21 WFMJ archives / August 2, 1959 | The superstructure of the new First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown took shape 66 years ago at Wick Avenue and Wood Street.  Completion of the $818,000 project was anticipated in 1961. 

August 3

2000: General Motors says sales of the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cavalier increased a whopping 16 percent in July with 24,144 sold, breaking seven months of declining sales. 

More than 2,000 Mahoning County property owners have received letters from Treasurer John Reardon warning them of their last chance to clear up delinquencies before a sheriff's sale. 

The Ohio District Council of the Assemblies of God in Columbus seeks a restraining order barring the Rev. Wayman Thomas from entering the Evangel Assembly of God on South Avenue. The council contends the pastor was not following church rules and changed the name to "Destiny International."

 

1985: Following a meeting called by U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. at Alberini's restaurant in Niles, less than a mile from the tornado's May 31 path, a committee is formed to study ways of improving communications during emergencies. 

A meeting of civic, religious, and educational organizations in Salem threatens to picket 700 Lawson's stores, almost all in northeastern Ohio, unless the stores remove adult magazines from their shelves. 

Montgomery Ward & Co., the nation's sixth largest general merchandising chain, announces that it is discontinuing its famous catalog and getting out of the mail order business. 

 

1975: The average faculty member at Slippery Rock College is better off in the pocketbook than some of his counterparts at many Ivy League schools. A survey shows Slippery Rock ranks 65th in the nation in salary for its professors. 

The $832 million capital improvements bill passed by the Ohio House and Senate includes $11 million for projects at Youngstown State University and $3 million for the Mahoning County juvenile center. 

John Billock, a Warren prosthetist and orthotist, develops a myolectric hand that has more gripping power than the human hand. 

 

1950: Seven police cars from Youngstown and Campbell respond to a disturbance at Jerusalem Baptist Church that broke out during the election of officers. 

H. Russell Hoper of Volney Road, president of City Trust and Savings until the bank's merger in 1947, dies of a heart attack at the age of 64.

About 600 sleepy-eyed children and adults greet the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train at the Pennsylvania Yards on West Avenue.