21 WFMJ archives  / July 31, 1939 | A Vindicator photographer captured the most modern farming methods 85 years ago at the famous Firestone Farm near Columbiana. H.L. Chadwick drives the tractor, pulling a combine, while Earl Walsh and Monroe Garber fill bags with the harvested grain.

July 31

1999: Don Vos, 45, commander of Columbiana County's unorganized militia, says he will run for Columbiana sheriff.  Vos also volunteers to have his militiamen run the county jail, which is strapped for cash after voters rejected a sales tax.

First Presbyterian Church of Lowellville celebrates its 150th anniversary. The church was formed in April 1849 by Presbyterian abolitionists who split from their congregations. The stone church, which was worshipped by a congregation of about 55 members, was built after a fire destroyed the church in 1917.

Jason Ko of Howland, a graduate of Duke University, receives a one-year Fulbright Scholarship to teach English to middle and high school students in South Korea.

 

1984: A fire guts Thumm's Bicycle Shop on W. Market Street in Warren. Arson is suspected. Thumm's is the city's oldest bicycle shop, having operated at the same location for three generations.

City officials' reaction to the General Service Administration's recommendation that the Haber Furniture building on Federal Plaza East be the best site for a federal courthouse is lukewarm at best.

Fred DeLuca, manager of Youngstown Municipal Airport, says an increase in wildlife, including waterfowl, foxes, and deer, has led to air traffic controllers warning pilots to be alert to such hazards, especially during landings.

 

1974: The former Voyager Inn in downtown Youngstown will become a Holiday Inn franchise "within a month, if not sooner," says a Pittsburgh attorney.

Two gunmen robbed an assistant manager of the Sparkle Market at the Lincoln Knolls Plaza of $10,000 minutes after he left a Dollar Savings & Trust branch carrying a money bag.

A spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau says the state may have lost as much as $300 million in corn and soybean production due to the summer's drought.

 

1949: Mrs. Amanda Bentley Butler of Cortland, the oldest living former student of Hiram College and oldest living graduate of Hillsdale College, turns 100.

Joseph Bucheit & Sons Co. is rushing to complete the Youngstown Country Club's $60,000 swimming pool in preparation for dedication ceremonies in two weeks.

Niles Councilmen Daniel Holmes and Ray Sullivan open a drive for the city of Niles to annex the McKinley Heights section of Weathersfield Township.