrested

BOARDMAN

Township police arrested a 57-year-old Pennsylvania woman who they say stole more than $2,000 in merchandise from an accessory store.

Janet Feezle of Enon Valley, Pa., was taken to Mahoning County jail until her arraignment later today in area court here on the theft charge.

Police were called to Icing inside Southern Park Mall just after 3 p.m. Monday. The store manager told police she witnessed Feezle take several items from the store’s display and attempt to leave the store without paying.

Altogether, 176 items totaling $2,283.50 were found in Feezle’s bag, according to a police report.

Employees charged

BOARDMAN

Two employees of J.C. Penney at Southern Park Mall were charged on Monday with felony theft from their employer.

Taniesha Holland, 27, of Cook Avenue, Boardman, and Dontell Morgan, 18, of Oneta Street, Youngstown, are charged. Store officials notified Boardman police of the missing money Jan. 8. Multiple registers were short the amount of money that should have been in them on multiple occasions. The store began an internal investigation to pinpoint who was working at the registers.

The theft is believed to have started Dec. 21 and continued through Jan. 2. Altogether, $3,487.81 was reported missing. The police report said the store narrowed it down to Morgan, and during his interview with police he implicated Holland. They have a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Jan. 21 in area court here.

Schiavoni is leader

COLUMBUS

A Youngstown-area lawmaker officially became leader of the Ohio Senate’s minority caucus Tuesday.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, takes over for Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati, D-9th, short-time running mate of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ed FitzGerald.

Kearney is finishing his final term in the chamber and decided to step down as minority leader while still part of the FitzGerald ticket. He later opted against running for lieutenant governor after continued questions about taxes owed by a business he and his wife own.

Volunteer meeting

AUSTINTOWN

Anyone interested in donating or volunteering to help build the home for the James Skok Family on New Road here should attend a meeting at 5 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Austintown Senior Center, 112 Westchester Drive.

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