Mahoning Valley Ambulance Association officer Robert Miller told township supervisors this week that eight lawsuits from a local resident Ryan Bowman have been dismissed. The suits cost the ambulance association $72,000.

"As of Monday, we were notified by the judge that all eight lawsuits filed against us (by Bowman) have been dismissed effectively ending the dispute," Miller said.He told the board that starting in 2006, Bowman filed a total of eight suits over disagreements against the ambulance association for various issues.Contacted Thursday, Miller said some of the issues included the association's bylaws, the way the association was managing its money, that the court should appoint a custodian to manage the association and that Bowman wanted his association membership refunded."It cost us $72,000 to defend ourselves against these suits," said Miller, who told the supervisors the judge sided with the association by dismissing the cases.Miller said Bowman claimed to care about the community and he felt that the supervisors should know what exactly he cost the association.Also speaking was local businessperson Angie Marks. She came to present a sample of the new sign she plans to erect to replace the sign she was ordered to remove by police last month."I reviewed the content and the nature of the police complaint with my attorney," Marks said.She said she was surprised that she was being forced to deal with the law since it is outdated and not usually enforced in the state. The board accepted the proof of the sign without comment.Marks appeared before the board last month to ask for guidance when a harassment call she made to police ended up with Chief Audie Mertz informing her that if she did not stop conducting business she would be arrested for violating an old state statute for fortune telling.At that time, she was told that the sign in front of her building needed to be removed. zzzzShe told Mertz it was not her sign and she did not offer those services.Mertz told her if the sign was not removed she would be arrested.