NEWTON FALLS - Voters in the Newton Falls School District will see a 4.6-mill emergency renewal levy on the May 4 primary election ballot.

"If the levy is not renewed, we lose that funding," said Don Baker, president of the Board of Education, which voted recently to put the levy on the ballot.

"It's our life blood," said David Wilson, Newton Falls superintendent. "It's been what we've been running on for 20 years."

"To keep things status quo, the levy needs to pass," said Baker. "The chief thing we want people to understand is that it's not a new levy. It's simply to maintain the funding that we already have."

Although the levy will not increase taxes for residents, concerns still remain.

"Obviously, there is a concern about passage, but we hope that people realize that it will basically keep things the way they are," said Baker.

NEWTON FALLS, Ohio- A Newton Falls man is accused of shooting a teenager in the shoulder over the weekend.

Jack KaczmarkJack Kaczmark, 43, is in the Trumbull county jail and is charged with felonious assault, attempted felonious assault, having weapons under disability, two counts of obstructing justice, inducing panic and discharging a weapon withing city limits.

Police believe Kaczmark was showing a gun to two young girls, ages 12 and 13, at a house on Newton Drive when he allegedly grabbed one of the girls and held the gun to her neck.

According to police, Kaczmark then allegedly fired a shot that hit one of the girls in the shoulder.

Her name has not been released.

Newton Falls police want to be part of an OVI task force, but their city council has said no.

"I am disappointed in this and shocked and surprised that this wouldn't be supported," said Newton Falls police Chief John Kuivila. "I also wish that if council had these feelings they would have asked me so I could give them the truth behind the task force."

The purpose of the task force is to keep drunk drivers off the road, and several departments met last week to discuss conducting 12 checkpoints around the county next year using a federal grant. But some on Newton Falls City Council think being part of the task force could create more problems than it would solve.

Council voted on the issue last week and were deadlocked at two to two. Mayor Pat Layshock cast the third vote against the legislation.

The mayor had resigned but then changed his mind.

WARREN — Pat Layshock was due to return to his seat as mayor of Newton Falls Monday night, but the city council meeting was canceled for lack of quorum.

The 11th District Court of Appeals ruled that Layshock should have been allowed to rescind his resignation in July. The city has notified the appeals court that it is likely to appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Councilwomen Catie Karl-Moran and Nancy Hoffman were the only two members of the five-person council present, Layshock said.

The council will meet again Dec. 7, the first Monday of December.

The city has also asked the court for a stay of execution, meaning it is asking that Layshock not be allowed back as mayor pending the outcome of the appeal.

Atty. Michael Rossi, who represents Layshock, said he “very seriously doubts” the court will take that action.

NEWTON FALLS — A young doughnut-shop delivery driver from Canton, unfamiliar with his vehicle and Newton Falls, drove the box truck through the historic Newton Falls Covered Bridge on July 10, damaging trusses and beams all through the structure.

The repairs, which will cost his employer’s insurance company around $57,000, will keep the bridge closed until sometime in January, said David Rouan, spokesman for the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office, which is responsible for the bridge.

Meanwhile, Trumbull County commissioners have approved a reduction in the legal weight limit of the bridge from 12 tons to three tons to try to prevent trucks from using the bridge, Rouan said.

Work trucks of any kind were already prohibited from the bridge, and there is a sign that warns trucks to stay out, but Ryan M. Vallen, 22, of Canton, apparently didn’t realize that when he drove a box truck through the bridge at 2:30 a.m. July 10, Rouan said.