21 WFMJ archives  / April  13, 1975 | Honorees and officials of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Youngstown, were present to mark the 71st anniversary of the organization 50 years ago. More than 100 area Masons received the 32nd degree. From left, L. Todd McKinney of Dayton, the speaker; Reed Stump, 50-year member; Jack Feeley, Louis M. Beno, Clifford G. Swartz, and Kenneth B. Little, local officers. 

April 16 

2000: In anticipation of as many as eight city school buildings being on the market within two years, the Youngstown Board of Education votes to demolish the buildings rather than sell them to a charter school. There are three charter schools in the city serving about 1,000 students

Nearly 50,000 Mahoning Valley residents voted Republican in the March primaries, the highest number since President Richard Nixon was in the White House. 

New Castle police have not established a motive in the slaying of Jada McKnight, 28, who was gunned down in her Young Street driveway in front of her husband and three of the couple's children. The family was arriving home after closing their store, B&J's Convenience Mart on Washington Street.  

 

1985: Youngstown Law Director William Higgins and Civil Service Commissioner Avetis Darvanan spar over how to enforce the city's residency law for municipal employees, which was passed in 1928 but had been largely unenforced until Mayor Jack Hunter initiated a crackdown in 1971. 

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. directors vote to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to win concessions from bankers or a third round of concessions from employees.   

Making his first appearance in the Mahoning Valley since the savings and loan crisis, Gov. Richard F. Celeste tries to mend political fences by noting that the Valley has received more than $800 million in state and federal funds over the past fiscal year and by reaffirming his commitment to the area. 

 

1975: Liberty Township Trustees temporarily bury their plans for a new township hall. They had planned to sell two sections of land adjacent to Church Hill Cemetery and use the proceeds to buy land and build a new facility. 

The 7th District Court of Appeals rules that a Youngstown Civil Service requirement, which requires city employees to reside in Youngstown, is valid only for employees hired after the requirement was adopted in January 1972.

A fire in the basement of the Youngstown Municipal Airport terminal causes an electrical failure at the airport. Manager Fred DeLuca says the damage is "considerable."

 

1950: Homemaking classes in Youngstown city junior high schools taught girls the basics of carpentry, plumbing, painting, and electricity, and boys how to sew on a button, cook a meal, and shop. 

In three years, the staff of custodians who clean and maintain the Mahoning County Courthouse and jail has grown from 49 to 67 and now includes a former bookie and relatives of a county commissioner. 

William P. Hazlett, a former tire dealer who was once known as Youngstown's "Parking King" due to the number of lots he controlled in the city, dies in Miami Beach of a heart attack at the age of 59.