21 WFMJ archives / March 18, 1941 | A fast eastbound freight train plowed into the side of a nine-coach passenger train taking 600 men from Youngstown, Warren, and Niles to work at the Ravenna ordnance plant 83 years ago.  More than 180 men required hospital treatment, and many more suffered minor injuries. Vindicator photographer Lloyd Jones took this aerial about a mile west of Braceville.
 
March 18
 
1998: Giant Eagle announces it is closing its Newport store at Market Street and Midlothian Blvd., leaving the South Side of Youngstown without a supermarket. 
 
The Western Reserve Port Authority picks Davis International to build a 24,000-square-foot cargo warehouse at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. 
 
The 34th annual Aut Mori Grotto Circus opens its run at the Struthers Fieldhouse. 
 
1983: About 40 employees still working at the Salem Valve plant are notified that Sperry Vickers Corp. in Michigan has sold the valve line, and the Salem plant will cease to exist. 
 
A smoky fire in a pile of about 200 tires at the Cleveland Auto Wrecking yard on Hubbard-Youngstown Road will probably have to burn itself out, firefighters say.
 
The General Motors Corp. Fisher Body stamping plant at Lordstown has been judged by the company to be the producer of the highest quality automobile and van stampings of any Fisher Body plant. 
 
1973: The Youngstown industrial district, enjoying a hefty upturn in business, is running into shortages of some skilled workers. Some craftsmen are job-jumping. 
 
Barbara Brothers, an instructor of English at Youngstown State University, earns a doctorate in English from Kent State University.
 
Winds up to 40 mph, freezing temperatures, and several inches of snow caused dozens of traffic accidents, most of them minor and considerable damage to area crops and flowers. 
 
1948: Joseph Giordano, 32, who had been free since escaping from the Mahoning County jail with two other prisoners in July, is captured in Cleveland after a gun battle with police. Giordano, a companion, and one police officer were wounded.  
 
A crowd of angry parents tries without success to get an explanation from the Poland Union Board of Education on why Principal Michael Cabot has been asked to resign. 
 
U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan, D-Youngstown, gives his firm support to President Truman's request for universal military training and restoration of selective service.