METRO DIGEST || 2 Lowellville student musicians in All-State ensembles

2 student musicians in All-State ensembles

LOWELLVILLE

Two tuba players in the Lowellville High School band will perform in prestigious All-State ensembles Friday.

Lauren Zetts and Nick Kacir submitted recorded auditions and were selected from about 1,000 applicants from across Ohio.

Zetts will play for the All-State Band, and Kacir will play for the All-State Orchestra. Both the band and orchestra will perform during the Ohio Music Education Association conference in Cincinnati.

Parks board to apply for grant for repairs

WARREN

The Trumbull County MetroParks Board has approved an application for a recreational trails grant of up to $150,000 through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to help pay for repairs to the “Hidden Bridge” along the Western Reserve Greenway hike and bike trail in northern Bristol Township.

Zachary Svette, project manager for the MetroParks, said the estimated cost of engineering and repairs is $250,000, so the MetroParks will continue looking for other funding sources.

The repair is expected to include erosion repairs, realigning the stream and replacing wooden timbers above the bridge.

The 1800s stone bridge spans Baughman Creek near Mahan Denman Road. It was closed to bicycle and pedestrian traffic last year when problems were discovered. The closure is likely to continue for a couple of years.

Facing drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN

A woman police were taking into custody Wednesday for possession marijuana also gave them 14 pills she had hidden, reports said.

Lisa Markijohn, 20, of Canfield, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drugs, possession of a drug-abuse instrument and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A car Markijohn was driving was pulled over about 5:05 p.m. at Volney Road and Lake Drive for running a stop sign, reports said. Police could smell a strong odor of marijuana in the car, and at first, Markijohn denied having anything illegal but then admitted she had marijuana.

In a hidden compartment police found two bags of marijuana, a marijuana pipe and two needles. When Markijohn was taken into custody she told police about the pills on her, reports said.

OVI, drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN

A city woman was cited on charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs and possession of marijuana after a one-vehicle accident at about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 680 south near the Indianola Avenue exit.

Reports said officers responding to the accident found Francine Simmons, 54, in the driver’s seat of a car that was wrecked. She had a gash on her forehead, smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech.

She was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital to be treated, and blood also was drawn to test for blood-alcohol content. Reports said she told police she had a “couple of drinks.”

Police said they also found a bag of marijuana in her car as well as a small dog, who was not injured but was turned over to humane agents.

A witness told police she saw the car Simmons was driving swerving on the highway before it crashed. Simmons was the only person in the car. No one else was injured.

Restaurant break-in

BOARDMAN

Township police are investigating a break-in at a Japanese restaurant on Market Street.

Police responded to Asuka Japanese Cuisine on Wednesday morning when an employee at a neighboring business reported that the restaurant’s front door was smashed, according to a police report.

Someone reportedly stole a money box that contained $500 and caused several hundred dollars of damage to the front door.

Ohio House bills aim to help winemakers

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House has signed off on separate legislation to help local winemakers better showcase and sell the fruits of their labors.

House Bill 178 passed on a vote of 97-1, while HB 342 moved, 96-1. Both head to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

HB 178 would create a new temporary liquor permit allowing the sale of sealed bottles of wine and samples at farmers markets.

There would be limits on samples being sold – patrons could buy one sample, up to 1 ounce, of any given wine, with up to five varieties offered per day. And up to four wineries would be allowed at each permitted farmers market.

Bryant pleads guilty

WARREN

Maurice Bryant, 28, of Shady Lane, has pleaded guilty to charges that could result in 20 years in prison for providing the fatal dose of drugs that killed a Champion Township woman.

Bryant pleaded guilty Thursday before Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs and two drug-trafficking offenses.

Police said Bryant provided the drugs that killed Megan Fitzgerald, 24, in April.