21 WFMJ archives / May 2, 1984 | Four Youngstown State University biology students were hoping for favorable winds to promote the Rally Round the Valley beautification campaign 40 years ago. The artists, from left, Lisa Brown, Kathryn Crawford, Robin Cope and Cindy Kubic.  

May 6

1999: Twenty-seven people are arrested in Warren and Youngstown on drug charges based on an investigation conducted by a 10-member U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency team from Detroit that concentrates on small investigations. 

State Sen. Anthony Latell, D-Girard, defends property tax abatements as an incentive for commercial and industrial development. Some legislators argue that enterprise zones do little to spur development. 

Mahoning County commissioners approve a policy forbidding personal calls on county-provided cell phones.1984: Idora Park opens with a subdued "Spring Thing", absent the Wild Cat and Jungle River rides, which were among the attractions destroyed by fire on April 26.

Some Austintown residents are calling for the extermination of the Wedgewood Rats, a gang known for vandalism and fighting that has been causing problems for more than a decade. 

John S. Andrews, a Youngstown financial consultant, receives a life membership from the Salvation Army at a banquet celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Youngstown Citadel. Henry Gariepy, editor of War Cry, the Salvation Army national magazine, tells 225 people at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman that the parable of the Good Samaritan provides a model for modern Christians. 

1974: Two Youngstown policemen hurrying to a disturbance call at Idora Park are injured in a collision at Hillman Street and Falls Avenue. Two other patrolmen are injured when their car is struck by a hit-skip driver at LaClede and Rosedale avenues. 

Mayor Jack C. Hunter makes an 11th-hour appeal for voter support of a half-percent increase in the city income tax for capital improvements. 

1949: Phillip Murray, president of the CIO United Steelworkers, says the union will demand a general wage increase, plus pensions and social insurance to be paid by employers. 

The Youngstown Athletics sweep a doubleheader from Oil City before 1,861 fans at Idora Park.