Youth forum offered following tragedies
WARREN - The Current Young Adult Fellowship will present How You Perceive Everything (or HYPE), an open forum and discussion night for youths and young adults in Warren.
The event will be held at 6 p.m. March 30 at Agape Assembly Church, 426 Nevada Ave. S.W.
Todd Johnson at Agape Assembly Church said Current seeks to provide a place for young people ages 13 and older to sound off on their needs and concerns. He said this is especially needed in light of the recent tragedies that claimed the lives of six teenagers, as well as the numerous instances of violence, truancy and domestic issues over the past year.
The evening will feature free food and prize giveaways.
Cleanup planned by Warren association
WARREN - The Warren Central City Neighborhood Association is holding a cleanup at 10 a.m. today.
The group will meet at the Unity Garden at the corner of Washington and Mercer N.E.
Those attending are asked to bring gloves, bags and rakes. Refreshments will be provided.
Kellie Pickler will perform at Stambaugh
Former ''American Idol'' contestant and current ''Dancing with the Stars'' competitor Kellie Pickler will perform May 29 at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
Pickler, who finished sixth during Idol's fifth season, went on to have success as a country artist with such songs as ''Red High Heels,'' ''I Wonder'' and ''Best Days of Your Life.'' She released her third album, ''100 Proof,'' in 2012 and has performed on six USO tours.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $45 and $35 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Stambaugh box office, online at stambaughauditorium.com and by calling 330-259-0555.
Lawyer in teen's hanging wants probe
COLUMBUS - Almost seven years after a black teenager died in a hanging at an Ohio church camp, a lawyer for his family asked Friday for the criminal investigation to be reopened after another camper invoked the Fifth Amendment at a deposition in the wrongful death suit brought by the dead boy's mother.
In an email to Logan County Sheriff Andrew J. Smith, attorney Cliff Arnebeck said the witness' request for protection against self-incrimination is enough to raise new questions about the death of James McCoy III.
McCoy was found hanging from a tree in a remote area of Camp Cotubic, a Christian camp near Bellefontaine where the youth group from his Columbus-area church, Church of the Messiah of Westerville, was on retreat in April 2006. It was his 18th birthday.
A 2007 lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court by McCoy's mother, Tonya Amoako-Okyere, alleges the boy was the victim of an asphyxiation prank that was little better than a lynching. The suit claims McCoy died as a result of his friends, who were white, playing a version of a choking game on him as a birthday prank.
Arnebeck told Smith in Friday's email that the witness repeatedly took the Fifth during a March 13 deposition when questioned on the camp, the hanging, the handling of McCoy's belongings after his death.
Pond search continues for missing woman
WILMINGTON - The search continues for a southwestern Ohio mother of two who was last seen running toward a retention pond Sunday.
Wilmington police say bad weather over the last few days hampered their search of the pond for 32-year-old Casey Pitzer.
Better weather conditions on Friday allowed searchers to add a third pump in an attempt to drain the pond.
The search for Pitzer began early Sunday after she began walking alone toward her home in Sabina following a night with friends at a bar.
The Wilmington News Journal has reported that shortly after getting a ride with two men, Pitzer got out and ran across four lanes of traffic on state Route 73.
Staff, wire reports