METRO DIGEST || Report: Meijer bought Super Kmart building

Report: Meijer bought Super Kmart building

HOWLAND

Meijer, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based privately owned one-stop department store chain that has plans to build in Boardman and Austintown, has purchased the building that once housed the Super Kmart at 2100 Niles-Cortland Road, reported 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

A Meijer spokesman said his firm has owned the building for some time, but Cafaro Co. spokesman Joe Bell said while there have been talks about the building, no sale has been finalized. Kmart closed the Howland store in April.

Meijer, which operates more than 240 super centers and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, owns property on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown and is interested in developing land along U.S. Route 224 near Tippecanoe Road in Boardman, 21 WFMJ-TV reported.

Library alarm goes off

POLAND

Village police responded to an alarm at Poland Village Library, 311 S. Main St., shortly after midnight Friday. Police Chief Russell Beatty reports the building’s back door and window were damaged. Library employees took inventory to see if anything was taken.

Victim in crash is ID’d

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office identified the woman who died in an accident Tuesday in Austintown as Theresa Abraham, 85, of Austintown.

Abraham died Tuesday after a car she was driving crashed into a home on Evans Avenue just after 2 p.m.

A spokeswoman for the coroner’s office said Abraham died of multiple blunt force injuries.

An autopsy was done, but a cause of death is pending the result of toxicology tests.

3 groups get funds

YOUNGSTOWN

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, announced that the Office of National Drug Control Policy has awarded $375,000 to a trio of Mahoning Valley organizations for use in addressing and preventing youth substance abuse.

The Family Recovery Center, Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program and The Coalition for a Drug Free Mahoning County have each received $125,000 grants.

The funds are part of the ONDCP Drug-Free Community Program, which works alongside the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to support local communities’ efforts to curb drug addiction and abuse among young people.

Discussing Liberty roads

LIBERTY

Township trustees may pursue a Surface Transportation Block Grant from the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to pave Goldie Road and Fifth Avenue from Goldie to the Youngstown border.

The board is seeking additional grants to bolster their road-paving operations, and discussed the condition of the roads at a regular meeting Thursday morning.

Administrator Pat Ungaro, Trustees Arnie Clebone and Greg Cizmar, and interim police chief Toby Meloro were at the meeting.

Trumbull County engineers said chip-and-sealing work will start soon in the township. Meloro told the audience officers will be at the school buildings Tuesday to greet children on their first day of school.

Peace Chair Project showcase scheduled

YOUNGSTOWN

The Peace Chair Project, hosted by COMPASS Family & Community Services has received more than 50 decorated chairs that will be showcased at the DoubleTree on Thursday. The showcase is sponsored by PNC, Gasser Chair and the Marchionda family.

A few chairs will be exhibited at the Butler Institute of American Art and all the chairs will be auctioned at the Chocolate, Wine, Dine and Groove that will take place Sept. 21 at Stambaugh Auditorium. Proceeds will benefit the Sojourner House Domestic Violence Shelter.