ALLIANCE, Ohio (WYTV) – Police in Alliance are looking for a theft suspect who may be driving a sparkly, clean car.
Investigators are looking for a woman who appears in surveillance video taken from the Circle K on West State Street.
Police say the woman made off with about $115 in auto cleaning products.
The incident happened September 19 at about 9:10 p.m.
Police are asking anyone who may recognize the woman to call them at 330-821-9140.
CANFIELD, Ohio (WYTV) – Wednesday is the official start to fall, and White House Fruit Farm is ready to celebrate.
Fall weekends have already started and are running until late October. Pumpkins are ready to be picked up, and apple cider is on the shelves. White House Fruit Farm also offers a new play area for children, in addition to the planned celebration weekends this fall, said owner Debbie Pifer.
“We have seven weekends of our outdoor fall celebration weekends — Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m,” she said. “We have horse-drawn wagon rides. We have a children’s petting zoo.”
You can still find some of your old favorite activities at the farm, however, and, if you want those famous White House donuts, you can always get them during the week or by calling ahead to order.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – It could be a while before a Poland physician appears in a local court room.
Joseph Yurich has been charged in a fatal boating crash last spring at the Berlin Reservior. Authorities said Yurich had been drinking when his boat collided with another in May, killing a man from Akron, and that Yurich then left the scene.
Yurich waived his initial appearance in court last week, filing a written plea of not guilty.
On Tuesday afternoon, defense lawyers and prosecutors met for a conference to discuss the case, although Yurich was not present.
WASHINGTON, DC (WYTV) – Here is the itinerary for Pope Francis and his visit to the United States:
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
9:15 AM: White House Arrival Ceremony and personal meeting with President Obama. The White House Arrival Ceremony is not open to the public. Guests must have a ticket to attend.
11:00 AM: Following the Pope’s meeting with the President, he will tour the Ellipse and parts of the National Mall.
11:30 AM: Midday Prayer with U.S. bishops at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C. This event will be closed to the public
4:15 PM: Junipero Serra Canonization Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Tickets to the Mass were distributed through local parishes.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
9:20 AM: Speech to the Senate and House of Representatives (Joint Session of Congress). The speech will be broadcast live on jumbotrons on the West Lawn of the Capitol.
11:15 AM: Visit to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in D.C. and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington.
4:00 PM: Departure for New York from Joint Base Andrews (D.C.)
5:00 PM: Arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York)
6:45 PM: Evening prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York)
Friday, September 25, 2015
8:30 AM: Address to United Nations General Assembly.
11:30 AM: Multi-religious service at 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.
4:00 PM: Visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem.
5:00 PM: Papal motorcade through Central Park
6:00 PM: Madison Square Garden Mass
Saturday, September 26, 2015
8:40 AM: Departure for Philadelphia from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
9:30 AM: Arrival in Atlantic Aviation hangar at Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia.
10:30 AM: Mass at Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
4:45 PM: Visit to Independence Mall.
7:30 PM: Visit to Festival of Families at Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Prayer Vigil with World Meeting of Families.
Access to certain areas of the parkway will require tickets, but tickets are not necessary to attend this day’s events. Forty jumbotrons, located down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and other locations in the city, will show the events live, including the public coverage of Pope Francis.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
9:15 AM: Papal meeting with Bishops at St. Martin’s Chapel, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
11:00 AM: Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
4:00 PM: Papal Mass for World Meeting of Families.
7:00 PM: Visit with organizers, volunteers and benefactors of the World Meeting of Families at Atlantic Aviation.
8:00 PM: Departure for return to Rome.
Information provided by the White House.
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – Maria Wingard, of Austintown, dropped off a new prescription at the pharmacist on Monday and found out her cost would be $35,000.
She was getting the drug Daraprim (Pyrimethamine) for a treatment to last two to three weeks. She did not know that on the day she handed in the script, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG had raised the price from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill.
“Traditionally, this has been the go-to drug since the 1950s for toxoplasmosis,” said Wingard.
That means Daraprim is the generic version of the drug, and no cheaper alternatives are available. That left Maria and her husband wondering if they could afford her treatment for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can cause serious or even life-threatening symptoms in newborn infants whose mothers are infected and those with compromised immune systems. Daraprim is also used by some HIV, AIDS and cancer patients.
“I’m the lucky one. Mine is only for toxoplasmosis,” Wingard said. “People are on this pill for cancer. Can you imagine being on this pill for years? That would be horrible.”
Maria has been working with her infectious disease doctor and pharmacist to find an alternative treatment for the infection.
She posted a YouTube video of a letter she wrote to Turing Pharmaceuticals AG CEO Martin Shkreli asking for a price drop. She told Skrekli her hope is “that a chemist comes up with a duplicate drug that will replace yours and put you out of business.”
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – The water fountain that stood in Idora Park for more than a century has a new home now.
The Idora Park Experience Museum in Canfield Township received permission from the current owners of the property to remove the fountain on Tuesday. Heavy equipment donated by the Gecco Electric company helped move the stone and concrete fountain.
“A lot of work and effort and personal time and effort goes into it,” says Toni Amey with the Idora Park Experience.
The fountain was built in the 1890s to provide drinking water to park visitors.
Part of the fountain will be on display this weekend at the museum, which is located at 4450 S. Turner Rd., just south of Gibson Rd.
BOARDMAN TWP, Ohio (WYTV) – Unemployment figures for the three-county area were released on Tuesday, and they’re as low as they’ve been in years.
So does everybody agree that the Mahoning Valley economy is much improved? WKBN went in search of the answer.
At Michael Alberini’s restaurant in Boardman, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Owner Michael Alberini says business is up 30% this year.
“I think people are out spending a lot more money,” says Alberini. “It’s being reflective in our annual sales. And therefore if they’re making money internally they’re spending money externally so it seems to be working out really well for us in terms of the restaurant industry.”
On the other hand, Trevor Carroll of Canfield has been looking for a job for three months. He has trouble believing the low unemployment numbers. Carroll says, “Coming from Houston, Texas, back up here, just the growing rate is not even close to what it is.”
Here are the unemployment figures for the three local counties:
Mahoning County: Aug. 5.2%, July 6.0%, Aug. 2014 6.4%
Trumbull County: Aug. 5.4%. July 6.2%, Aug. 2014 6.9%
Columbiana Co: Aug. 4.9%, July 5.7%, Aug. 2014 6.3%
A representative for Ohio Means Jobs Mahoning and Columbiana Counties says she couldn’t point to one, single reason for the improvement in the jobs numbers.
At Ironworkers Local 207, Business Manager Rick Ellis says all 300 of his members are working. “Our work’s predicated on the economy. And when the economy’s running better, we work. When people got money they’re building things and they spend money and we go to work.”
Ellis says summer is better than winter when it comes to keeping Ironworkers employed.
LISBON, Ohio (WYTV) – A Leetonia man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cleveland to child-sex charges related to 13- and 15-year-old girls from Pennsylvania.
The Morning Journal says that 41-year-old Lucas Ippolito is to be sentenced in December. The charges include transporting a minor to engage in illegal sex and sexual exploitation of a child.
Ippolito reportedly brought the 15-year-old from Pennsylvania to Ohio back in January. He did the same three times early this year with the 13-year-old victim.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Unit and the Leetonia Police Department raided Ippolito’s home in early April. Three computers and a cell phone were among items seized and were reportedly found with the child pornography on them, including one image found of a child under the age of 12.
WARREN, Ohio (WYTV) – They filled the pews at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Warren on Tuesday night for a community forum. The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative sponsored the event to get politicians and the community together to talk about the problems in the city.
Political leaders heard from citizens on the problems they are facing in their neighborhoods. Among the hot topics bringing more jobs to the city and addressing the crime problem.
“Hopefully by getting elected officials and regular people together in the same room on the same page we can start making changes around Warren and take our city back,” said Tamisha Parker with the collaborative.
Several people also brought up the need to find something for the kids to do to keep them from turning to crime. Mayor Doug Franklin says he is looking to possibly opening a recreation center.
Among the other topics: bringing more jobs to the city and addressing the crime problem.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WYTV) – Lawyers for the three men accused in the Oakhill purchasing corruption case will be able to question one of the government’s key witnesses.
Tuesday afternoon, the Cleveland judge hearing the case ruled defense lawyers will be able to demand a confidential informant appear and be questioned under oath about information he may have given to investigators prior to indictments being handed up last year.
Youngstown Mayor John McNally, former Mahoning County Auditor Mike Sciortino and local attorney Marty Yavorcik are facing dozens of charges for their roles in trying to keep the county from buying the former Southside Hospital back in 2006.
McNally, Sciortino and Yavorcik are set to go on trial next March.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – Ohio is one of five states to show an increase in its obesity rate, according to government data released this week.
Nearly one of three adults in Ohio is obese, per a telephone survey from the Centers for Disease Control. The state’s obesity rate increased to 32.6 percent in 2014 from 30.4 percent in 2013. Only two states – Minnesota and New Mexico – showed larger increases than Ohio in obesity rates.
The obesity rate has stayed steady in 45 states, according to the survey. Advocacy group Trust for America’s Health has analyzed the data after receiving the survey results.
Top 10 States for Adult Obesity Rate, 2014
“Obesity remains one of the biggest threats to the health of our children and our country,” said Dr. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health. “If we fail to change the course of the nation’s obesity epidemic, the current generation of young people may be the first in American history to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents.”
One of the local groups trying to combat childhood obesity is the Mahoning Valley Healthy Kids Coalition, a coalition that includes the Youngstown Central YMCA, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, and schools in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
In July, the William Swanston Children’s Fund gave a $150,000 grant toward the Mahoning Valley Healthy Kids Coalition.
The coalition runs fitness programs for preschool and elementary school children in the region, including its EatPlayGrow™ Fitness Program and Fitness K-5 School Program. The coalition’s programs include “fun games and lessons designed to teach the importance of physical activity.”
BOARDMAN, Ohio (WYTV) – Ashley Furniture will re-open in Boardman, according to a press release from Kutlick Realty sent Wednesday.
The release did not state when the store plans to re-open, but did say that it will open in Tiffany Square, on U.S. Route 224 between South Ave. and Tiffany Blvd.
Ashley Furniture used to be located further west on U.S. Route 224. The business’ new store will occupy over 28,000 square feet at Tiffany Square, according to the release.
Ashley Furniture will join Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, Fin Feather Fur and McDonalds in Tiffany Square, as well as a new Chick-Fil-A, when it opens.
SHARON, Pa. (WYTV) – Police are looking for a 17-year-old girl accused of stabbing a man in Sharon Tuesday.
LaTasya Harrison has been charged as an adult with aggravated assault, a felony of the first degree.
Officers said the girl stabbed a 23-year-old man in the upper back near his spine. Detectives have made contact with her, and requested she turn herself in, although she is not in police custody as of noon Wednesday.
The stabbing happened in the 800 block of Spearman Avenue.
Emergency medical workers took the victim to Sharon Regional Health System for treatment but have not released information on his status.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – It’s now been two months since officials closed the waterways of Mill Creek Park because of high levels of E. coli and still no one is allowed on the water.
Health officials stepped up their monitoring efforts, and the Mahoning County Board of Health is implementing a new testing procedure.
Testing is being done following rainfall. The goal is to collect data to map a trend within the watershed.
The testing is being done in additions to the weekly tests that started over the summer. Experts want to make sure they have a clear picture of the effect heavy rains have on the waters of Mill Creek Park.
“Anytime that it rains, you are dealing with a dynamic watershed. You are going to get flushing of your streams and your creeks. E. coli levels will elevate in those area,” said.
The water situation at Mill Creek has been getting a lot of attention from the public, and another meeting is planned for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Boardman Administration Building.
WARREN, Ohio (WYTV) – A former Warren G. Harding High School teacher will spend six months in jail after being found guilty of sexual battery.
Amanda Basile was sentenced Wednesday to six months in the county jail and three years probation.
Police accused Basile of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a Warren school student at a home in Austintown. Basile told police she met an 18-year -old student in Austintown and had sex with him.
Basile resigned her position with the school district when the allegations surfaced.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – The man police believe fatally shot a teenager in Youngstown was arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court Wednesday.
Sir Wolfgang Green, 21, is charged in connection to the September 16 shooting death of 16-year-old Devon Bailey.
Bond was set at $1.2 million. The court set the high bond noting that Green is considered a flight risk.
Police believe Green attempted to change his appearance while police were looking for him. When he was apprehended Tuesday at a home on Summer Street, officers found fresh hair clippings and clippers at the house. There is a marked difference in Green’s appearance after the haircut.
Green attempted to avoid capture by jumping from a window of the house, but was caught and taken into custody.
Devon Bailey was found with a fatal gunshot wound inside a house in the 500 block of Cohasset Drive. He was a student at East High School.
BOARDMAN, Ohio (WYTV) – Marshalls department store will hold a grand opening Thursday at its newest location in Boardman.
The retailer joins Hobby Lobby, Fin Feather Fur and McDonalds in Tiffany Square, as well as a new Chick-Fil-A and Ashley Furniture, when they open.
Marshalls offers brand name and designer merchandise in ladies, men, juniors, kids, shoes, accessories, home, pet and beauty.
“The new Boardman store will be stocked weekly with a new, fresh assortment of the brand name and designer merchandise that our shoppers love,” said Richard Sherr, President of Marshalls. “Our buyers are fashion experts with a keen sense of style and are passionate about finding the most coveted merchandise for our shoppers for so much less!”
Giveaways, gift cards and prizes are part of the grand opening celebration that runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – The crowd started gathering outside the White House grounds well before sunrise Wednesday and by the time Pope Francis and the first family appeared, an estimated 15,000 people were standing on the South Lawn.
Brian Corbin, vice president of Catholic Charities, was one of more than 175 representatives of the agency invited to the ceremony Wednesday morning, and among three from the Youngstown area.
Corbin shared pictures of the event with WYTV 33 News which show the throngs of people and crowds so large that only the top of the White House can be seen.
“We were all standing shoulder to shoulder, and some of us had to rely on the Jumbotrons to actually what was going on,” Corbin said.
Corbin says this is the third time he’s been able to see the Pope. For many, this week’s events in Washington, New York and Philadelphia will be the only opportunity they have to get close to the pontiff.
Corbin said the Pope’s pilgrimage is helping to galvanize Catholics and others to what he calls the church’s moral message.
“I think the Holy Father is just doing the simple message of the Gospel – God’s love and God’s mercy, and he is really living that out with his simple actions,” Corbin said.
An example of that simplicity, Corbin says, is the Holy Father’s use of a Fiat instead of a limousine Tuesday after arriving in the United States.
A 4 p.m. mass is scheduled in Washington, D.C. where Youngstown Bishop George Murry will be in attendance. The pontiff will also address a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) – The father of a toddler who fell out of a second story window appeared in court Wednesday.
Bond was set at $15,000 for Thomas Quimby, Jr., who is charged with child endangering.
Police said Quimby locked his toddler daughters in a bedroom. On Monday, police found a 1-year-old girl on the lawn, and a 2-year-old climbing out the second floor window after her sister.
The girl was taken to the hospital.
Quimby told police he had passed out after drinking a bottle of vodka the night before.
BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WYTV) – A boil advisory was issued Wednesday for some water customers in Brookfield.
According to the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineers Office, a water line broke early Wednesday morning along Warren-Sharon Road, prompting the advisory.
Customers east of Yankee Run Golf Course, starting at 7808 Warren-Sharon Road, are urged to boil water for consumption for at least one minute.
Crews are working to repair the line. The boil advisory is in effect until further notice.
