METRO DIGEST || I-80 lane closures today

I-80 lane closures

AUSTINTOWN

Interstate 80 westbound will have various lane restrictions for pavement repairs, between state Route 46 and the Ohio Turnpike until 6 a.m. today and again from 8 p.m. tonight to 6 a.m. Thursday. The Ohio Department of Transportation said motorists should watch for stopped traffic.

Engineering awards

BOARDMAN

Several prominent people received awards last week from the Mahoning Valley Society of Professional Engineers.

State Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, received the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers’ Legislator of the Year Award.

Jack Ritter, an engineer and retired Youngstown State University professor, received the OSPE’s lifetime achievement award. Ritter was chairman of the local society’s MathCounts Contest for students in local schools for 30 years. Burgess & Niple Engineers Jeremy Schaffner, Matt Burger and Joe Stodolak were given the local society’s 2015 Outstanding Engineering Project Award for the roundabout at Mathews and Sheridan roads in Boardman, which opened last year. Mahoning County Engineer Patrick Ginnetti was the featured speaker at the local society’s summer outing. The Mahoning Valley Society is the chapter of the Ohio Society that represents engineers in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

So So’s to reopen

YOUNGSTOWN

A former employee is spending about $100,000 to reopen So So’s Lounge at its longtime location on the city’s North Side. Ray Rue, who also operates Ray’s Fish Market on Belmont Avenue in Liberty, received permission Tuesday from the Youngstown Design Review Committee for exterior improvements to So So’s at 232 North Ave., between West Rayen Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The bar has been vacant for the past few months, and will reopen under Rue’s ownership in December, said Matthew L. DeVicchio, his attorney who was with him at Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s for an older crowd, 35 and up,” Rue said.

Vacant-house fire

YOUNGSTOWN

Fire reports say a blaze at a vacant house at 2741 Newbern Ave. about 3:10 a.m. Tuesday caused $10,000 in damage.

When crews arrived, they found a heavy fire on the second floor, reports said. Reports said a neighbor told firefighters someone had kicked in the back door a few weeks ago. There were no injuries.