Kids to participate in after-school program

Kids to participate in after-school program

YOUNGSTOWN

For about 900 Youngstown City School District elementary and middle-school students, class time won’t end when the final school bell rings. They are participating in the district’s after-school program, which started Monday and runs Monday through Thursday throughout the school year.

The effort involves about 90 city school teachers and tutors from Youngstown State University. Students get a snack and dinner during the program, and the district buses them home.

Kelly Weeks, a director of transformation for the district, said students are using a computer program that focuses on math and reading skills. YCS CEO Krish Mohip said the program is a way to improve student achievement.

Suspect sought in burglary incident

AUSTINTOWN

Police are searching for a suspect in an aggravated burglary incident Sunday afternoon.

Police arrived at a South Raccoon Road home where the victim told police he found a man, later identified as Youngstown resident Scott Dattilo, 33, of Bonnie Place, standing in his kitchen, according to a police report. Dattilo then reportedly demanded the victim’s wallet.

After he refused, Dattilo punched him and tried to remove his wallet out of his pocket. The victim attempted to reach for a drawer where a handgun was kept, but Dattilo removed the gun and threatened him with it. Dattilo took the victim’s wallet, which contained $700, and the handgun and fled on foot. He remained at large Monday night.

Man is arraigned on several charges

YOUNGSTOWN

Bond was set at $25,000 Monday for a West Midlothian Boulevard Monday man after his arraignment in municipal court on traffic and weapons charges.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper arrested Kevin Cylar, 22, about 3:10 p.m. Saturday on charges of driving under suspension and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. A car he was driving with four other people inside was pulled over on Meridian Road on the West Side because it did not have a front license plate.

Reports said troopers did a search of the car after smelling marijuana on Cylar and found a loaded handgun in the glove box. Reports said Cylar told troopers the gun was his, and he needs it for protection. He does not have a concealed-carry permit.

Juvenile charged

BOARDMAN

Police charged an Austintown juvenile – who said he couldn’t remember a thing – at 3 a.m. Sunday with criminal trespassing, obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

Officers found a male who fit the description of a burglary suspect from Saturday night at a residence on Shelby Road. Brandon McElroy, 17, of West Raccoon Road, was approached by police, but was unresponsive and made unintelligible statements. As McElroy fled, ignoring multiple commands, an officer used a stun weapon to detain him. The juvenile said the last thing he remembered was meeting with people he didn’t know at a friend’s house and being offered a clear liquid to drink. He was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital on Market Street.

Man reports being shot

YOUNGSTOWN

A 20-year-old man was treated Saturday for a gunshot wound to the leg at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital after reports said he told police someone in a passing car shot him.

Police were called to the hospital just before 5 p.m., where the man said he was walking on Bennington Avenue on the East Side after leaving his girlfriend’s house when he was shot.

However, police checked the area on Bennington and could find no signs of a shooting, reports said.

Man arrested in stabbing of brother

YOUNGSTOWN

A man was arrested early Sunday after reports said he told people he stabbed his brother.

Caleb West, 34, of Southern Boulevard, was arraigned on a charge of felonious assault Monday in municipal court.

Reports said police were called about 4:20 a.m. Sunday to West’s apartment on a report of a stabbing, and when they arrived, they found West’s brother bleeding heavily from several stab wounds.

Reports said West told officers he was sleeping when he heard someone inside the apartment and he thought it was a burglar, so he grabbed a knife and began stabbing the man who he later found out was his brother.

West’s brother is being treated at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Street closing

YOUNGSTOWN

Hillman Street on the city’s South Side will be closed for about five days beginning today between Chicago and Dewey avenues for a sanitary sewer repair. A detour will be posted, said Charles T. Shasho, deputy director of public works.

Fire destroys home

YOUNGSTOWN

Reports said a vacant 2118 Summer St. home was destroyed Saturday morning by fire. Crews arriving about 2:50 a.m. found a fire on the first floor that burned through to the attic, reports said. Damage is listed at $11,000, a total loss. There were no injuries.

Vacant home damaged by fire, ruled arson

BUTLER, Pa.

Troopers at the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks in Butler are looking for information on a fire over the weekend that caused more than $100,000 damage to a vacant Mercer County home.

A news release said the blaze at the home on Sharon Mercer Road in East Lackawannock Township has been ruled an arson. There were no injuries.

The release asks that anyone with information contact the state Fire Marshal Unit at the Butler Barracks.

Association to meet

YOUNGSTOWN

The Garden District Neighborhood Association will have its meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in Colonial Hall of St. John Lutheran Church, 1420 Mahoning Ave. President, Jerry O’Hara, will officiate. Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, will give an update of activities in the city and community police officer Melvin Johnson will be in attendance. Plans for the Christmas Party will be discussed.

Woman charged

YOUNGSTOWN

A Salt Springs Road woman was arrested Sunday morning on a felony charge domestic violence after reports said she attacked three family members because they would not drive her to the South Side so she could “sell herself.”

Officers were called about 3:05 a.m. to a home in the 1400 block of Salt Springs, where witnesses told them Christine Smith, 34, became irate when they refused to drive her to Hillman Street and she attacked them. Smith was arrested and taken to the Mahoning County jail.

Reports said on the way to the jail, Smith continually hit her head against a divider in the cruiser and told an officer she was putting a price on his head.

Smith had a previous conviction for domestic violence in 2007, reports said. She was just released from jail Nov. 7, reports said, but they do not indicate on what charge she was jailed.

Council meeting

WARREN

Warren City Council will meet at 5 p.m. today at the Municipal Justice Building, 141 South St. SE.

Project wins award

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio Parks and Recreation Association recognized Mill Creek MetroParks’ Lily Pond restoration project in its 2016 Annual Awards of Excellence. The restoration project, led by MetroParks Planning & Operations Director Steve Avery and Planning Manager Justin Rogers, placed third in the “Capital Improvement Projects Under $1 Million” category.

The project restored some of the original attributes of the Lily Pond area that had deteriorated and also added features such as a floating boardwalk, an informational kiosk and features that prevent water runoff and pollutants from flowing into the pond.

OPRA’s awards program garnered 131 nominations, 18 of which were selected for first, second or third place awards.