Local News
UPDATE: Teen driver charged in death of pedestrian who was about to be married
PINE TOWNSHIP — A 16-year-old boy has been charged in the July 2 death of a Pine Township man killed while walking in Westerville, Ohio, about a week before his wedding.
Todd J. Baker, 46, was hit at about 3:30 p.m. by a car driven by William L. Hall Jr. of Westerville and died later that night.
Westerville police Thursday charged Hall as a juvenile with vehicular homicide, Lt. John Petrozzi said.
It was only the second time Hall had driven by himself, Petrozzi said, and he was taking lunch to his mother when he changed the track on the CD player and drove onto the sidewalk on Otterbein Avenue, striking Baker from behind.
“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that impacts multiple families,” Petrozzi said.
Petrozzi said it’s unlikely Hall will go to jail for Baker’s death because his actions were negligent but not reckless according to Ohio Law. The most time he could serve would be until he turns 21, Petrozzi said.
It took two months to file the charge against Hall because police had to complete their investigation, which involved an autopsy and a toxicology screening on Baker, Petrozzi said. The toxicology report came back clean, he noted.
After the wreck, Baker was flown to Ohio State University Hospital and died from head and chest injuries caused by direct contact with the vehicle’s bumper and windshield, police said.
Hall was not hurt in the crash, police said.
Baker and Emily A. Destefani of Westerville were to be married on July 11. After his death, Ms. Destefani told The Herald that her fiance loved his family, being a father and singing in barbershop groups.
Baker, formerly of Shippenville, Clarion County, had worked for 20 years at General Electric Transportation Systems, Pine Township, according to obituary information published in The Herald.
Westerville police also list a Westerville address for Baker.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Near-complete addition to let man come home
Although the weather delayed the start of Penny and Paul Strechansky’s construction project by about three weeks, the end of the sawing, hammering and stapling is in sight.
“It should be done by the middle of next week,” Strechansky said of the 15-by-20 foot addition being built onto the back of his garage in Hermitage, which will be the new home of his grandson, David Johnson.
Johnson was critically injured in a car crash June 19, 2009, on what is now Interstate 376 in Lawrence County. The crash rendered Johnson, who just turned 21, blind and brain damaged. He is unable to care for himself.
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Man prison-bound for role in drug buy shooting
It may never be known for certain who fired the two fatal shots that killed a Sharon teen on Nov. 6 on Wallis Avenue during a botched drug deal, prosecutors have said.
But Christopher Swogger, 24, Sharon, was fingered by at least one other suspect as the one whose bullets killed John B. Hosey III, 18, of 422 Meek St. Swogger was sentenced Monday.
Swogger was sent to prison for 1 1/2 to 3 years for having a firearm without a license, ending his role in the criminal prosecutions of the drug deal turned shooting.
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Farrell, Sharon to revisit merger
Times are tough.
In Farrell Monday night, city council heard a grim financial report from City Manager LaVon Saternow.
“It’s not a pretty picture,” Mrs. Saternow said. “We could conceivably run out of cash by the end of the year. I don’t know how to put it more bluntly.”
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
