WFMJ archives  / February  26, 1985 | Randy Jones, Boardman Park naturalist 40 years ago, developed a knack for attracting wild birds to a snack of sunflower seeds in the palm of his hand. 

March 1 

2000: Columbiana County commissioners approve the annexation of 83 acres of Salem Township to the city of Salem to construct a 183,000-square-foot Wal-Mart.

Charles P. O'Nesti, 71, former Youngstown fire chief and an aide to U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., dies of cancer at his Eldora Drive home.

Texas Company, which claims to have patented a process for purifying and reusing dirty motor oil, will build its first production plant, a $50 million facility, in Wellsville, Columbiana County. 

 

1985: Two Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors say the new pact between the Packard Electric Division of General Motors and the International Union of Electrical Workers is on the cutting edge of a possible new era in labor-management relations. The agreement provides core workers with lifetime job and income security and a multi-tiered wage system for new hires. 

Net profits for Home Savings & Loan Co., the Youngstown district's largest savings and loan, increased by $600,000 to $2.3 million in 1984.

Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste addressed 200 leaders from 80 state communities competing for General Motors' planned Saturn auto plant. 

 

1975: Mahoning County Welfare Director Ezell Armour meets with more than a dozen social service agencies and utilities to discuss the dire need for increased welfare payments to meet rising costs of living. 

Three robbers held up a crowded McDonald's restaurant at 15 Boardman-Canfield Road. Boardman police and Mahoning sheriff's deputies arrested the suspected trio shortly at the Southern Park Mall.

Probation granted to Youngstown racketeer Joey Naples and six associates by U.S. District Judge Thomas Manos drew shock and outraged cries from Youngstown officials, including Mayor Jack C. Hunter. 

 

1950: The Kremlin switches the ruble from a U.S. dollar standard to a gold standard, predicting that the ruble will replace the dollar in international trade. 

Judge Harold E. Doyle approved a petition to dissolve the 48-year-old Employees Benefit Association of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.. The USW will negotiate a pension plan to replace it. 

Republic Steel in Youngstown taps out 13 open hearths due to coal shortages and a complete shutdown of natural gas. Some 2,500 workers are furloughed.