Published: Wed, Dec 15, 2004
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The survey measured 324 urban areas in the United States and Canada.
YOUNGSTOWN — The cost of living in the Mahoning Valley is among the lowest in the nation, according to the results of a national survey.
According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, the Youngstown-Warren area was 8.5 percent below the national average during the third quarter of this year.
"The Valley's cost of living is consistently below the national average and lower than many of the communities we compete with for new jobs," according to Reid Dulberger, executive vice president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. "That difference does not go unnoticed by the companies we work with.
"The figures are widely reported and are dispersed to a wide variety of consultants and corporations."
Urban areas
The index, which is compiled and published by the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association, a national association of community and economic development research professionals, surveys 324 urban areas in the United States and Canada.
The study measures differences in the cost of consumer goods and services and is based on more than 60 items grouped into six categories, including groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.
Prices are collected quarterly by local chambers of commerce, economic development organizations or similar groups in each urban area. In the Mahoning Valley, the regional chamber collects data.
The Valley's overall composite index score was 91.5, based on a national average of 100. Transportation costs were 4.8 percent below the national average.
Health and housing
Meanwhile, health-care costs, which include factors such as a hospital room rates, visiting a doctor or a dentist, and housing costs that take into account apartment rent, the price of a new home, mortgage rates and payments, were 24.2 percent and 15.1 percent lower, respectively.
Miscellaneous goods and services were 8.8 percent below the national average. Food costs, based on 27 specific items, were 1.3 percent below the national average. Utility costs were 7.1 percent higher than the national average.
The index reported that the cost of living in the Mahoning Valley is 13 percent lower than Cleveland, 53 percent lower than Washington, D.C., and 136 percent lower than New York City-Manhattan, which had the highest cost of living among metro areas participating in the survey.
The cost of living numbers mean that a person earning $25,000 per year in Youngstown-Warren area would have to earn $28,251 living in Cleveland, $38,251 living in Washington, D.C., or $59,016 to live in New York City to achieve the same purchasing power.
Dulberger said the results mean that a high quality of living can be achieved at a low cost in the Mahoning Valley.
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© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
Blogger's Note: As a resident of the Washington, DC-area who lived in Youngstown until June 2004, I completly agree with the 53 percent difference in the cost of living. Gotta love Youngstown; at least it's affordable!
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Traficant transferred from upstate New York prison
12/15/2004 10:57 AM
By: Capital News 9 web staff
Ousted Ohio Congressman James Traficant has been moved from a federal prison in upstate New York to a prison hospital in Minnesota.
A spokeswoman with the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Traficant had been transferred last week but wouldn't say why.
The Youngstown Democrat was expelled from Congress two years ago after he was convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. He's serving an eight-year prison sentenced and is to be released in August of 2009.
Traficant had been incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Ray Brook, near Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, since March.
http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=108618&SecID=33
By: Capital News 9 web staff
Ousted Ohio Congressman James Traficant has been moved from a federal prison in upstate New York to a prison hospital in Minnesota.
A spokeswoman with the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Traficant had been transferred last week but wouldn't say why.
The Youngstown Democrat was expelled from Congress two years ago after he was convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. He's serving an eight-year prison sentenced and is to be released in August of 2009.
Traficant had been incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Ray Brook, near Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, since March.
http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=108618&SecID=33
Welcome, entrepreneurs
It's not easy to run a business in Youngstown, which, along with Mogadishu, are the only two cities to win more points than Cleveland for incompetence and corruption in this year's Winston Cup. That's what Jamie Lundt learned when he tried to open a towing business on Midlothian Avenue.
The property is zoned industrial, but the planning department said it wasn't the right kind of industrial zone for a towing company, so it refused to let Lundt open.
His mistake: He appears to be in a strip-joint-only zone. Next door sits the gentlemen's club A New Affair. According to city code, all strip joints must be 500 feet from a residential neighborhood. Angry at the city, Lundt measured it and found the nearest house just 300 feet away.
Lundt squawked to the city, but got no response. So he painted "Save R Neighborhood" and "Close the Illegal Go-Go Bar!" in giant letters across the front of his vacant building.
City Hall wasn't happy. Planning director Bill D'Avignon tried to get a special ordinance giving A New Affair a pass on the zoning law -- though he wouldn't do the same for Lundt's towing business. Then the city charged Lundt with criminal graffiti. Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains also sent Lundt a letter threatening him with jail if he didn't appear at the prosecutor's office at 10 a.m. December 10.
But this being Ohio, government officials didn't have a clue what they were talking about. The graffiti charge was bogus, since state law defines graffiti as painting stuff on someone else's property without the owner's consent. Anyone familiar with a little thing called the First Amendment knows that Lundt can write whatever he pleases on his own building. And no prosecutor in the country can order someone to appear; only judges can do that.
"It was complete bullshit," says Randi Barnabee, Lundt's attorney.
http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2004-12-15/news/firstpunch.html
The property is zoned industrial, but the planning department said it wasn't the right kind of industrial zone for a towing company, so it refused to let Lundt open.
His mistake: He appears to be in a strip-joint-only zone. Next door sits the gentlemen's club A New Affair. According to city code, all strip joints must be 500 feet from a residential neighborhood. Angry at the city, Lundt measured it and found the nearest house just 300 feet away.
Lundt squawked to the city, but got no response. So he painted "Save R Neighborhood" and "Close the Illegal Go-Go Bar!" in giant letters across the front of his vacant building.
City Hall wasn't happy. Planning director Bill D'Avignon tried to get a special ordinance giving A New Affair a pass on the zoning law -- though he wouldn't do the same for Lundt's towing business. Then the city charged Lundt with criminal graffiti. Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains also sent Lundt a letter threatening him with jail if he didn't appear at the prosecutor's office at 10 a.m. December 10.
But this being Ohio, government officials didn't have a clue what they were talking about. The graffiti charge was bogus, since state law defines graffiti as painting stuff on someone else's property without the owner's consent. Anyone familiar with a little thing called the First Amendment knows that Lundt can write whatever he pleases on his own building. And no prosecutor in the country can order someone to appear; only judges can do that.
"It was complete bullshit," says Randi Barnabee, Lundt's attorney.
http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2004-12-15/news/firstpunch.html
Taft speaks favorably of city projects
Published: Thu, Dec 16, 2004
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Funds are also sought for Stambaugh Auditorium and the symphony society.
BEXLEY, Ohio — Gov. Bob Taft says he believes the convocation center under construction in downtown Youngstown deserves state funding.
"That's a project I think ought to receive some funding" in the two-year capital bill to be unveiled in the Legislature early next year, Taft said Wednesday in an interview at his residence.
"I also believe that the [Youngstown] Business Incubator should also receive some significant funding," Taft said. "That's a good project as well."
Both projects were among those submitted by state lawmakers from the Mahoning Valley for consideration in the bill that funds construction projects around the state.
Money
Area lawmakers are asking for $4.7 million to help fund construction of the convocation center. City officials and developers are overseeing construction of a 5,500-seat, $41 million multi-use center between the Market Street and South Avenue bridges in Youngstown. Major funding for the project has come from a federal grant.
Area lawmakers had also sought about $2 million in the bill for the business incubator to help develop a market-ready incubator next to the existing YBI. The business incubator helps develop high-tech companies in the area.
Taft, a Republican, said he's working with the new leaders of the Legislature to be seated in January to come to an agreement on the capital bill.
Taft said he anticipates introduction of the capital bill in late January and possible legislative action in late January or early February.
Incoming House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from suburban Dayton, said he was unsure of the status of the capital bill as lawmakers were wrapping up legislative items for the year.
One Youngstown-area lawmaker said he was unsure of the status of the state funding for the convocation center and other proposed projects.
"It was on our general request," state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd.
Stambaugh and symphony
Hagan said he has received assurances that some funding for improvements at both the Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium and the Youngstown Symphony Society would be included in the proposed capital bill.
Lawmakers had been seeking about $1.6 million for each of those projects. According to state officials, the symphony society had requested the funding to help build a 600-seat pavilion next to Edward W. Powers Auditorium at Federal and Chestnut streets.
Meanwhile, Stambaugh officials had requested funding for improvements to the interior and exterior of the Fifth Avenue facility and to buy new equipment, state officials said.
Most of the money in the $1 billion-plus capital bill goes for construction, renovation and maintenance projects at state colleges and universities, mental-health and retardation facilities, state government buildings and state parklands.
A certain amount of money — about $90 million in the last capital bill — is usually reserved for community projects such as sports stadiums, arenas and theaters.
The projects are paid for mainly by the sale of bonds, some of which are retired with general state revenues.
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© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
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Funds are also sought for Stambaugh Auditorium and the symphony society.
BEXLEY, Ohio — Gov. Bob Taft says he believes the convocation center under construction in downtown Youngstown deserves state funding.
"That's a project I think ought to receive some funding" in the two-year capital bill to be unveiled in the Legislature early next year, Taft said Wednesday in an interview at his residence.
"I also believe that the [Youngstown] Business Incubator should also receive some significant funding," Taft said. "That's a good project as well."
Both projects were among those submitted by state lawmakers from the Mahoning Valley for consideration in the bill that funds construction projects around the state.
Money
Area lawmakers are asking for $4.7 million to help fund construction of the convocation center. City officials and developers are overseeing construction of a 5,500-seat, $41 million multi-use center between the Market Street and South Avenue bridges in Youngstown. Major funding for the project has come from a federal grant.
Area lawmakers had also sought about $2 million in the bill for the business incubator to help develop a market-ready incubator next to the existing YBI. The business incubator helps develop high-tech companies in the area.
Taft, a Republican, said he's working with the new leaders of the Legislature to be seated in January to come to an agreement on the capital bill.
Taft said he anticipates introduction of the capital bill in late January and possible legislative action in late January or early February.
Incoming House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from suburban Dayton, said he was unsure of the status of the capital bill as lawmakers were wrapping up legislative items for the year.
One Youngstown-area lawmaker said he was unsure of the status of the state funding for the convocation center and other proposed projects.
"It was on our general request," state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd.
Stambaugh and symphony
Hagan said he has received assurances that some funding for improvements at both the Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium and the Youngstown Symphony Society would be included in the proposed capital bill.
Lawmakers had been seeking about $1.6 million for each of those projects. According to state officials, the symphony society had requested the funding to help build a 600-seat pavilion next to Edward W. Powers Auditorium at Federal and Chestnut streets.
Meanwhile, Stambaugh officials had requested funding for improvements to the interior and exterior of the Fifth Avenue facility and to buy new equipment, state officials said.
Most of the money in the $1 billion-plus capital bill goes for construction, renovation and maintenance projects at state colleges and universities, mental-health and retardation facilities, state government buildings and state parklands.
A certain amount of money — about $90 million in the last capital bill — is usually reserved for community projects such as sports stadiums, arenas and theaters.
The projects are paid for mainly by the sale of bonds, some of which are retired with general state revenues.
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© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
Consultant outlines plan for sprucing up mansion
Published: Thu, Dec 16, 2004
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A reopened Wick Pollock Inn would tie in with plans for Smoky Hollow.
YOUNGSTOWN — A consultant gave Youngstown State University officials a plan to redevelop the Wick Pollock Inn on the city's North Side.
Patty Choby, with the Cleveland-based Cobalt Group planning and consulting services, met Wednesday with YSU Board of Trustees' Finance and Facilities Committee to discuss how to find a developer for the inn project and the possibility of reopening the historic building.
In November 1998, the Wick Avenue mansion, built in 1893, closed after having been forced into bankruptcy. The hotel-type facility had been used for classrooms and offices and later became a 48-room hotel with a restaurant and a ballroom.
In September, an agreement was reached between the university and First National Bank of Pennsylvania in which YSU will acquire the lease of the property from FNB, a move that will allow the university to pursue development options for the inn. YSU owns the building and the land.
Choby said a potential developer should have experience working with historically significant structures. She added that a development plan would include:
- Designing a building with concepts that will make it fit in with the Cultural District in the areas of Spring Street and Wick Avenue.
- Creating something that will lead to other development opportunities.
- Bringing lodging with new amenities currently not available to visitors to downtown Youngstown.
Choby also outlined several scenarios that could make the building more viable and allow it to reach out to YSU, as well as The Butler Institute of American Art, Stambaugh Stadium and other nearby cultural symbols. They include:
- Constructing about 36 new guest house units and possibly a 50-room guest house.
- Restoring the Wick Mansion building, gardens and other structures on the property, many of which are in various stages of disrepair.
- Restoring the vacant Peck House, perhaps to use as a visitor/entertainment area on campus.
- Incorporating academic programs that focus on community development, tourism, cultural arts, hospitality and real estate asset management.
Hunter Morrison, director of YSU's Center for Urban Studies, presented three drawings showing how the Wick Pollock Inn project is part of the Smoky Hollow redevelopment plan. It could also provide "entrances" to the Spring Street District and a "front door" for YSU's Bliss Hall and the Wick District, he said.
"Spring Street is an important street. It's our Main Street," Morrison said.
Trustees adopted a resolution that made March 25 a target date for selecting a developer.
Regular meeting
At the trustees' regular meeting, YSU President David Sweet said that for the last six months, the university has been forming a partnership with Jefferson Community College, near Steubenville, and the Columbiana County Career & Technical Center.
The partnership, he noted, was set up to give students in that county who attend the career center an opportunity to get an earlier start at college, a move that could provide an incentive for them to transfer to a four-year university.
The partnership between the three educational facilities also would make college more accessible and build greater awareness of the importance of higher education, Sweet added. Greater college retention would lead to Ohio becoming a more competitive state, he continued.
Sweet noted that Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley are the only areas in the state lacking a community college.
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© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
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A reopened Wick Pollock Inn would tie in with plans for Smoky Hollow.
YOUNGSTOWN — A consultant gave Youngstown State University officials a plan to redevelop the Wick Pollock Inn on the city's North Side.
Patty Choby, with the Cleveland-based Cobalt Group planning and consulting services, met Wednesday with YSU Board of Trustees' Finance and Facilities Committee to discuss how to find a developer for the inn project and the possibility of reopening the historic building.
In November 1998, the Wick Avenue mansion, built in 1893, closed after having been forced into bankruptcy. The hotel-type facility had been used for classrooms and offices and later became a 48-room hotel with a restaurant and a ballroom.
In September, an agreement was reached between the university and First National Bank of Pennsylvania in which YSU will acquire the lease of the property from FNB, a move that will allow the university to pursue development options for the inn. YSU owns the building and the land.
Choby said a potential developer should have experience working with historically significant structures. She added that a development plan would include:
- Designing a building with concepts that will make it fit in with the Cultural District in the areas of Spring Street and Wick Avenue.
- Creating something that will lead to other development opportunities.
- Bringing lodging with new amenities currently not available to visitors to downtown Youngstown.
Choby also outlined several scenarios that could make the building more viable and allow it to reach out to YSU, as well as The Butler Institute of American Art, Stambaugh Stadium and other nearby cultural symbols. They include:
- Constructing about 36 new guest house units and possibly a 50-room guest house.
- Restoring the Wick Mansion building, gardens and other structures on the property, many of which are in various stages of disrepair.
- Restoring the vacant Peck House, perhaps to use as a visitor/entertainment area on campus.
- Incorporating academic programs that focus on community development, tourism, cultural arts, hospitality and real estate asset management.
Hunter Morrison, director of YSU's Center for Urban Studies, presented three drawings showing how the Wick Pollock Inn project is part of the Smoky Hollow redevelopment plan. It could also provide "entrances" to the Spring Street District and a "front door" for YSU's Bliss Hall and the Wick District, he said.
"Spring Street is an important street. It's our Main Street," Morrison said.
Trustees adopted a resolution that made March 25 a target date for selecting a developer.
Regular meeting
At the trustees' regular meeting, YSU President David Sweet said that for the last six months, the university has been forming a partnership with Jefferson Community College, near Steubenville, and the Columbiana County Career & Technical Center.
The partnership, he noted, was set up to give students in that county who attend the career center an opportunity to get an earlier start at college, a move that could provide an incentive for them to transfer to a four-year university.
The partnership between the three educational facilities also would make college more accessible and build greater awareness of the importance of higher education, Sweet added. Greater college retention would lead to Ohio becoming a more competitive state, he continued.
Sweet noted that Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley are the only areas in the state lacking a community college.
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© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
The Paper's Trail
By Eileen Loh Harrist, Gambit Weekly
In newsrooms in New Orleans and Youngstown, Ohio, people are wondering why The Times-Picayune is hitting the road to help break a Midwestern newspaper strike.
In Youngstown, Ohio, sympathy runs deep at the sight of a picket line. On this freezing Thursday, four pickets walk the morning shift outside the northeast Ohio newspaper The Vindicator. Striking employees seek warmth by huddling over rusted barrels stuffed with burning photo paper and donated lumber. Two makeshift shanties, decorated with Christmas bulbs and tinsel, block the icy wind. Passing vehicles honk their horns in support. "We have a lot of encouragement from the public here," says Tim Yovich, a Vindicator reporter on strike.
It's a scene that's as far removed from New Orleans -- geographically, physically, socially -- as they come. But the two cities currently share a connection, at least in the newsrooms of their papers of record.The non-union Times-Picayune is reportedly leading the charge among a handful of newspapers owned by media conglomerate Newhouse News Service that are coming to the aid of Vindicator management. The papers are recruiting employees as temporary replacements for striking Vindicator staffers.
A T-P employee, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity, says staff members were promised generous incentives to go up to Youngstown and cross the picket line. "[You would get] your pay here, plus at least the pay of the person you're replacing in Youngstown, plus travel and living expenses in Ohio," says the employee. "It's only rumor, but there's talk going around that a bonus would be paid as well. Certainly, doing a favor for Ashton (Phelps Jr., publisher of The Times-Picayune) is an intangible benefit." Four T-P staffers have gone to Youngstown, the employee says; three of those have returned, and two more are scheduled to leave.
Phelps did not respond to a Gambit Weekly request for comment and previously has declined comment to Youngstown's The Business Journal, which also is reporting this story. T-P executive editor Jim Amoss also declined comment: 'I'm not interested in being interviewed, but thank you for your inquiry.'
In Portland, Ore., a similar offer to go to Youngstown was made to the employees of the Newhouse-owned daily, The Oregonian -- though as of press time, there were apparently no takers from there. Other Newhouse papers that reportedly sent staffers to Ohio were The Grand Rapids Press of Grand Rapids, Mich., and The Birmingham News and Mobile Register, both of Alabama. Vindicator general manager Mark Brown (who did not return calls for comment to Gambit Weekly) told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he had appealed to Newhouse and other media chains for help in supplying temporary workers. Newhouse responded, as did Media News Group, whose western Massachusetts newspaper The Berkshire Eagle sent at least two staffers.
What's notable about the support from large chains is that 'the Vindy' is not owned by either Newhouse or any other chain -- it's an independent, family-owned publication. Executives with Advance Publications Inc., the Newhouse subsidiary that owns the T-P and 25 other newspapers across the country, declined comment on its interest in the Youngstown work action.
Media critic Ben Bagdikian, former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and author of The New Media Monopoly, says the situation is not so surprising. "The larger publishers have a huge stake in keeping unions as weak as possible," Bagdikian says. "It's an old tradition of competing newspapers to help each other when one paper is knocked out by flood or hurricane. But in recent years they've added mutual aid to break and weaken unions."
The Times-Picayune employee says that at the T-P, some staffers are puzzling over the offer. "There's a buzz in the newsroom on it, though it's a discreet buzz. No one really wants to be seen with the printouts from other newspapers covering the issue, though copies are being passed around. " Offers have been made through one-on-one discussions," the employee says.
"Why are we doing this? Rumor number one: Newhouses are friends of the family that owns The Vindicator, and the Newhouses are doing this as a favor," the employee says. "Rumor number two " the same (as number one), but with the hope that when the family decides to sell, they'll look to their friends first."
THE 173 MEMBERS OF THE Youngstown chapter of the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, Local 34011, went on strike Nov. 16, primarily over health insurance and wage complaints. The union represents full- and part-time employees in the paper's editorial, circulation and classified departments. The paper charges that union members called a strike before the management made its final offer.
The walkout cleared the Vindy of nearly half its work force of about 400. Union members began publishing their own weekly strike paper, The Valley Voice, as a competitor. Efforts were soon underway to replace absent workers at The Vindicator.
The Institute on Political Journalism, a Washington, D.C.-based college internship program, sought interested candidates, according to an email supplied by Youngstown Newspaper Guild Vice President Debora Shaulis Flora. "I've just been told about a great print opportunity for those of you looking for work!" IPJ director Traci Leonardo wrote in the email. She outlined the Vindicator's compensation: $20 per hour, $75 per diem, hotel expenses and 30 cents per mile. "It's a great way to earn some extra cash and get your foot in the door," she wrote.
An advertisement also ran on the Web site www.journalismjobs.com, promising a pay rate of more than $1,000 per week. Shaulis Flora says site managers pulled the ad when they realized it sought to replace striking workers.
Oregonian employees learned of the offer through an email from executive editor Peter Bhatia. His memo -- also provided to Gambit Weekly by Shaulis Flora -- asked for volunteers to go to Youngstown. Bhatia promised Oregonian staffers that they would continue to receive their regular salary and benefits, in addition to compensation from the Vindicator. He also mentioned that 'our sister paper in New Orleans' was supplying workers.
"I am sending this to you for two reasons," Bhatia wrote. "The publisher requested we do so. And because Sandy (Rowe, editor) and I both feel every newspaper should have the opportunity to publish every day." Shaulis Flora, who keeps a tally of Vindicator replacement workers and their home newspapers, says no Oregonian staffers have, to her knowledge, crossed the picket line.
Newhouse's New Orleans newspaper apparently has been the most supportive of the Vindy. Times-Picayune managing editor Dan Shea has been in Youngstown for several days, according to sources in Youngstown, as well as the anonymous T-P employee. "Four people went up: Dan Shea, two managers and one non-manager," the employee says. "All are now back, except for Shea. Two more are scheduled to go up there; at least one of them is management."
Last week, a call to the T-P newsroom produced only the information that Shea was out of town for a couple of weeks. Contacted by email, Shea declined comment for this article.
Striking Vindy workers say the T-P managing editor has been a familiar sight at the picket line. "I've called him names I can't repeat," says Yovich, the Vindicator reporter, who says Shea has come outside at times to talk to picketers. "He wants to be nice and at the same time he's trying to get information. He should just go home."
Reporter Laure Cioffi says that she and a colleague approached Shea on a recent Saturday as he headed into the Vindicator building. "We said, 'We'd appreciate it if you'd honor our picket line,'" Cioffi says. "He said 'I'm a manager,' and we said we didn't care." He said, 'Publishers stick together just like unions do, and this paper has the right to publish. So we're just here helping out.' He did say something to the effect that, "I hope you wrap this up soon; I want to go home to my kids.''
Reporter Pete Milliken says he has spoken to Shea twice at the picket line. "We didn't get into the Newhouse thing or anything," he says. "I asked him what his interest in this matter was, and why was he here? " He kind of led me to believe that it's a publishers' mutual aid society of sorts -- that publishers help each other out just like unions help each other out.'
Shaulis Flora says The Vindicator's compensation for temporary workers -- which is more generous than its pay rate for top-scale employees -- has fueled conviction among union members that the paper can afford to meet the guild's terms, but is unwilling to do so. "They claim they have not been making money for the last seven years, but they are advertising for people to come work here for $20 an hour or more plus expenses plus lodging," she says, noting that top-scale workers make less than $18 per hour. "It's ridiculous."
Brown, The Vindicator's general manager, has stated that recruiting a temporary workforce is necessary for the paper's survival. "If we don't continue to put out a newspaper and remain viable, the union workers who are withholding their services won't have jobs to come back to," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week, adding that the paper has no intention of breaking the union.
The Vindicator has a circulation of about 70,000 daily and 100,000 on Sunday, and covers parts of northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It has continued to publish since its employees went on strike, initially using many wire-service and syndicated news reports. Since the replacement workers started arriving, the paper has been running in-house news reports without bylines. The strike is the first against The Vindicator since an eight-month walkout in 1964.
Interactions between strikers and those crossing the picket line have so far been civil, say union members, but there remains an undercurrent of tension. 'I can tell you one thing,' says reporter Harold Gwin. 'We don't appreciate scabs.'
IN HIS SONG "YOUNGSTOWN," Bruce Springsteen depicts the Mahoning Valley city of 84,000 as the epitome of the post-industrial Rust Belt. 'Taconite, coke and limestone / Fed my children and made my pay,' laments the song's destitute narrator.
Steel mills, once the lifeblood of Youngstown, shut down one by one in the late 1970s and early 1980s, putting the city and region in financial straits and giving rise to strong union sentiments. Locals have shown uncommon grit in the face of long labor disputes; recently, titanium producer RTI International Metals, in nearby Niles, Ohio, settled a work action with steelworkers after a 13-month lockout.
Substantial job loss over the years has taken its toll on the city, but the downtown area, where The Vindicator is located, is attracting government-oriented services and seems to be on a gradual upswing.
Inside the gates of the newspaper's parking lot along Front Street, a security guard wearing sunglasses stands vigil, hired by the company to prevent strikers from crossing onto Vindicator property.
Union members try to keep up their sense of humor despite the prospect of real hardship during the upcoming holiday season. Strikers huddle around the trash-barrel fires, fueled by donated wood; Tim Yovich distributes copies of the strike paper The Valley Voice to vehicles stopped at a nearby traffic light.
It's Dec. 9, the day after union members voted yet again to reject a Vindy contract -- the paper's 'best and final' offer, according to a Vindicator article. 'Although The Vindicator has, for many years, faced a shrinking revenue base, increased competition for advertising dollars and operating losses, The Vindicator's final offer addressed the Guild's concerns,' the article maintained.
Union concerns mainly included wage freezes at the Vindicator since 2000, which Shaulis Flora says guild members accepted "to help out this company, and for job security," she says. "After 9/11, the classified job marketing went through the floor; advertising was down; things were shaky. As hard as it was to swallow, we did it." Top-scale employees at The Vindicator make $17.82 an hour, while the lowest-paid employees make $6.25 per hour, she says . "Of the 173 [union members], 93 are making less than $9 per hour," she says. "I don't know how people can live on wages like that, but we've got people who are trying to."
The other big sticking point, Shaulis Flora says, is the company's health insurance plan. "The managers aren't contributing anything toward health-care premiums," she says, adding that The Vindicator maintains two health plans, one for the union workers and a separate, 'better' plan for managers and non-guild members. "As many as 100 people are paying nothing toward health care. Now they want us to switch to a flat weekly fee from a percentage. " They are only wanting part of the work force to bear that burden, and some of those in the lower part of the work force don't even get health benefits -- which adds insult to injury."
The union was seeking annual wage increases of 35 cents per hour for workers in the top three classifications, and 50 cents per hour for those in lower classifications, over three years. It's also seeking a flat weekly health-care fee, borne by workers at all levels, to go toward a single companywide insurance plan.
Guild members voted 99 to 36, Shaulis Flora says, to reject the newspaper's Dec. 8 offer: a waiver of employees' health contribution for health insurance for four months, "to give them time to put everyone on the same plan," she says. "At that point we would have gone from a weekly flat fee to a percentage " which represents an increase in actual dollars from what everyone is paying now." Shaulis Flora says union officials predicted the rates would rise again when a new premium went into effect next spring.
The paper also offered a 4 percent wage increase over three years, she says; The Vindicator's article put the increase at 6 percent in wage increases and bonuses.
The Vindicator says it also offered an increase in the paper's contribution to employee dental plans and a one-time payment of $1,000 to circulation district managers. "The rejection is particularly disappointing since a Guild international union representative recommended ratification," the paper wrote. Shaulis Flora confirmed the outside representative "thought this contract represented some sort of moral victory for the union," and that guild members disagreed.
Vindicator managers have maintained that the paper, too, has fallen on hard times and can ill afford the union's contract demands. "For The Vindicator to continue to provide good jobs, expenses simply must be reduced to meet the reality of a substantially smaller revenue base," publisher Betty Jagnow and general manager Mark Brown wrote in an open letter to readers shortly after the walkout. 'All employees of The Vindicator -- management and union -- have endured a wage freeze for four years.'
Union members are now receiving some compensation from the guild for picket shifts -- "the holidays are not the best time of the year to go without a full paycheck," reporter Laure Cioffi notes -- but say they will stay the course despite the paper's assertion that the Dec. 8 contract proposal was its final offer. Shaulis Flora says she believes the paper will negotiate again.
"We didn't come into this thing blind," copy editor Jeremy Harper says. "We don't want to be out here, but we're prepared to be."
Additional reporting by Dan O'Brien, senior reporter for The Business Journal, a Youngstown-based bi-weekly that has been hired by the Youngstown Newspaper Guild to assist with publication of its strike newspaper, The Valley Voice.
Staff writer Eileen Loh Harrist can be contacted at eileenlh@gambitweekly.com.
In newsrooms in New Orleans and Youngstown, Ohio, people are wondering why The Times-Picayune is hitting the road to help break a Midwestern newspaper strike.
In Youngstown, Ohio, sympathy runs deep at the sight of a picket line. On this freezing Thursday, four pickets walk the morning shift outside the northeast Ohio newspaper The Vindicator. Striking employees seek warmth by huddling over rusted barrels stuffed with burning photo paper and donated lumber. Two makeshift shanties, decorated with Christmas bulbs and tinsel, block the icy wind. Passing vehicles honk their horns in support. "We have a lot of encouragement from the public here," says Tim Yovich, a Vindicator reporter on strike.
It's a scene that's as far removed from New Orleans -- geographically, physically, socially -- as they come. But the two cities currently share a connection, at least in the newsrooms of their papers of record.The non-union Times-Picayune is reportedly leading the charge among a handful of newspapers owned by media conglomerate Newhouse News Service that are coming to the aid of Vindicator management. The papers are recruiting employees as temporary replacements for striking Vindicator staffers.
A T-P employee, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity, says staff members were promised generous incentives to go up to Youngstown and cross the picket line. "[You would get] your pay here, plus at least the pay of the person you're replacing in Youngstown, plus travel and living expenses in Ohio," says the employee. "It's only rumor, but there's talk going around that a bonus would be paid as well. Certainly, doing a favor for Ashton (Phelps Jr., publisher of The Times-Picayune) is an intangible benefit." Four T-P staffers have gone to Youngstown, the employee says; three of those have returned, and two more are scheduled to leave.
Phelps did not respond to a Gambit Weekly request for comment and previously has declined comment to Youngstown's The Business Journal, which also is reporting this story. T-P executive editor Jim Amoss also declined comment: 'I'm not interested in being interviewed, but thank you for your inquiry.'
In Portland, Ore., a similar offer to go to Youngstown was made to the employees of the Newhouse-owned daily, The Oregonian -- though as of press time, there were apparently no takers from there. Other Newhouse papers that reportedly sent staffers to Ohio were The Grand Rapids Press of Grand Rapids, Mich., and The Birmingham News and Mobile Register, both of Alabama. Vindicator general manager Mark Brown (who did not return calls for comment to Gambit Weekly) told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he had appealed to Newhouse and other media chains for help in supplying temporary workers. Newhouse responded, as did Media News Group, whose western Massachusetts newspaper The Berkshire Eagle sent at least two staffers.
What's notable about the support from large chains is that 'the Vindy' is not owned by either Newhouse or any other chain -- it's an independent, family-owned publication. Executives with Advance Publications Inc., the Newhouse subsidiary that owns the T-P and 25 other newspapers across the country, declined comment on its interest in the Youngstown work action.
Media critic Ben Bagdikian, former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and author of The New Media Monopoly, says the situation is not so surprising. "The larger publishers have a huge stake in keeping unions as weak as possible," Bagdikian says. "It's an old tradition of competing newspapers to help each other when one paper is knocked out by flood or hurricane. But in recent years they've added mutual aid to break and weaken unions."
The Times-Picayune employee says that at the T-P, some staffers are puzzling over the offer. "There's a buzz in the newsroom on it, though it's a discreet buzz. No one really wants to be seen with the printouts from other newspapers covering the issue, though copies are being passed around. " Offers have been made through one-on-one discussions," the employee says.
"Why are we doing this? Rumor number one: Newhouses are friends of the family that owns The Vindicator, and the Newhouses are doing this as a favor," the employee says. "Rumor number two " the same (as number one), but with the hope that when the family decides to sell, they'll look to their friends first."
THE 173 MEMBERS OF THE Youngstown chapter of the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, Local 34011, went on strike Nov. 16, primarily over health insurance and wage complaints. The union represents full- and part-time employees in the paper's editorial, circulation and classified departments. The paper charges that union members called a strike before the management made its final offer.
The walkout cleared the Vindy of nearly half its work force of about 400. Union members began publishing their own weekly strike paper, The Valley Voice, as a competitor. Efforts were soon underway to replace absent workers at The Vindicator.
The Institute on Political Journalism, a Washington, D.C.-based college internship program, sought interested candidates, according to an email supplied by Youngstown Newspaper Guild Vice President Debora Shaulis Flora. "I've just been told about a great print opportunity for those of you looking for work!" IPJ director Traci Leonardo wrote in the email. She outlined the Vindicator's compensation: $20 per hour, $75 per diem, hotel expenses and 30 cents per mile. "It's a great way to earn some extra cash and get your foot in the door," she wrote.
An advertisement also ran on the Web site www.journalismjobs.com, promising a pay rate of more than $1,000 per week. Shaulis Flora says site managers pulled the ad when they realized it sought to replace striking workers.
Oregonian employees learned of the offer through an email from executive editor Peter Bhatia. His memo -- also provided to Gambit Weekly by Shaulis Flora -- asked for volunteers to go to Youngstown. Bhatia promised Oregonian staffers that they would continue to receive their regular salary and benefits, in addition to compensation from the Vindicator. He also mentioned that 'our sister paper in New Orleans' was supplying workers.
"I am sending this to you for two reasons," Bhatia wrote. "The publisher requested we do so. And because Sandy (Rowe, editor) and I both feel every newspaper should have the opportunity to publish every day." Shaulis Flora, who keeps a tally of Vindicator replacement workers and their home newspapers, says no Oregonian staffers have, to her knowledge, crossed the picket line.
Newhouse's New Orleans newspaper apparently has been the most supportive of the Vindy. Times-Picayune managing editor Dan Shea has been in Youngstown for several days, according to sources in Youngstown, as well as the anonymous T-P employee. "Four people went up: Dan Shea, two managers and one non-manager," the employee says. "All are now back, except for Shea. Two more are scheduled to go up there; at least one of them is management."
Last week, a call to the T-P newsroom produced only the information that Shea was out of town for a couple of weeks. Contacted by email, Shea declined comment for this article.
Striking Vindy workers say the T-P managing editor has been a familiar sight at the picket line. "I've called him names I can't repeat," says Yovich, the Vindicator reporter, who says Shea has come outside at times to talk to picketers. "He wants to be nice and at the same time he's trying to get information. He should just go home."
Reporter Laure Cioffi says that she and a colleague approached Shea on a recent Saturday as he headed into the Vindicator building. "We said, 'We'd appreciate it if you'd honor our picket line,'" Cioffi says. "He said 'I'm a manager,' and we said we didn't care." He said, 'Publishers stick together just like unions do, and this paper has the right to publish. So we're just here helping out.' He did say something to the effect that, "I hope you wrap this up soon; I want to go home to my kids.''
Reporter Pete Milliken says he has spoken to Shea twice at the picket line. "We didn't get into the Newhouse thing or anything," he says. "I asked him what his interest in this matter was, and why was he here? " He kind of led me to believe that it's a publishers' mutual aid society of sorts -- that publishers help each other out just like unions help each other out.'
Shaulis Flora says The Vindicator's compensation for temporary workers -- which is more generous than its pay rate for top-scale employees -- has fueled conviction among union members that the paper can afford to meet the guild's terms, but is unwilling to do so. "They claim they have not been making money for the last seven years, but they are advertising for people to come work here for $20 an hour or more plus expenses plus lodging," she says, noting that top-scale workers make less than $18 per hour. "It's ridiculous."
Brown, The Vindicator's general manager, has stated that recruiting a temporary workforce is necessary for the paper's survival. "If we don't continue to put out a newspaper and remain viable, the union workers who are withholding their services won't have jobs to come back to," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week, adding that the paper has no intention of breaking the union.
The Vindicator has a circulation of about 70,000 daily and 100,000 on Sunday, and covers parts of northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It has continued to publish since its employees went on strike, initially using many wire-service and syndicated news reports. Since the replacement workers started arriving, the paper has been running in-house news reports without bylines. The strike is the first against The Vindicator since an eight-month walkout in 1964.
Interactions between strikers and those crossing the picket line have so far been civil, say union members, but there remains an undercurrent of tension. 'I can tell you one thing,' says reporter Harold Gwin. 'We don't appreciate scabs.'
IN HIS SONG "YOUNGSTOWN," Bruce Springsteen depicts the Mahoning Valley city of 84,000 as the epitome of the post-industrial Rust Belt. 'Taconite, coke and limestone / Fed my children and made my pay,' laments the song's destitute narrator.
Steel mills, once the lifeblood of Youngstown, shut down one by one in the late 1970s and early 1980s, putting the city and region in financial straits and giving rise to strong union sentiments. Locals have shown uncommon grit in the face of long labor disputes; recently, titanium producer RTI International Metals, in nearby Niles, Ohio, settled a work action with steelworkers after a 13-month lockout.
Substantial job loss over the years has taken its toll on the city, but the downtown area, where The Vindicator is located, is attracting government-oriented services and seems to be on a gradual upswing.
Inside the gates of the newspaper's parking lot along Front Street, a security guard wearing sunglasses stands vigil, hired by the company to prevent strikers from crossing onto Vindicator property.
Union members try to keep up their sense of humor despite the prospect of real hardship during the upcoming holiday season. Strikers huddle around the trash-barrel fires, fueled by donated wood; Tim Yovich distributes copies of the strike paper The Valley Voice to vehicles stopped at a nearby traffic light.
It's Dec. 9, the day after union members voted yet again to reject a Vindy contract -- the paper's 'best and final' offer, according to a Vindicator article. 'Although The Vindicator has, for many years, faced a shrinking revenue base, increased competition for advertising dollars and operating losses, The Vindicator's final offer addressed the Guild's concerns,' the article maintained.
Union concerns mainly included wage freezes at the Vindicator since 2000, which Shaulis Flora says guild members accepted "to help out this company, and for job security," she says. "After 9/11, the classified job marketing went through the floor; advertising was down; things were shaky. As hard as it was to swallow, we did it." Top-scale employees at The Vindicator make $17.82 an hour, while the lowest-paid employees make $6.25 per hour, she says . "Of the 173 [union members], 93 are making less than $9 per hour," she says. "I don't know how people can live on wages like that, but we've got people who are trying to."
The other big sticking point, Shaulis Flora says, is the company's health insurance plan. "The managers aren't contributing anything toward health-care premiums," she says, adding that The Vindicator maintains two health plans, one for the union workers and a separate, 'better' plan for managers and non-guild members. "As many as 100 people are paying nothing toward health care. Now they want us to switch to a flat weekly fee from a percentage. " They are only wanting part of the work force to bear that burden, and some of those in the lower part of the work force don't even get health benefits -- which adds insult to injury."
The union was seeking annual wage increases of 35 cents per hour for workers in the top three classifications, and 50 cents per hour for those in lower classifications, over three years. It's also seeking a flat weekly health-care fee, borne by workers at all levels, to go toward a single companywide insurance plan.
Guild members voted 99 to 36, Shaulis Flora says, to reject the newspaper's Dec. 8 offer: a waiver of employees' health contribution for health insurance for four months, "to give them time to put everyone on the same plan," she says. "At that point we would have gone from a weekly flat fee to a percentage " which represents an increase in actual dollars from what everyone is paying now." Shaulis Flora says union officials predicted the rates would rise again when a new premium went into effect next spring.
The paper also offered a 4 percent wage increase over three years, she says; The Vindicator's article put the increase at 6 percent in wage increases and bonuses.
The Vindicator says it also offered an increase in the paper's contribution to employee dental plans and a one-time payment of $1,000 to circulation district managers. "The rejection is particularly disappointing since a Guild international union representative recommended ratification," the paper wrote. Shaulis Flora confirmed the outside representative "thought this contract represented some sort of moral victory for the union," and that guild members disagreed.
Vindicator managers have maintained that the paper, too, has fallen on hard times and can ill afford the union's contract demands. "For The Vindicator to continue to provide good jobs, expenses simply must be reduced to meet the reality of a substantially smaller revenue base," publisher Betty Jagnow and general manager Mark Brown wrote in an open letter to readers shortly after the walkout. 'All employees of The Vindicator -- management and union -- have endured a wage freeze for four years.'
Union members are now receiving some compensation from the guild for picket shifts -- "the holidays are not the best time of the year to go without a full paycheck," reporter Laure Cioffi notes -- but say they will stay the course despite the paper's assertion that the Dec. 8 contract proposal was its final offer. Shaulis Flora says she believes the paper will negotiate again.
"We didn't come into this thing blind," copy editor Jeremy Harper says. "We don't want to be out here, but we're prepared to be."
Additional reporting by Dan O'Brien, senior reporter for The Business Journal, a Youngstown-based bi-weekly that has been hired by the Youngstown Newspaper Guild to assist with publication of its strike newspaper, The Valley Voice.
Staff writer Eileen Loh Harrist can be contacted at eileenlh@gambitweekly.com.
Youngstown OKs pay raises for employees
Published: Fri, Dec 17, 2004
----------------------------------------
Union workers and managers will help pay for their health benefits.
YOUNGSTOWN — Some city employees and managers are getting larger paychecks, and some will get the boosts before the end of the year.
City council approved three-year contracts with the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents 14 dispatchers with the 911 emergency answering system, and Teamsters Local 377, which represents 34 street department employees.
The 911 dispatchers will get pay raises of 2 percent this year, 3 percent for 2005 and 4 percent for 2006. A dispatcher with three years' experience had been making $29,257 a year. This year that salary will rise to $29,842; $30,737 in 2005; and $31,966 in 2006.
The city will continue paying health insurance for the dispatchers this year and in 2005, but a 7 percent monthly copay begins in 2006.
There also is language in the new deal that says a dispatcher not regularly scheduled to work shall not be forced to stay over.
Street department
The street department workers also get raises of 2 percent this year, 3 percent in 2005 and 4 percent in 2006.
A truck driver, for example, who is making $33,238 will make $33,902 for the remainder of this year; $34,919 next year; and $36,315 in 2006.
The health benefits package is the same as for the dispatchers.
Contract language also says that whenever it becomes necessary through lack of funds or other justifiable causes to reduce workers, temporary or seasonal employees will be the first to be laid off.
Council also approved pay raises for all managers in city government. Management positions include the clerk of courts, deputy director of planning, health commissioner and deputy director of public works.
The raises begin with a 2 percent increase in 2005; 2.5 percent in 2006 and 3.5 percent in 2007.
For example, the deputy director of planning made $57,410 this year. That salary will increase to $58,558 in 2005; $60,021 in 2006; and $62,121 in 2007.
Managers have a 10 percent monthly copay on their hospitalization, dental and vision coverage. There also are $10 copays for office visits and $8 copays for generic prescription drugs and $15 copays for brand-name prescription drugs.
Police and fire chiefs
Police Chief Robert Bush and Fire Chief John O'Neill also are getting raises of 2 percent next year, 3 percent in 2006 and 4 percent in 2007.
Bush and O'Neill now both have yearly salaries of $78,499. In 2005, they will make $80,068; $82,470 in 2006; and $85,768 in 2007.
The city also has agreed to pick up a larger portion of contributions toward pension benefits for managers.
In January 2000, the city picked up 8.5 percent of the statutorily required contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System as a fringe benefit for managers.
Council approved an amendment Wednesday that increases the city pickup to 9 percent effective Jan. 1, 2006, and 9.5 percent on Jan. 1, 2007.
Finance department officials were unavailable Thursday to say how much the raises will add to the city's general fund budget over the three years.
----------------------------------------------
© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
----------------------------------------
Union workers and managers will help pay for their health benefits.
YOUNGSTOWN — Some city employees and managers are getting larger paychecks, and some will get the boosts before the end of the year.
City council approved three-year contracts with the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents 14 dispatchers with the 911 emergency answering system, and Teamsters Local 377, which represents 34 street department employees.
The 911 dispatchers will get pay raises of 2 percent this year, 3 percent for 2005 and 4 percent for 2006. A dispatcher with three years' experience had been making $29,257 a year. This year that salary will rise to $29,842; $30,737 in 2005; and $31,966 in 2006.
The city will continue paying health insurance for the dispatchers this year and in 2005, but a 7 percent monthly copay begins in 2006.
There also is language in the new deal that says a dispatcher not regularly scheduled to work shall not be forced to stay over.
Street department
The street department workers also get raises of 2 percent this year, 3 percent in 2005 and 4 percent in 2006.
A truck driver, for example, who is making $33,238 will make $33,902 for the remainder of this year; $34,919 next year; and $36,315 in 2006.
The health benefits package is the same as for the dispatchers.
Contract language also says that whenever it becomes necessary through lack of funds or other justifiable causes to reduce workers, temporary or seasonal employees will be the first to be laid off.
Council also approved pay raises for all managers in city government. Management positions include the clerk of courts, deputy director of planning, health commissioner and deputy director of public works.
The raises begin with a 2 percent increase in 2005; 2.5 percent in 2006 and 3.5 percent in 2007.
For example, the deputy director of planning made $57,410 this year. That salary will increase to $58,558 in 2005; $60,021 in 2006; and $62,121 in 2007.
Managers have a 10 percent monthly copay on their hospitalization, dental and vision coverage. There also are $10 copays for office visits and $8 copays for generic prescription drugs and $15 copays for brand-name prescription drugs.
Police and fire chiefs
Police Chief Robert Bush and Fire Chief John O'Neill also are getting raises of 2 percent next year, 3 percent in 2006 and 4 percent in 2007.
Bush and O'Neill now both have yearly salaries of $78,499. In 2005, they will make $80,068; $82,470 in 2006; and $85,768 in 2007.
The city also has agreed to pick up a larger portion of contributions toward pension benefits for managers.
In January 2000, the city picked up 8.5 percent of the statutorily required contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System as a fringe benefit for managers.
Council approved an amendment Wednesday that increases the city pickup to 9 percent effective Jan. 1, 2006, and 9.5 percent on Jan. 1, 2007.
Finance department officials were unavailable Thursday to say how much the raises will add to the city's general fund budget over the three years.
----------------------------------------------
© 2004 Vindy.com. A service of The Vindicator.
Warning For Walkers
By Michelle Nicks
WFMJ-TV
USA - Did you know the Mahoning Valley is one of the most dangerous places to take a walk?
A study just released finds that streets in the Youngstown-Warren area are becoming meaner to pedestrians.
A walk across a street like Mahoning Avenue at State Route 46 can turn in to a danger zone for pedestrians.
In fact, the Youngstown-Warren area is one of the most dangerous places in Ohio to take a walk according to a recent study.
That's why authorities say don't ignore the signs and signals because for pedestrians, it could mean your life.
We're taught it in elementary school that the green light means go when you're driving a car or truck. But if you're walking across the street, depending on your direction it could be your signal to stop.
Rules of the road, many of us ignore at the risk to our own safety.
"The people choose to cross the road where they want to," says Sgt. Rick Brown. "The law says they should cross at the intersection, and with a red light. Well people deviate from that."
The Ohio Highway Patrol in Canfield says unfortunately pedestrians who try to live by their own rules contribute to a dangerous and often deadly problem, pedestrian accidents.
A new study released by the Surface Transportation Policy Project out of Washington, D.C. found that the
Mahoning Valley is one of the most dangerous places to walk.
Drunk drivers, motorists not paying attention andjaywalkers all create a danger zone on the streets.
Federal and state funds are invested to make walking a safer form of transportation, but authorities don't think that's the problem here.
And whether you're walking or driving, being on the defensive is the only sure way to protect your safety.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6640742/
WFMJ-TV
USA - Did you know the Mahoning Valley is one of the most dangerous places to take a walk?
A study just released finds that streets in the Youngstown-Warren area are becoming meaner to pedestrians.
A walk across a street like Mahoning Avenue at State Route 46 can turn in to a danger zone for pedestrians.
In fact, the Youngstown-Warren area is one of the most dangerous places in Ohio to take a walk according to a recent study.
That's why authorities say don't ignore the signs and signals because for pedestrians, it could mean your life.
We're taught it in elementary school that the green light means go when you're driving a car or truck. But if you're walking across the street, depending on your direction it could be your signal to stop.
Rules of the road, many of us ignore at the risk to our own safety.
"The people choose to cross the road where they want to," says Sgt. Rick Brown. "The law says they should cross at the intersection, and with a red light. Well people deviate from that."
The Ohio Highway Patrol in Canfield says unfortunately pedestrians who try to live by their own rules contribute to a dangerous and often deadly problem, pedestrian accidents.
A new study released by the Surface Transportation Policy Project out of Washington, D.C. found that the
Mahoning Valley is one of the most dangerous places to walk.
Drunk drivers, motorists not paying attention andjaywalkers all create a danger zone on the streets.
Federal and state funds are invested to make walking a safer form of transportation, but authorities don't think that's the problem here.
And whether you're walking or driving, being on the defensive is the only sure way to protect your safety.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6640742/
Come to Youngstown, Ohio and blow stuff up
Reuters
May 26, 2004 - LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Economic decay could be the salvation of Youngstown, Ohio.
The industrial city, which once had a population of 250,000, has been impacted by the elimination of manufacturing jobs, and its population now stands at 80,000.
But according to Richard Ouzounian, who runs the Youngstown Warren Film Commission, the town is a virtual film set waiting to happen. It has an airport, complete with a new terminal and 9,000-foot runway, which handles only four flights a week. It has a 2,016-bed prison that houses only 21 inmates. There's also an empty hospital as well as empty schools and libraries.
"You have industrial sites," Ouzounian says. "Unlike most cities where they don't want you blowing things up, around here they'd be thrilled to death if somebody came here and blew up some of this stuff up!"
Ouzounian also is working with one of the trustees of the film commission to take one of the many deserted warehouses and turn it into a soundstage. He points out that, while there may be no film infrastructure in the town, good crews can be found in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, both within an hour's drive.
"You have, essentially, an industrial city backlot that's waiting to be used," he says.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
© Reuters 2004. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5068724/
May 26, 2004 - LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Economic decay could be the salvation of Youngstown, Ohio.
The industrial city, which once had a population of 250,000, has been impacted by the elimination of manufacturing jobs, and its population now stands at 80,000.
But according to Richard Ouzounian, who runs the Youngstown Warren Film Commission, the town is a virtual film set waiting to happen. It has an airport, complete with a new terminal and 9,000-foot runway, which handles only four flights a week. It has a 2,016-bed prison that houses only 21 inmates. There's also an empty hospital as well as empty schools and libraries.
"You have industrial sites," Ouzounian says. "Unlike most cities where they don't want you blowing things up, around here they'd be thrilled to death if somebody came here and blew up some of this stuff up!"
Ouzounian also is working with one of the trustees of the film commission to take one of the many deserted warehouses and turn it into a soundstage. He points out that, while there may be no film infrastructure in the town, good crews can be found in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, both within an hour's drive.
"You have, essentially, an industrial city backlot that's waiting to be used," he says.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
© Reuters 2004. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5068724/
Monday, December 20, 2004
Monday, December 13, 2004
Here in Northeast Ohio, back in 1803...
Originally part of the Western Reserve of Connecticut, Youngstown was settled by pioneers from that area. The city was named after John Young, who came here in 1797 after purchasing a whole township, over 15,000 acres of land, from the Western Reserve Land Company.
Youngstown was just a small village when pockets of iron ore were discovered. This resulted in the construction of the first blast furnace in the area by Daniel and James Heaton. However, the spirit of Youngstown emerged once vast quantities of limestone were discovered, thus providing Youngstown with the necessary raw materials to develop into a great iron and steel center.
By 1820, Youngstown's population began to grow, as well as industrialization, with the opening of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. This waterway was later abandoned in favor of the railroads which attracted people and industry in ever increasing volume. In 1876, the Mahoning County Seat was moved to Youngstown, increasing the city's population to 33,220 by 1890. The first steel company was established in the Mahoning Valley, changing Youngstown industry from iron to steel which was the forerunner of miles of steel plants in the valley.
Once dominated by basic steel, the Youngstown economy is diversifying to include automobile assembly, manufacturing, metal fabrication and small business enterprises.
A great place to work, Youngstown is also know for its commitment to the arts. The Youngstown Area Arts Council was established in 1975 to support all visual and performing arts. Youngstown is the home of one of the nation's most outstanding American art museums, the Butler Institute.
Youngstown's commitment extends to the leisurely arts as well. The Youngstown Park and Recreation Commission maintains 49 beautiful parks with a wide range of sports and recreational activities.
Youngstown is located in the northeastern part of Ohio, midway between the major trading centers of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and midway between Chicago and New York. With its well established cultural and recreational facilities and its diversified economic base, Youngstown is still one of the best places to live, work and play.
Youngstown was just a small village when pockets of iron ore were discovered. This resulted in the construction of the first blast furnace in the area by Daniel and James Heaton. However, the spirit of Youngstown emerged once vast quantities of limestone were discovered, thus providing Youngstown with the necessary raw materials to develop into a great iron and steel center.
By 1820, Youngstown's population began to grow, as well as industrialization, with the opening of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. This waterway was later abandoned in favor of the railroads which attracted people and industry in ever increasing volume. In 1876, the Mahoning County Seat was moved to Youngstown, increasing the city's population to 33,220 by 1890. The first steel company was established in the Mahoning Valley, changing Youngstown industry from iron to steel which was the forerunner of miles of steel plants in the valley.
Once dominated by basic steel, the Youngstown economy is diversifying to include automobile assembly, manufacturing, metal fabrication and small business enterprises.
A great place to work, Youngstown is also know for its commitment to the arts. The Youngstown Area Arts Council was established in 1975 to support all visual and performing arts. Youngstown is the home of one of the nation's most outstanding American art museums, the Butler Institute.
Youngstown's commitment extends to the leisurely arts as well. The Youngstown Park and Recreation Commission maintains 49 beautiful parks with a wide range of sports and recreational activities.
Youngstown is located in the northeastern part of Ohio, midway between the major trading centers of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and midway between Chicago and New York. With its well established cultural and recreational facilities and its diversified economic base, Youngstown is still one of the best places to live, work and play.
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