Shooting-death trial

Shooting-death trial

YOUNGSTOWN

Opening statements were late Monday afternoon in the trial of Johnny Wallace III, 23, who is accused of the November shooting death of Colin Brown, 45, in the Last Call bar at 2929 South Ave.

Jury selection was completed before Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Relatives of Wallace’s tried to talk him into accepting a plea bargain before jurors were called into the courtroom, but Wallace refused. Testimony is expected to continue today.

YNDC’s toolshed opens for season

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation’s Community Toolshed, 820 Canfield Road, opened Monday afternoon.

The toolshed allows individuals and neighborhood organizations to borrow tools for maintenance projects.

Individuals or groups interested in borrowing tools from the YNDC must make an appointment, provide a valid driver’s license and a tax bill, utility bill or lease/rental agreement.

To make an appointment, call Laina Wells at 330-480-0423.

Arrest in car break-ins

BOARDMAN

Police arrested a man last week accused of breaking into 11 cars in early March.

Justin Harrison, 30, of Youngstown, faces seven counts of theft and one each of criminal damaging and criminal mischief.

Police said Harrison broke into cars between March 1 and 5 and stole money, purses, medication, weapons and cellphones totaling more than $5,650.

Report: Gun fired at car

WARREN

A city woman, 46, reported that a young man fired a gun about five times at her car, hitting it twice after she asked him to get out of her car on Tod Avenue Southwest and Maple Street at 1:10 a.m. Monday.

The incident occurred just after a fight at the nearby J&L Lounge on Highland Avenue Southwest in Warren Township, but a Warren police report does not say the two incidents were related.

The woman said she gave a ride to a male friend of her daughter’s, but when he started to act “funny,” she asked him to get out of the vehicle. He pulled out a handgun and started shooting at the car as she drove away.

Officers found four spent shell casings at the Tod-Maple intersection.

Woman reports assault

WARREN

A 39-year-old city woman with two swollen black eyes and injuries to her arms reported a man she knows grabbed her by the hair, broke a broomstick over her head, and punched her all over her body Sunday in her apartment on Tod Avenue Northwest.

She said she doesn’t know how he got into her apartment. She said she couldn’t call for help because he took her cellphone. She banged on the walls of the apartment for help, but nobody helped her, she said.

Police were contacted about the assaults at 6:17 p.m., but the man was no longer there, police said.

Charged after overdose

WARREN

Amber Barr, 35, of Tod Avenue Northwest and Monroe Street Northwest, assaulted an ambulance worker after being revived from a drug overdose Friday and was charged with felony assault, two counts of child endangering and possessing drug paraphernalia, police said.

A not-guilty plea was entered on the felony assault, and she pleaded not guilty to the other charges Monday in Warren Municipal Court. Bond was set at $3,500.

Police were called to a home on Woodbine Avenue Southeast at 6:51 p.m. by a girl, 5, saying her mother would not wake up. An officer arrived there first and found Barr unconscious, apparently from a drug overdose.

Barr was rude with ambulance workers who revived her and later assaulted a worker in the back of the ambulance, police said.

Summer food program

YOUNGSTOWN

The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley is participating in the Summer Food Service Program to Summer Learning Program students.

Meals are provided to all eligible children free of charge at Youngstown Community School, 50 Essex St., on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 to 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. beginning today through July 3.

To be eligible for free meals at a residential or nonresidential camp, children must meet the income guidelines for reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program. Children who are part of households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly foods stamps, benefits or benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families are automatically eligible to receive free meals.

MBA information session

YOUNGSTOWN

The Williamson College of Business Administration’s Room 3415 will house an information session about the Williamson MBA program at 6 p.m. today.

Courses are offered in a business-friendly, concentrated format that meet one evening a week, throughout eight weeks. Courses are offered on campus and online. The Williamson MBA program is accredited by AACSB International – the mark of excellence that less than 5 percent of all business schools worldwide have earned.

If you are a working professional, a standardized exam (GMAT/GRE) may not be required for admission (applicants can apply for the GMAT waiver based on work experience and GPA).

For information, contact the Williamson MBA Office at mba@ysu.edu or call 330-941-3069.

Farmers market to open

YOUNGSTOWN

The Downtown Youngstown Farmers Market will open at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave., and run until 3 p.m.

The market will run the second Wednesday of every month from this month through October.

Individuals with SNAP/EBT can “double up” their produce purchases up to $30 dollars thanks to a grant from the Mercy Health Foundation-Mahoning Valley and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The market is the result of a partnership between the YNDC and Mercy Health.

For questions regarding the market, call YNDC Neighborhood Planner Tom Hetrick at 330-480-0423.

Authorities remind fairgoers of hygiene

REYNOLDSBURG(AP)

As Ohio’s fair season begins, authorities are urging people to use good hygiene to protect themselves from viruses and other illnesses while visiting livestock exhibits.

The agriculture and health departments issued the reminder with millions of people expected to attend any of the 94 county and independent fairs, starting this week in Paulding County in northwest Ohio.

Among suggestions: Always wash hands after touching any animal; don’t eat, drink or put anything in your mouth while in animal areas; leave strollers outside; and carry small children in animal areas. They say older adults, pregnant women, young children and people with weakened immune systems are at particular risk.

Flu, salmonella and other illnesses are concerns. Veterinarians will monitor fair animals.

The Ohio State Fair in Columbus runs July 25-Aug. 5.

WVU research to study effect of fracking

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP)

A West Virginia University assistant professor has received a $450,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to look at how airborne particles that result from hydraulic fracturing affect human health.

In hydraulic fracturing, oil and gas are extracted from rock by injecting mixtures of water, sand and chemicals underground.

The university said in a news release that public health assistant professor Travis Knuckles will spend three years studying how the particles can make it harder to control how much blood enters the capillaries. He will also explore at how the particles can make it harder to turn oxygen into a chemical that is a primary energy source for cells.

Knuckles and his research team will look at whether fine particles released by fracking are more toxic than particles normally found in urban air.

Police: Road-rage case took a smelly turn

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP)

Police say one man defecated on another man during a road rage episode in Pennsylvania.

Authorities say a New Tripoli man got into an argument with another man around 8:45 a.m. Friday and defecated on the victim.

The altercation happened in Heidelberg Township, about 17 miles north of Allentown.

Police did not say what sparked the fight or how it escalated.

The suspect has been charged with harassment.