21 WFMJ archives / November 26, 1985 | The new Austintown plant of the Packard Electric Division of General Motors collected food for the needy 40 years ago. From left, Barbara Damico, union representative; Hank Beckenbach and Robert Fairchild, both of the Red Cross; Chuck Sop, plant superintendent; and Nancy Androsko, representing hourly workers. The workers also collected  $450 in cash for the Red Cross. 

November 25

2000: U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-19th, says he believes Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican candidate, won the presidential election and that recounts in Florida are aimed at stealing the election for Democrat Al Gore. 

Employees at the Southern Park and Eastwood malls say they expect sky-high sales of Sony Playstation 2 video game consoles, CD recorders, DVD players and cellular phones. 

After finishing second in the Gateway Conference, Jim Tressel's Youngstown State University Penguins will face Richmond in the first round of the playoffs.

 

1985: James T. Licavoli, described in 1950 as one of the most powerful racketeers in Youngstown and Trumbull County, dies of a heart attack at 81 in Wisconsin, where he was an inmate in a federal prison. 

The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation celebrates its 50th anniversary with a dinner and awards ceremony at the Jewish Community Center. 

Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh threw three touchdowns and broke two school records leading Bo Schembechler's Wolverines to a 27-17 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes. 

 

1975: Maynard Ray Branscome, 31, of Montgomery County, Pa., a New Castle native, and a hunting companion, Daniel Phillips, 62, of Philadelphia, are shot dead by a 13-year-old hunter who mistook them for a bear in Pike County. 

Speaking in Warren, U.S. Rep. Charles J. Carney, D-19th, says Congress is derelict in allowing the United States to become a major industrial nation without laws limiting foreign investment and controlling domestic industries. 

 

1950: The Vindicator is not printed on this date as the worst blizzard in Mahoning Valley history hits. 

Vindicator police reporter Jack Gates and telegraph editor Richard Riley take to the air on WFMJ Radio after Gates and WFMJ custodian Steve Bonder are given directions by telephone on how to bring the station on air. 

Reporters within walking distance of the newspaper report for work, but by midday, it becomes obvious that putting a paper on the streets is impossible.