West Branch moves up parent conferences

West Branch moves up parent conferences

BELOIT

The West Branch School District’s first parent/teacher conferences this school year will take place Thursday instead of at the end of the first grading period.

“We want to discuss students’ progress with parents before the end of the grading period, so that if there is something a student needs to work on to improve his or her grade, they will have time to do so,” said Superintendent Scott Weingart.

Computer labs will be open during conference night for families to take a survey. The link is available at on the West Branch Local Schools Web page. The results of the survey will be used to assist the district in planning. The link will remain active through Oct. 31.

CPR/First Aid review

Easter Seals and Youngstown Hearing & Speech are offering American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric CPR/First Aid review and renewal courses today and Wednesday. A valid certification card for CPR and FA will be required before being eligible to take this course.

The course will be offered at the following Easter Seals locations: Easter Seals Main Center, 299 Edwards St., Youngstown, 3 to 6 p.m. today; Easter Seals Adult Day Center, 721 Boardman-Poland Road, Suite 103, Boardman, 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The cost is $25 per person. Contact Gary Brooks, Easter Seals LPN & CPR and first-aid instructor, at 330-599-5489 to register. Payment is due at time of registration.

Fundraiser at the Lube

AUSTINTOWN

Quaker Steak & Lube, 5800 Interstate Boulevard, will host a “Dine to Donate” fundraising event to benefit Emily Orlaski from 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Emily is a local 10-year-old who soon will begin chemotherapy and radiation for a stage-4 Wilms’ tumor, which is a rare kidney cancer.

The Lube will donate 10 percent of all food sales from fliers returned to the Orlaski family.

Vacant house burns

YOUNGSTOWN

A vacant 1373 Grandview Ave. home that caught fire early Saturday was allowed to burn down, fire reports show.

Reports said by the time the first crews arrived on the scene about 3:35 a.m., the home was already fully engulfed in flames and was beyond saving.

Firefighters deployed to protect neighboring homes, reports said.

Damage is listed at $10,000. Reports said the cause is listed as arson.

Fired employee sought

AUSTINTOWN

A fired McDonald’s employee is being sought after by authorities, accused of continuously calling his former place of work and threatening to beat everyone up.

Austintown detectives are looking for a 23-year-old man after he reportedly continued to call the 5524 Mahoning Ave. location of the fast-food restaurant and between 8 a.m. and noon Saturday. The employee had been fired and escorted off of the property Friday.

Authorities talked to the man on the phone and he was told a report would be made.

YWCA sponsors event

YOUNGSTOWN

In conjunction with YWCA Week Without Violence this week, the YWCA of Youngstown, 25 W. Rayen Ave., will sponsor Preventing Violence in Our Daily Lives during the Center for International Students Coffee Hour at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The event is free and open to the public.

Dorothy Kane, of the VIP Family Violence Prevention Coalition, will present this workshop that will show participants how conflict can positively affect change or become disruptive and harmful, and to understand that domestic violence is never good.

The YWCA US created Week Without Violence nearly 20 years ago to mobilize people in communities nationwide to take action against all forms of violence.

Information sessions

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership, 1325 Fifth Ave., has scheduled the dates and times of its information sessions for the first Workforce Development Program of 2014.

They are 2 to 4 p.m. Monday; 9 to 11 a.m., noon to 2 p.m., and 3 to 5 p.m. next Tuesday; 9 to 11 a.m., noon to 2 p.m., and 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 22; and 9 to 11 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 23.

Candidates interested in the six-week class that begins Nov. 5 must attend one of the informational sessions. Potential candidates must be a Mahoning County resident 18 or older, have a high-school diploma or be working toward completion of a General Educational Development diploma. All participants must be income eligible at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

For information, call 330-747-7921, ext. 1190 or ext. 1724. The MYCAP office is open Mondays-Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Man, neighbor arrested

WARREN

One man was charged with assault on a police officer, assault and menacing, while a neighbor was charged with obstructing official business when Warren police were called to the 100 block of McMyler Street Northwest at 10:19 p.m. Friday.

Police were called for a disturbance and found Marlon Swigett, 27, of McMyler Street, hiding near his neighbor’s house. Swigett was accused of shoving his wife and threatening his son before police arrived.

Swigett had just left his house when police arrived, so they went in the direction he had gone and asked Anthony R. Landman, 20, a neighbor on his porch, where Swigett had gone. Landman pointed down the street, police said.

The officers suspected Landman wasn’t telling the truth and found Swigett by Landman’s house. Landman was charged with obstructing official business.

Damage done to door

YOUNGSTOWN

Police reports say it looks as though someone tried to drive a car through the overhead doors of Lou’s Tire, 1703 Poland Ave., sometime overnight Sunday.

Police were called to the business about 7:40 a.m. Monday It had last been open at 5 p.m. Sunday, reports said.

Reports said the overhead door was severely damaged.

Someone did manage to pry a lock off another door and ransacked the office, taking $10 in cash and a welder, reports said.

Man robbed, assaulted

WARREN

A 19-year-old Newton Falls man reported being robbed and assaulted by two men as he walked from the Stone Gate apartments on Tod Avenue Northwest at 11:19 p.m. Sunday.

The victim said he was walking back to his car after dropping off a friend at the apartments and saw two males walking beside him. The pair didn’t say anything until one of them punched him in the face.

Then they both punched and kicked him multiple times, injuring his face and possibly breaking his jaw. They took the victim’s cash and asked him for his car keys. The man said he didn’t have any, and the suspects ran off.

The victim was treated at ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

Charged in assault

WARREN

Michael Tonkovich, 33, of East Main Street in Cortland, was charged with assault after a confrontation with a bouncer at Up A Creek tavern, 4793 E. Market St., at 2:17 a.m. Sunday.

The bouncer reported taking Tonkovich outside in a headlock after Tonkovich got into a fight inside the tavern. The bouncer went back inside and took a second male outside, but when he got there Tonkovich punched the bouncer in the face, apparently knocking him unconscious, the bouncer said.

Cortland police later detained Tonkovich for Warren police, who took him into custody. The bouncer had a cut above one eye and on the bridge of his nose.

Car flips over into yard

BOARDMAN

Township police are investigating an accident in which a car flipped over into a front yard Monday, Vindicator news partner 21 WFMJ-TV reported.

A Honda Civic drove off the road and flipped over into a yard on Mill Creek Boulevard at 11:30 a.m., injuring the driver, according to the report.

Police had not released information about the cause of the accident or the condition of the driver as of Monday evening.

Felon sentenced, had gun

PITTSBURGH

A federal judge has sentenced a Sharon, Pa., man to 41 months in prison for being a felon with a gun.

Ralph Samuels, 50, drew the sentence from Senior U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry. Police recovered Samuels’ DNA from the .45-caliber pistol he used in an Oct. 3, 2012, shootout in Farrell, Pa., with Daniel Odem Jr., of Farrell, in which both shooters were injured, the U.S. Attorney said.

Students disciplined

AUSTINTOWN

The school district has disciplined two students who fought last week during lunch at Austintown Fitch High School after a male student took a photo of another male student and used a racial-slur caption.

Fitch Principal Chris Berni said no one was injured, and both students will go back to school once “the duration of the discipline expires.” He did not give the length of the discipline.

Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said what started the fight took place outside of school. He said parents should reach out to Austintown police in cases similar to this one.

Berni said a male student took a photo of another male student using social-media platform Snapchat, and that student added a racial slur directed at the student in the photo.

Other students who received the photo took a screenshot to save it, and one of those students showed it to the student in the photo. That’s what started the fight in the lunch room.

Supporting in pink

STRUTHERS

Things might look a little pink in Struthers schools this week. The school district plans to honor anyone who has battled breast cancer by having staff and students wear pink between Monday and Sunday.

Superintendent Joseph Nohra said the school purchased pink wristbands to give to students to wear for breast-cancer-awareness month. He said student athletes will also wear pink during their games and events.

“I, like so many other people in Struthers, have suffered through family and friends having the misery of cancer,” Nohra said. “We are encouraging our students to wear appropriate pink items all week to celebrate and honor survivors and victims.”

Lunch and Learn

YOUNGSTOWN

The YWCA of Youngstown is offering monthly Lunch and Learn sessions at the YWCA, 25 W. Rayen Ave., beginning this month. The sessions will focus on topics such as finance and job skills.

The first session, “To Your Credit,” is from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 23, at which experts from Huntington Bank will show participants how to read a credit report and how to build and repair their credit history.

The cost is $10 per person, which includes lunch.

Registration is required by Oct. 21. Call Elise at 330-746-6361, ext. 109.