‘Deals for Wheels’

‘Deals for Wheels’

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Child Support Enforcement Agency is again offering its “Deals for Wheels” program throughout March.

Child-support debtors can get their suspended driver’s licenses reinstated for payment of one month’s support plus $1 on the arrearage and a $25 reinstatement fee.

Those who aren’t working must agree to seek employment. CSEA, 345 Oak Hill Ave., is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Pleads not guilty

YOUNGSTOWN

The manager of a South Side bar that was raided last week by police pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of operating a bar without liquor license.

Sadiya Sow, 45, entered her plea in municipal court before visiting Judge Richard Reimbold. She is due back in court March 22.

Sow is the manager of Club BBU, 21 W. Hylda Ave., which police raided because of complaints the bar was selling alcohol without a permit. Police took hundreds of bottles and cans of liquor and beer from the club.

Seeking cause of fire

NORTH JACKSON

Authorities are trying to figure out what caused a tractor-trailer to catch fire about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, closing a portion of the eastbound lanes of Interstate 76 in Jackson Township.

A news release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver pulled over when he thought the brakes were on fire and he was able to unhitch the trailer, which then became engulfed in flames.

The trailer contained various items and was a total loss, the release said. There were no injuries.

Threat at Niles school

NILES

Investigators say a threat scrawled on a girl’s restroom wall at Niles McKinley High School made no mention of a bomb.

Instead, Niles Police Captain Marshall told 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, the message written in a stall in an upstairs restroom threatened that school should be called off “or else.”

After the discovery of the message at around 11 a.m. Tuesday, the school was locked down.

A sweep of the building was not conducted because the message contained no threat of a bomb, according to police.

Capt. Miles says that officials have interviewed more than a dozen students who were in the area of the restroom at the estimated time that the threat was written.

“It’s just something unfortunate in our district that we’ve had to deal with. Probably way too much,” said school Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen. The lockdown was in effect for about two hours.

Aide’s discipline case

YOUNGSTOWN

A former aide at the Leonard Kirtz School has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges involving purportedly handing out excessive discipline to two mentally challenged students.

Audrey Johntony, 34, of Austintown was booked into the Mahoning County jail after appearing in court Tuesday to answer four counts of endangering children and one count of assault.

Investigators say Johntony was supervising lunch at the school in Austintown last March when two boys, ages 7 and 9, were refusing to eat.

Johntony is charged with endangering and assault after being accused of grabbing the hand of the 9-year-old and slapping him in the face three times using his own hand.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Johntony grabbed the arm of the 7-year-old and forced his head down onto the table. Johntony has been freed from jail on her own recognizance.

Ohio House OKs HB 1

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House moved legislation Tuesday that would enable victims of dating violence to seek protection orders against their attackers.

House Bill 1 passed on a unanimous vote and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration. Victims of domestic violence already are able to seek court-issued civil protection orders, but the current definition in state law does not include dating violence. HB 1 adds the later to state code and outlines the court procedures for obtaining protection orders in such cases. Additionally, the legislation would require the attorney general’s office to include information about dating violence protection orders in pamphlets outlining the rights of crime victims that are distributed to victims and their family members and dependents. Ohio is one of two states that does not extend protection orders in cases of dating violence.

Officials probe arson

BOARDMAN

Township police and fire officials are investigating a suspected arson that caused minor damage to an elementary school.

Officials were called to Market Street Elementary on Monday in reference to the incident, according to a report.

A school employee reported that while cleaning up playing cards that had been scattered around a lot, he found that someone had set fire to a southeast corner of the building.

“The fire, although small, was large enough to put scorch marks on the brick of the building and create ashes,” according to the report.

Surveillance video showed numerous people coming and going from the property, but those parties were not recorded in the area of the fire. Officials believe the incident occurred sometime since the end of the school day Friday.

Explicit photo found

EAST PALESTINE

Police are investigating after someone reported a sexually explicit video of an underage girl who attends East Palestine High School, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner 21 WFMJ-TV reports. Officers have confiscated close to 30 phones from students who may have received or sent the video, according to the TV station.

Clean audit reports

COLUMBUS

State Auditor Dave Yost recognized Girard City School District and Trumbull Metropolitan Housing for their clean audit reports.

They were among 15 entities to receive Auditor of State Awards. The awards recognize government organizations that file timely financial reports that, among other criteria, do not result in citations or questioned costs.