METROSFlbdigest

Lowellville grant

YOUNGSTOwN

The Ohio Emergency Management Agency awarded a $199,000 grant from its disaster-relief program to help Lowellville pay for $1.3 million in flood-damage repairs after a June 2015 rainfall of 3 inches in one hour, Dennis O’Hara, Mahoning County emergency-management director, told the county commissioners this week.

The village underwent six months of flood-damage repair to its streets and storm sewers that has been paid for by the village and the Ohio EMA, Public Works Commission and Water Development Authority.

McGill Street, which was hardest hit, was closed for three months after the raging torrent of water descended the steep hill.

Competency ruling

YOUNGSTOWN

A woman who is accused of trying to set an April 17 fire at a Lois Court apartment building was found competent in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to stand trial on two counts of aggravated arson.

Judge Shirley J. Christian issued the finding Thursday for Sonya Shannon, 37, who previously had been deemed Aug. 12 to be incompetent to stand trial. However, she was placed in a treatment facility, and her competency was restored.

No one was injured in the fire, which was set in the entrance to her building. Trial in the case is set for Jan. 23.

Austintown burglary

AUSTINTOWN

Township police apprehended a suspect in the act of burglarizing a home Thursday, according to a report.

Officers responded to a call about a man who broke into a house on Canfield-Niles Road. Police found Joseph McCoy, 34, of Struthers, in the basement of the home. He told police, “I know that I’m [expletive]. Can I please have a cigarette?” McCoy is charged with burglary.

Drug theft

BOARDMAN

A man arrested on a charge of shoplifting Thursday was found to be in possession of prescription drugs, police said.

Police accuse Daniel Rosen, 31, of Boardman, of leaving Walmart at 1300 Doral Drive with nearly $600 of merchandise concealed in a plastic container. Police stopped Rosen and placed him under arrest. According to a report, during a search, police found a knife they said he used to cut open packaging and several Xanax and Adderall pills.

Rosen is charged with theft, possession of criminal tools and two counts of drug possession. He will appear Tuesday in Mahoning County Area Court.

Warrant served

BOARDMAN

Police served a warrant Thursday on a township man on charges related to a September overdose.

Richard Cummings, 44, of Boardman, overdosed on fentanyl on Sept. 9, according to a report. Paramedics administered Narcan, a drug used to treat opioid overdose, to revive Cummings.

He is charged with drug abuse, possession of drug-abuse instruments and possession of drug paraphernalia.

PennDot advisory

MERCER, PA.

Because of lake-effect snow showers, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has temporarily reduced the speed limit to 45 mph on Interstate 80 in Mercer and Venango counties and Interstate 79 in Mercer, Crawford and Erie counties.

PennDOT is urging motorists to avoid unnecessary travel.

Although PennDOT crews have been treating roads, the department’s primary goal is to keep them passable, not completely free of ice and snow. Crews will continue to treat roads until precipitation stops and they are clear.