Top 10 community news stories of 2008

1 Financial pressures hit Main Street: Austintown turns down school levy; Warren lays off 31 police officers and firefighters; Boardman closes fire stations and then reopens them after tax levy approval.

2 A Liberty police chief resigns after Mary Rush, 87, of Mansell Drive, was found on her front porch, unconscious with severe cuts in April.

3 Youngstown’s JEDD proposals get cool reaction from neighboring communities.

4 Louis A. Frangos’ Realty Tower Apartments, Wick Building and Erie Terminal get the OK for federal and state funding. Frangos also made headlines when his Stambaugh Building was the focus of controversy after he decided to remove its windows before the city stepped in.

5 The Youngstown-owned Chevrolet Centre continued to lose money in 2008, including $175,000 annually in naming rights when General Motors ended its contract. In order to help offset the financial losses, the center hired new management and a new ticketing agency.

6 In medical news, the Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman opened and Forum Health looks to a new CEO.

7 Four special prosecutors were appointed to investigate possible ethics violations related to the county’s purchase of the Oakhill Renaissance Place.

8 After a devastating explosion in Girard, residents showed their resolve by helping their neighbors.

9 Canfield Township trustee Paul Morocco gets a township job, and then loses the township job.

10 The Idora Park Carousel, now in Carousel, now in Brooklyn, N.Y., reminds residents of the Valley of how the ride was staple of park.

Source: Vindicator staff