MetroParks hearing

MetroParks hearing

YOUNGSTOWN

The first hearing in a lawsuit against Mill Creek MetroParks filed in June in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court took place Wednesday.

Attorneys for the MetroParks and for plaintiffs Barbara Brothers, Suzanne Anzellotti and Jim Ray met with Magistrate Daniel Dascenzo to outline a schedule for the proceedings. The next hearing, pending any hearings on motions that might be deemed necessary, will take place in May. A trial date was tentatively set for sometime in June.

The lawsuit alleges the MetroParks board and executive director violated Ohio Sunshine Laws on public meetings in their planning and implementation of a February staff restructuring. The defendants are board members John Ragan, Dr. Robert Durick and Germaine Bennett; former board member Scott Schulick; and Executive Director Aaron Young.

Award for Rayen

YOUNGSTOWN

Rayen Early College Middle School received the 2016 Making Middle Grades Work top performance award in the northeast Ohio Region.

This recognition is based Rayen’s 2016 eighth-grade students’ performances on 12 of the 15 indices on the national student and teacher surveys. Sixty-two students and 14 teachers from Rayen participated in the survey.

Rayen exceeded all participating schools nationally and was a top performing school in High Schools That Work. Rayen’s teacher responses indicated that the school has an intensive emphasis in continuous improvement.

Drug arrests made

YOUNGSTOWN

A man was cited and a woman arrested about 5:10 p.m. Tuesday after police served a search warrant at 340 E. Ravenwood Ave. home. Reports said officers found two bags of suspected marijuana and a bag of suspected crack cocaine.

Trina Hill, 43, who lists the home as her address, was taken to the Mahoning County jail on a charge of possession of crack cocaine. Gregory Gilford, 38, who also lives on East Ravenwood Avenue but at a different address, was cited for possession of marijuana and released with a court date.

Firefighters sworn in

YOUNGSTOWN

Mayor John A. McNally swore in two new firefighters at a ceremony Wednesday morning at the main fire station on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The new firefighters are Andrew Spisak and Scott Thomas.

Facing drug charge

YOUNGSTOWN

A Hanley Avenue man was taken to the Mahoning County jail Tuesday on a charge of possession of heroin after he was spotted pulling into a vacant lot then driving off.

Reports said officers backing up city firefighters about 7:10 p.m. in the 2000 block of Cordova Avenue saw a car driven by Braylon Black, 21, that drove onto the lot, then left right away.

Officers pulled the car over and found out Black has no license. When they searched the car before it was towed, they found a bag of suspected heroin, reports said.

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