METRO DIGEST || New US citizens

New US citizens

YOUNGSTOWN

These people recently became U.S. citizens in a naturalization ceremony before Judge Robert Rusu of Mahoning County Probate Court. Their names, countries of origin and hometowns are: Matthew Dee Cheng, Philippines, Boardman; Sina Song Yoon, South Korea, Canfield; Touria Chayat, Morocco, Canfield; Kamal Ennouni, Morocco, Boardman; William Alfred Johnson, Jamaica, Youngstown; Muhammad Saleem, Pakistan, Struthers; and Mervat Abdallah Esmail, Israel, Boardman.

Candidates forum

YOUNGSTOWN

The Core Team at Union Baptist Church is sponsoring a candidates forum at the Youngstown church at 528 Lincoln Ave. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Those invited to speak at the event are candidates running for Mahoning County positions on the March 15 primary ballot, even though there’s only one competitive race in the county, the Democratic race for county recorder.

Committee meeting

LORDSTOWN

The Lordstown Village Streets & Sidewalks, Parks, Buildings and Grounds Committee will meet at 5 p.m. today in council chambers, 1455 Salt Springs Road SW.

Robbery reported

WARREN

A minister from Kinsman and his wife reported being robbed at gunpoint by a man they knew after giving the man a ride Monday morning.

The minister said he and his wife gave the man a ride from Lexington Street Northwest to Linda Drive Northwest. When he got out, he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the heads of the minister and his wife and demanded money.

The suspect got $700 in cash and fled on foot. They reported the incident two days later.

Drug Price Relief Act

COLUMBUS

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted forwarded a citizen-initiated statute aimed at lowering prescription-drug prices to lawmakers Thursday after earlier questions from his office about signatures redacted from petitions submitted to elections officials.

State lawmakers now will have about four months to act on the proposed Drug Price Relief Act. Absent their approval, the group behind the measure, Ohioans for Fair Drug Prices, could collect additional signatures and pursue a ballot issue.

The proposed statute would block state officials from entering into contracts for prescription drugs unless the prices from manufacturers are the same or lower than those paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.