Amphitheater alters policy on lawn chairs

Amphitheater alters policy on lawn chairs

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre has amended its policy regarding chairs for the lawn sections.

Previously, lawn chairs with a seat height of more than 9 inches were prohibited.

Effective immediately, fully collapsible, single-person lawn chairs with a seat no higher than 16 inches off the ground and a back no higher than 36 inches total height are permitted for all events, including concerts by national acts.

This includes today’s concert by legendary rock band Chicago.

The bags or cases these chairs come in will not be permitted into the facility. All plastic and wooden chairs are still prohibited, as are folding chairs of any other style.

Rental chairs remain available at all events for $5. Tickets for VIP Lawn seats include a chair with the cost of the ticket.

Storm causes flooding, power outages in area

CANFIELD

A Thursday evening thunderstorm carrying heavy rain and wind caused flooding and loss of power in portions of Mahoning County, particularly in the Boardman and Canfield areas.

According to Ohio Edison, as of 10 p.m., 2,375 customers in Mahoning County were without power. Fewer than 5 customers in Trumbull and Columbiana counties each were without electricity.

There were reports of flooding in Boardman and Canfield and trees uprooted and roads blocked to traffic.

Closed for Pride parade

YOUNGSTOWN

The city has announced these street closings for Saturday’s two-part Pride parade and celebration from 2 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.: North Phelps Street between Federal and Commerce streets. West Federal Street between Symphony Place and Market Street will be closed from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Indictment unsealed

YOUNGSTOWN

A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed Thursday against a man who was arrested in March at a South Side club with a 9 mm handgun that had an extended magazine.

Dominique Callier, 27, of West Hylda Avenue, faces one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Callier was arrested March 23 at Club BBU, also on West Hylda, after police received a report that someone in the club had a gun. He is barred from having a gun because of convictions in 2011 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felonious assault and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

The indictment was filed May 29 but not unsealed until Thursday.

Appeal in Infante case

WARREN

The appeal in the criminal case of former Niles Mayor Ralph Infante is likely to get back on track after Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove filed a sentencing entry Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to formally state a technical matter related to Infante’s sentencing.

The 11th District Court of Appeals asked her to state the “merger” of two of Infante’s convictions in a sentencing entry. She stated orally during Infante’s sentencing hearing the two charges would merge, the judge and appeals court noted.

The judge sentenced Infante, 63, to 10 years in prison in May 2018 for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity during his 24 years as mayor, tampering with records, theft in office, gambling, falsification and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.

Sentenced over guns

YOUNGSTOWN

A Warren man was sentenced to three years in prison in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio for being a felon in possession of a firearm and four counts of aiding and abetting a false statement in acquisition of a firearm.

Allen Reynolds Jr., 35, pleaded guilty to the charges in March. Judge Patricia Gaughan handed down the sentence Wednesday.

Reynolds was accused of having guns at four different times in 2013 despite a 2008 drug conviction in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court that prohibited him from having guns.

Constance Derubba, 76, also of Warren, also pleaded guilty to charges she purchased the guns for Reynolds even though she knew he was not allowed to have them. She will be sentenced Aug. 19.

2 firefighters injured

YOUNGSTOWN

Two firefighters were injured late Wednesday battling a blaze at a vacant 104 Lauderdale Ave. home.

Crews were called to the North Side home just after 11 p.m. and found an odor of gasoline in the back, reports said.

One firefighter was burned in the face and another had a pulled muscle, reports said. Damage is listed at $6,670, a total loss.

Firefighters also were called about 10:10 p.m. to a vacant 126 Ayers St. home that caught on fire for the third time. Damage at the East Side dwelling is listed at $6,320, also a total loss.

Fire at site of assault

YOUNGSTOWN

Arson investigators spent time Thursday at the scene of a fire at a Bonnie Brae Avenue home where a woman was assaulted last week with a box of Nilla Wafers.

Firefighters found a gas can outside the South Side home after they were called there about 1:40 a.m. for a fire that was quickly extinguished. Damage is estimated at $500.

A woman June 17 told police her ex-boyfriend kicked in the door, hit her over the head with a box of Nilla Wafers and took her phone.

Melvin Glenn, 52, was arrested later on a burglary charge and arraigned in municipal court, but police said he was released from after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge.

Money-laundering case

YOUNGSTOWN

Joseph Stiver, 27, of Bazetta who was sentenced to a year in prison in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in 2014 for operating a business that illegally sold steroids all over the country, has been indicted in federal court on new charges.

Stiver and Justin Robbins of Detroit are expected to enter guilty pleas in federal court to complicity to launder money.

The new charges say the two conducted financial transactions affecting interstate and foreign commerce by conducting and attempting to conduct financial transactions for illegal steroid sales from 2011 until February 2014.

As part of the enterprise, Stiver acquired a list of customers for Global Fitness on Elm Road in Warren and opened accounts in the names of Global customers in 2012.

Federal officials are seeking forfeiture of $59,560 that was recovered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton and $2,000 seized March 6, 2014, at a location in Whitmore Lake, Mich.

Campaign-reports bill

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House on Thursday approved a bill sponsored by state Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem, R-33rd, to permit local candidates to file campaign reports electronically.

The Senate approved the bill last month. It goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. It would remove the paper-only filing requirements for individuals who file with local elections boards. It also requires the Ohio secretary of state to make the information in those electronic statements available online.

All the information would then be maintained in a central database. The goals are to streamline filing requirements for all candidates and eliminate the actual paper trail while boosting transparency.

Guns, drugs, cash found

WARREN

The police department’s Street Crimes Unit executed search warrants in recent weeks at a home on Wick Street Southeast and one on Palmyra Road Southwest, finding five handguns, suspected heroin and cocaine, a digital scale, prescription drugs and $4,300 in cash on Wick Street.

Allen Walsh, 25, of Palmyra Road Southwest, and Teqwan Scott, 23, of Tod Lane, Youngstown, were both arrested as part of the investigation. Walsh was indicted this month on five drug trafficking charges in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The Street Crimes Unit and Trumbull Action Group also jointly investigated suspected drug activity recently at a home on Tod Avenue Southwest.

A search warrant was executed Monday, which resulted in seizure of suspected cocaine and heroin, 322 THC vaping cartridges, about a half-pound of suspected marijuana and nearly $9,400 in cash.

Investigating sewers

WARREN

The Warren Water Pollution Control Center this week began conducting field investigations in the southeast part of the city to determine the sources of stormwater getting into sanitary sewers.

The streets involved include Perkinswood, Central Parkway, Trumbull, Meadowbrook, Eastland, Catalpa, Devon, Edgehill and Patchen.

The work will take several months but should cause no inconvenience for residents. Crews will place bright green dye into the system. It may appear in ditches and storm sewer inlets. Crews may also smoke-test some sewers, as well as make visual and video camera inspections of sewers.

Anyone with concerns can call the Water Pollution Control Department at 330-841-2591 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Year added to sentence

WARREN

Former Hubbard attorney Richard J. LaCivita, who is serving a three-year federal prison sentence for bank fraud and making a false statement on a loan, was sentenced to another 12 months in prison Wednesday, but he will serve it at the same time as his earlier sentence.

LaCivita, 70, of Canfield pleaded guilty Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to grand theft in relation to $22,500 he failed to hold for clients for a home sale and property transaction on Stewart Sharon Road in Brookfield in his capacity as a lawyer in 2012.

His plea and sentencing were conducted by video with LaCivita remaining at the federal prison, where he is housed, but he was able to see and talk to Judge Andrew Logan and the attorneys in Judge Logan’s courtroom. La-Civita apologized to the victims of the offense. Judge Logan ordered LaCivita to make restitution.

Indicted after crash

WARREN

Justin E. Houle, 35, of Stoneybrook Drive, Hubbard, was indicted this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on two counts of aggravated vehicular assault and single counts of drunken driving, failure to stop after an accident and tampering with evidence for a May 14 crash at State Street and state Route 87 in Kinsman Township that injured two people.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Houle and a passenger, Stephanie Williams, 32, of Columbiana, were traveling north on State Street at 8:17 p.m. and failed to stop at a stop sign, causing a crash with a westbound vehicle on Route 87 driven by Donald Gordon, 73. He and Helene Gordon, 65, both of Fowler, were taken to the hospital. Houle and Williams left the scene.

Brookfield police stopped Houle and Williams about 10 minutes after the accident. Houle was charged with drunken driving. He and Williams also were charged with disorderly conduct and having an open container of alcohol in their vehicle.

Route 30 restriction

EAST LIVERPOOL

Beginning Monday, U.S. Route 30 westbound will be restricted to one, 12-foot lane of traffic in East Liverpool near the Ohio-West Virginia state line for bridge repair work. The Ohio Department of Transportation says the work should be completed by Aug. 31.

State Farm donation

LIBERTY

The State Farm Foundation presented the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley with a check for $10,000 at 9 a.m. Thursday at Liberty’s Blott Guy PK-6 school. State Farm is a supporter of United Way’s Success After 6 initiative, which provides wraparound services as well as after-school programming at 13 school sites in five school districts, including Liberty.

This summer the United Way’s Success After 6 initiative at Liberty included an enrichment learning program for kindergarten through second grade for two weeks in June.

Women artists’ show

YOUNGSTOWN

The YWCA Mahoning Valley is awarding more than $2,400 in prizes to local and regional women artists from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the opening preview party for the 37th Annual Women Artists: A Celebration! juried art show.

Priscilla Roggenpamp, associate professor of art at Ashland University, selected the award winners from the 143 pieces accepted into the show. Fifteen pieces by artists under 18 are also included in the show, and were judged by Suzanne Anzellotti.

The event is at the YWCA Mahoning Valley-Youngstown Office, 25 W. Rayen Ave., Youngstown.

The preview party, attended by artists and patrons of the show, marks the formal opening of the show, and features music by Ed Madej, hors d’oeuvres, wine, an art auction and a marketplace of small works by local artists.

Ohio awards more than $28M in historic rehabilitation tax credits

COLUMBUS (AP)

A state agency has awarded a total of more than $28 million in tax credits for the rehabilitation of 49 historic buildings in Ohio.

The Ohio Development Services Agency says the projects are expected to leverage approximately $280 million in private investments in 13 communities.

The awards will assist private developers in rehabilitating historic buildings in downtowns and neighborhoods. Agency director Lydia Mihalik says the credits help preserve historic sites and create new opportunities for small businesses and housing.

Robert Kennedy Jr. speaks out in Ohio against vaccines

COLUMBUS (AP)

Attorney Robert Kennedy Jr. is supporting an Ohio House bill that would prohibit employers from mandating that their employees get vaccines.

The son of former U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy spoke at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday in favor of the legislation.

Kennedy said “mild” childhood infectious diseases with low mortalities in America have been traded “for a large number of vaccine-induced chronic diseases.”

House Bill 268 would allow workers to opt out of vaccines and prevent employers from requiring those shots as a condition for employment. Public health experts and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that vaccines are safe and effective.