Girl, 5, becomes ill after eating amphetamines

Girl, 5, becomes ill after eating amphetamines

WARREN

A 5-year-old girl became sick and was treated at the Trumbull Regional Medical Center after hospital officials determined she had consumed amphetamines she apparently thought were candy.

The girl’s grandfather picked her up at her mother’s apartment on Martin Street Southwest about 5 p.m. Friday. The girl was acting strangely and then vomited.

At the hospital, the girl told her grandfather and father she ate some “sparkly candy.” Trumbull County Children Services and the Warren police were notified. Police said the girl was going to be transferred to Akron Children’s Hospital.

Teacher resigns

BELOIT

West Branch school board accepted the resignation of Nate Heddleston, high-school English teacher, after a special meeting late Monday afternoon. Heddle-ston’s resignation is effective June 5, but he is not allowed on school property at any time leading up to his resignation date.

Lawsuit against Falcon

NEW YORK

The law firm representing laid-off Falcon Transport Co. employees in a federal lawsuit regarding its sudden closure and dismissal of nearly 600 employees is receiving “nonstop” calls from former workers looking to join the case.

Atty. Stuart Miller of New York firm Lankenau and Miller said his firm specializes in cases involving the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN.

The firm’s suit alleges the company did not inform workers they would lose their jobs 60 days ahead of planned layoffs, as required by that law. Instead, most were informed the day of the layoffs, April 27, and many were left stranded throughout the country.

A similar notice filed in Tennessee indicated the company was unable to give notice due to unforeseen business circumstances, including, “Falcon’s largest customer closing several operations” — presumably, the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Complex, which shuttered in March.

“We don’t believe that anything was ‘sudden and dramatic’ here. There were events the company was aware of,” Miller said.

3 injured in fight at bar

WARREN

A woman, 23, and men, 41 and 36, were injured during a large fight that involved pool sticks at the Raider Bar, 1704 W. Market St., at 12:03 a.m. Sunday. All three suffered minor injuries.

When police arrived, they found blood and broken pool sticks inside the bar and people yelling at each other.

Learn about fostering at Ohio MENTOR event

BOARDMAN

Ohio MENTOR will be hosting an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Boardman Township Park Stambaugh Room today to welcome the community to meet the staff and learn about becoming a foster parent.

There were 15,858 children in foster care in 2018 and the number continues to rise due to the opioid epidemic, according to Ohio MENTOR.

Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent can attend the event or visit ohiomentorfostercare.com, Facebook.com/OhioMENTOR or calling or texting foster parent recruiters Erin Mihar at 330-503-8817 or Angela Dick at 330-607-4527.

Wildflower presentation

POLAND

Friends of the Poland Municipal Forest are sponsoring a forest wildflower talk and slide show today at 7 p.m. in the Poland Village Library, 311 S. Main St. Photographer and environmental scientist Kyle Filicky is delivering the presentation.

1st 2 to earn visual-arts MFAs will graduate

YOUNGSTOWN

The first two graduates with a master of fine arts in interdisciplinary visual arts are among more than 1,500 students receiving degrees at Youngstown State University’s Spring Commencement on Saturday.

Graduation in Beeghly Center on campus will take place at two ceremonies: 9:30 a.m. for students in the Williamson College of Business Administration, Beeghly College of Education and College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; and 2:30 p.m. for students in the Cliffe College of Creative Arts and Communication, Bitonte College of Health and Human Services and College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Kathleen Gallagher of Massillon and David Belgrad of Canfield are the first two YSU students to earn the new MFA in interdisciplinary visual arts, the first program of its kind in the Northeast Ohio region.

Fellowship awarded

YOUNGSTOWN

Elise Eckman of Poland, who also graduates at Youngstown State University’s Spring Commencement, has been awarded a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation that will finance Ph.D studies in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University starting this fall.

A double major in mathematics and mechanical engineering and a member of the YSU Honors College, Eckman receives a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 for tuition for up to five years, along with the opportunity for international research collaborations and federal internships as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.

‘Hot Topics’ speaker

NILES

State Rep. John Patterson of Jefferson, D-99th, will be the guest speaker at the Trumbull County Democratic Party’s “Hot Topics” event at 6 p.m. Thursday at party headquarters in the Pine- tree Plaza, 6 Youngstown Warren Road.

Patterson is the main co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to revise the funding of public schools.

Meeting about fracking

BROOKFIELD

There will be a town-hall meeting about fracking activity in nearby communities from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Ohio Fire Hall, 774 state Route 7 NE.

Officials, including Silverio Caggiano, battalion chief of the Youngstown Fire Department; Hubbard Township Trustee Rick Hernandez and Teresa Mills, executive director of the Buckeye Environmental Network, will discuss with the public their concerns about fracking activity in several Trumbull and Mahoning County communities.

Free shredding event

NILES

AAA East Central and Shred-It are hosting a free event to shred personal documents from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the AAA office at 937 Youngstown-Warren Road.

Residents in the Mahoning Valley can bring up to five storage boxes of paperwork for shredding. All shredded materials will be recycled. Items to bring to the event include credit-card offers, bank statements, old check books, tax forms, medical records, credit reports, insurance records and financial statements.

Roads closed for Relay

WARREN

The following roads will be closed from 6 p.m. Thursday through 11 p.m. Friday: Mahoning Avenue at High Street and Market Street, Market Street at Mahoning Avenue and Park Avenue, Park Avenue at Market Street and High Street, and High Street at Park Avenue and Mahoning Avenue. The purpose of the closures is for the American Cancer Society’s 2019 Warren Relay for Life.

School board to meet

COLUMBIANA

Columbiana school board will have a special meeting at 6 p.m. today in the high-school media center, 700 Columbiana-Waterford Road.

90-year-old to get degree at Westminster

NEW WILMINGTON, PA.

Of the nearly 300 students who make up Westminster College’s Class of 2019, one hasn’t set foot in a classroom in decades.

Various degrees will be conferred during Westminster’s 165th annual commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday on the Weisel Senior Terrace outside of Old Main.

Among those earning degrees will be 90-year-old Dr. Paul J. Suorsa. The retired Slippery Rock veterinarian will return to campus to claim his bachelor’s degree, an achievement 70 years in the making.

In 1952, Suorsa was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and left New Wilmington for Philadelphia before he was able to complete the German credit hours that were required for him to achieve his Westminster degree. He planned to take the language courses, which were common for science and medicine students at the time, at Penn and transfer the credits to Westminster to secure his bachelor’s degree.

Unfortunately, not all the Penn credits transferred, leaving Suorsa just two credit hours short. Despite that, he earned his veterinarian medicine degree from Penn in 1956 and went on to have a successful veterinary career in Slippery Rock before retiring in 2003.

Seeking info in theft

POLAND

Township police are seeking the public’s help identifying two individuals involved in the theft of a John Deere tractor from the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2985 Center Road, on Thursday. Police have located the tractor but are offering a reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the individuals.

The individuals were seen driving away in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck.

Anyone with information can call the township police department at 330-757-8033, ext. 123.