21 WFMJ archives / August 17,  1985 | Warren Mayor Dan Sferra, honorary chairman of the Italian-American Heritage Festival 40 years ago, got into the wrestling ring with a bear at Courthouse Park.

August 10

2000: A Pennsylvania commission votes to make sentencing records that list the race and gender of every criminal defendant sentenced in the state, which will allow researchers, reporters, and watchdog groups to determine if individual judges are consistent in their sentencing. 

Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington will hire a civilian to patrol illegal parking in handicapped parking areas. Violators could be fined as much as $500.

A Greenford girl, Julianne Dundee, said that for her ninth birthday, all she wanted was Barbie dolls -- new or used -- which she donated to Friends from Afar, which will distribute her 30 dolls to children in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. 

 

1985: Four people who came forward with information that led to the arrest of the man who stabbed YSU professor Jack Bakos last summer will split $6,800 in reward money. 

The Rev. John Polanski, a Warren native and a member of the Ursuline faculty since 1980, is named director of the Newman Center, the Catholic ministry at Youngstown State University. 

Rockwell International Corp. is discontinuing production of one of the truck front axles built at its New Castle, Pa., plant.  A spokesman said the move will have little effect on the workforce of 600.

 

1975: Nine U.S. senators, as well as U.S. Rep. Wilbur Mills and Michael Kirwan of Youngstown, were among the recipients of $724,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Ashland Oil. 

The First Congregational Church of Andover, founded in 1818 and built about 1842, is dedicated as a historical structure by the Ashtabula Historical Society. The church has stained glass windows dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic and early settlers. 

Gerald A. Burks, a graduate of the Rayen School, received a juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University. 

 

1950: Army Pfc. Jack L. Young of Youngstown is reported killed in action in Korea. He was a Navy veteran of World War II. 

The parents of 15 children who have been destroying public property at schools in Niles have agreed to pay for the damage. There's no estimate yet of the cost. 

The Rev. Milford Schreckengost is preparing his farewell sermon for delivery at McDonald Baptist Church. He is moving to Horsehead, N.Y., where he will pursue evangelical work.