Thursday, February 16, 2017
Bomb threat at EGCC
YOUNGSTOWN
An Austintown man was jailed Tuesday morning after witnesses said he walked into Eastern Gateway Community College, 101 E. Federal Plaza, and told people inside he had a bomb.
Police were called about 9:30 a.m. and found Peter Harasyn, 37, had put down an open can of beer on the sidewalk outside. A security guard and other witnesses said Harasyn walked into the college and said he had a bomb before coming back outside.
Harasyn was taken to the Mahoning County jail on charges of inducing panic, disorderly conduct and open container. He was still in the jail as of late Wednesday afternoon.
Contract approved
COLUMBIANA
Columbiana school board members unanimously approved a new five-year contract for Superintendent Don Mook at the board meeting this week. Mook has served as Columbiana superintendent since 2009. His new contract will run from Aug. 1 of this year until July 31, 2022.
His new contract includes a 2 percent pay increase, mirroring the teachers’ contract. His annual salary will be $104,704.
Project reimbursement
POLAND
Trustees adopted a memorandum of understanding with the Mahoning County commissioners Wednesday night that says the county will reimburse the township for $8,400 of the total $239,000 of the first year of a $1 million three-year, road-resurfacing project.
Project funding also will come from the township as well as a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission.
The trustees created the project to address conditions on some of the 55 miles of road the township maintains. Trustees estimated the township would spend about $200,000 per year for the project.
In other business, trustees approved a resolution to install a stop sign on the northeast corner of Hamilton Avenue and 10th Street. The addition will turn the three-way intersection into a four-way stop. The stop sign will be installed and in effect within 60 days.
Pact to upgrade plant
WARREN
The Trumbull County commissioners Wednesday authorized a $3,545,877 contract with CT Consultants of Youngstown to design, provide quality control and inspection services for a $21 million upgrade to the Mosquito Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Anderson Avenue in Howland Township.
It’s the same project that produced controversy last fall when Commissioner Frank Fuda expressed concern that the way the contract had been awarded to CT and MS Consultants as a team could set up the commissioners for another costly legal battle.
Under the new contract, MS is not guaranteed to share in the contract, but a county attorney has acknowledged that CT Consultants would be free to hire MS Consultants to handle inspection services if CT chooses.
Appointed to review panel
WARREN
The 11 people the Trumbull County commissioners appointed Wednesday to its Citizens Review Committee will have their first meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the commissioners hearing room in the county administration building to begin to analyze the county’s finances.
Commissioner Frank Fuda said the panel will begin its work with county Auditor Adrian Biviano to learn how county finances work.
Part of their analysis will be to decide whether to support Fuda’s recommendation the county impose a quarter-percent sales tax increase to add $6 million per year in revenue. Three people were appointed as alternates.
Car crash injures woman
FOWLER
Linda M. Payne, 58, of Chardon, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries in a 12:40 p.m. single-car crash on state Route 11 Wednesday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Payne was southbound when her vehicle traveled off the left side of the road and landed in a concrete drainage culvert in the median and became partially submerged. She was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Payne was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said. The patrol is continuing its investigation.
Facing 5-count indictment
CLEVELAND
A federal grand jury has indicted a Youngstown man on charges of selling heroin and being a felon with guns and ammunition, the U.S. Attorney said.
James K. Neail, 33, who was charged in a five-count indictment, sold heroin on multiple occasions in September in the Youngstown area, according to the indictment.
He also was charged with possessing a handgun and ammunition in September 2015 and again in October of that year, despite a 2012 federal conviction for conspiracy to commit unlawful conduct relating to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the indictment said. The Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force helped in the investigation.
Pay raises for some at CSB
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Children Services Board voted to grant 2 percent pay increases to 20 of its nonunion employees, retroactive to Feb. 1, after discussing the matter in executive session.
The board voted to do this after rescinding its Jan. 17 special meeting vote to grant these raises, which had followed an executive session that was incorrectly listed on the agenda as a session concerning negotiations with unionized employees.
The new annual salaries for the 20 nonunion employees who got the raises range from $41,605 to $78,224.
The board also voted to install security cameras covering the front and side exterior of its building at 222 W. Federal St.
Plea in hotel robbery
WARREN
Michael G. Sallaz, 55, of Comstock Street Northwest, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court to aggravated robbery, accused of robbing the Best Western hotel, 136 N. Park Ave., at 3 a.m. Wednesday. Bond of $7,500 was set.
A clerk at the hotel said a man demanded money while holding his hand in his jacket pocket and threatening to shoot the clerk. The clerk said the man appeared to be homeless.
Police went to Harmon Street behind the former Wean office building and checked areas there where homeless people congregate. They found Sallaz crouching on steps that lead down from ground level to the First United Methodist Church next to the Wean building.
An officer found $90, which is the amount taken from the hotel, under leaves near Sallaz. A hotel employee then identified Sallaz, police said.
Tightening penalities
COLUMBUS
The Ohio House passed legislation to tighten the penalties against those who possess or sell cocaine. House Bill 4 was approved on a vote of 97-0 Wednesday and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.
The law changes were proposed after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling late last year that the prosecution of cocaine-related offenses be based on the weight of the pure cocaine involved, not the weight of cocaine and any fillers.