METRO DIGEST || Pedestrian killed in Boardman

Pedestrian killed

BOARDMAN

A pedestrian was hit and killed by an SUV on South Avenue near Fairfield Drive about 9:50 p.m. Wednesday. The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, said the pedestrian was dead at the scene.

Troopers were still at the scene at 11 p.m., and further details were not available.

Youngstown mayor will comment on audit

Youngstown

Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he would offer a statement regarding a state audit of the city sometime today.

The audit is tied to the city’s use of water and wastewater funds for capital improvement projects. The state auditor’s office is investigating whether the city’s use of those funds is in violation of the state constitution.

If the city is required to pay back the more than $4 million at the heart of the auditor’s inquiry, it could send the city into fiscal emergency.

Party on the Plaza

YOUNGSTOWN

The Party on the Plaza from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday on East Federal Street, sponsored by the city, is downtown Youngstown’s annual outdoor music series.

The Party on the Plaza is also part of the kickoff for the Mahoning Valley 400 Year commemoration, a weekend of diverse activities to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to English North America in Jamestown, Va., in 1619.

Putting levy on ballot

BELOIT

West Branch school board this week unanimously voted to place a half-percent earned income tax before district voters on the Nov. 5 ballot.

An earned income tax does not affect real-estate taxes within the district. If a resident is retired and receives no earned income from an employer, is not self-employed and has no depreciable property, they will not pay the school income tax, school officials said.

The half-percent earned income tax is a three-year levy.

The district has made cuts in personnel and operational expenses in the last three years, Superintendent Timothy Saxton said. The district has focused its efforts to reorganize in an effort to minimize the long-term financial impact, but due to rising costs and unfunded mandates, there is a need for additional income.

Vandalism at school

BOARDMAN

Police are investigating vandalism at Market Street Elementary School reported Tuesday.

Principal Billie Jo Johnson told police Tuesday afternoon two security cameras were torn off the walls. About 100 textbooks were destroyed and thrown over the playground. An exterior mercury vapor light was also removed from the building. From security footage, police identified two male suspects.

Woman stabbed, robbed

YOUNGSTOWN

A Hawthorne Street woman told police she was stabbed Tuesday evening during a brawl at her home and had $300 taken out of her bra.

Officers were called to the South Side home about 9:40 p.m., where the victim’s arm and hand were covered in blood. She told police a woman she knows sent three carloads of people to her home to beat her up, and one of those people had a knife and stabbed her.

The victim refused medical treatment.

Railroad museum to open Saturday

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association announced that its museum, Jim Marter Yard, 1340 Poland Ave., will open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission will be $2, and children under 6 enter for free. For information, visit facebook.com/mvrha.

3rd charged in robbery

YOUNGSTOWN

Police charged a third person in connection with the July 25 robbery of a Pennsylvania man who they said was lured to the West Side over the internet.

A warrant for a charge of complicity to aggravated robbery was filed against Tylece Redmond, 19, who remains at large.

Police said Redmond is the person who met a Hookstown, Pa., man at a parking lot at Steel and Silliman streets to buy a video game system he was looking to sell but was instead jumped by two armed men.

Police later caught the men after a foot chase on Wellington Avenue. They are charged with aggravated robbery.

Arrested in threat case

BOARDMAN

Police arrested a township man Wednesday at an Oak Ridge Drive home who was accused of threatening federal law-enforcement personnel.

Justin Olsen,18, was taken into custody on a charge of aggravated menacing and threatening a law-enforcement official. Police and members of the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force served warrants at the homes of Olsen’s parents on Oak Ridge Drive and Presidential Estates. Olsen was found at the Oak Ridge address, said township police Chief Todd Werth.

Werth said he was not aware of the nature of the threats but did say they were recently made on social media.

ACTION prayer vigil

YOUNGSTOWN

The Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods is planning a prayer vigil next week for the people killed during the Dayton and El Paso, Texas, mass shootings.

ACTION members are meeting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. John Episcopal Church, 323 Wick Ave., to discuss the vigil, which is tentatively planned for 6 p.m. next Thursday. The venue will be determined during that meeting.

City sidewalk project

YOUNGSTOWN

The city is planning a $317,000 project in the summer of 2020 to remove and replace section of deteriorated sidewalk in front of and near the William Holmes McGuffey and Williamson elementary schools.

The project also includes upgrading or installing new curb and curb ramps, manhole improvements, new traffic signs, traffic signal upgrades at the Williamson Avenue and Market Street intersection and new crosswalk lines.

The city is taking public comments on the proposal through Sept. 3. Contact Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works, 26 S. Phelps St., Youngstown, Ohio 44503; 330-742-8800 or cshasho@youngstownohio.gov.

$150K for Beatitude

YOUNGSTOWN

Beatitude House, 238 Tod Lane, will receive $150,000 over five years from The James and Coralie Centofanti Charitable Foundation to fund a new child-wellness program.

The program intends to provide a “healthy foundation” for children at the Beatitude House with the aim of improving their physical and mental health.

The program is expected to begin in the winter. Beatitude House, sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, is committed to providing services for all disadvantaged women and children.

Earned State Award

YOUNGSTOWN

State Auditor Keith Faber this week announced Mahoning County has earned his State Award with Distinction for having returned clean financial audit reports. Governmental entities that earn the award meet this criteria for a clean audit: The entity must file financial reports with the state auditor’s office by the statutory due date, without extension, via the Hinkle System, on a GAAP accounting basis and prepare a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery.