December 11

2000: The Ohio Department of Taxation is moving to seize mobster Lennie Strollo's $250,000 Canfield home for what the state says are delinquent sales taxes charged to two Strollo-owned businesses. Strollo, who is in federal custody as a prosecution witness, was allowed to maintain ownership under a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice. 

David Ditzler, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, says countywide meetings are "too hectic" and he has avoided them in favor of small get-togethers. The South County Democrats, the county's oldest political club, is unhappy with the change.

The Clinton administration announces a campaign to increase immunization rates among millions of poor children who lack protection against diphtheria, measles, polio, and other potentially deadly diseases. 

 

1985: Two children die, and a brother and sister are seriously injured when fire breaks out in a first-floor apartment at 2151 Market St.  Dead are Clifford Dabney, 7, and his brother, Charles, 6.  

Salem City Council drops its general liability insurance coverage and will self-insure, pooling the premium savings - $32,000 this year - in a savings account to cover future claims. 

Dr. William Binning, chairman of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, says U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. and other disgruntled candidates owe the board an apology after their claims of election irregularities in the Nov. 5 Boardman trustee race are proven false. In a close race, incumbents Robert Bannon and Atty. Joseph Betras was re-elected over challenger Kathy Miller. Six other candidates were out of the running. 

 

1975: A proposal to increase the size of the Youngstown Police Department and the number of supervisory officers for $250,000 is made by Councilman Emanuel Catsoules, R-3rd. 

The nation's largest air carrier, United Airlines, canceled all scheduled flights through Christmas Eve because of a breakdown in talks with striking machinists. 

Six people are in Trumbull Memorial Hospital after being overcome by fumes from a furnace while working at Ceres Farms, a chicken processing facility at 1500 Milton SE in Warren. 

 

1950: A light snow that began falling at 6 a.m. catches the Youngstown street department and bus company slag crews napping, bringing vehicular traffic to a crawl. 

Ensign Jessie L. Brown, 24, of Hattiesburg, Miss., the first Negro commissioned in the naval air corps and the first to fly a combat mission, dies in the line of duty while attached to the carrier Leyte in Korean waters. 

The Monday Musical Oratorio Chorus, under the direction of W. Gwynne Jenkins, gives its annual performance of Handel's "Messiah" before a large audience at Stambaugh Auditorium.