METRO DIGEST || Niles limits OT pay

OT pay limited

NILES

Council approved the final reading of an ordinance Wednesday that will limit overtime pay for nonunion positions to 1.5 times the hourly rate. Council’s action rescinds overtime policies instituted by former Mayor Ralph Infante in which some supervisors were paid higher overtime rates than others.

On Monday, council voted to require city retirees who are rehired to pay 100 percent of their medical insurance premiums. Under Infante, the city was paying a portion of the premiums for some of the rehires.

Infante was indicted last November on more than 50 counts, including bribery and theft in office. State auditors had advised the city to change those policies in the wake of the investigation. Council members have indicated there may be other changes coming.

Jackson Twp. fire

NORTH JACKSON

No one was injured in a house fire Wednesday night in the 2800 block of Gault Road in Jackson Township that was fought by several fire departments from Trumbull and Mahoning counties. According to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, the fire was reported at about 7:30 p.m. and occupants escaped the blaze. Flames were coming from a second-story window at the back of the house. The cause and the damage amount are unknown.

Job help

WARREN

Trumbull Community Action Program and Trumbull Career and Technical Center have teamed up to help individuals in the community prepare for and gain employment. An employability lab, available at TCAP, 1230 Palmyra Road SW, is open to anyone in Trumbull County seeking work. The lab consists of four stations covering all aspects of the job-search process: Working hand-in-hand with and access to Ohio Means Jobs profiles; career assessment; resume and cover letter-building, and mock interviews with TCTC ABLE instructors. The lab, located at TCAP, is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday. For information, call Kathy Hutton at 330-393-2507 ext. 240. Boardman hires atty.

BOARDMAN

Township trustees this week approved hiring Atty. Matthew Vansuch as additional legal counsel. Vansuch will advise and represent the township on reviewing and proposing updates to the sections of the zoning regulations at an hourly rate of $125 per hour. The township will also reimburse Vansuch for expenses in connection with legal services, not to exceed $5,000.

In other business, the trustees approved renewal of an engineering agreement with MS Consultants of Youngstown, not to exceed $10,000 for 2017.

McDonald council

MCDONALD

A subcommittee of McDonald Village Council will meet at noon today in council chambers, 451 Ohio Ave., for a work session to discuss potential/pending contracts.

Opioid use drops

COLUMBUS

Ohio patients received 70 million fewer doses of prescription opioids last year compared to 2015, according to a report released by the state pharmacy board Wednesday. The number of such pills dispensed to residents dropped to 631 million, versus 701 million in 2015 and a high of 793 million in 2012.

In total, those patients also received more than 1 million fewer prescriptions for painkillers – 10.1 million in 2016, compared with 11.2 million in 2015. There were also fewer prescribers of opioids and fewer patients receiving the pills. It was the fourth-straight year of declines.