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Operations at Schwebel’s to end, according to court filing

The Schwebel Baking Company’s efforts to find a new buyer have failed, and the company will halt operations. The news came out of an hourlong telephone status conference this morning with U.S. District Judge David A. Ruiz in U.S. District Court, Youngstown. “Extensive discussion occurred,” according to minutes of the proceeding released by the court. “Notably, Defendant’s discussions with a potential buyer have come to a close, and the company is proceeding with a wind-down of its operations. “In addition, a secured creditor of Defendant just filed a lawsuit seeking to ...

Former SOBE receiver seeks funds he’s owed

YOUNGSTOWN — SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC’s former receiver and ex-legal counsel were supposed to be paid $55,570 by May 9, but it keeps getting delayed because the current receiver says the troubled downtown utility company doesn’t have the money. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted June 24 to increase the monthly rate for most SOBE customers by 93% now with an additional 162% increase for most from November to April, when steam heat is primarily used. Included in the rate hike is money owed to Reg Martin, the former receiver, and Kenneth R. Goldberg, the ...

City schools establish clearinghouse

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Board of Education has adopted a series of resolutions that entail establishing a central clearinghouse for normal operations, supporting a longtime community center and dissolving one of its committees. In one of the moves, school officials have offered their support and recognition to the McGuffey Center, 1649 Jacobs Road, for what they feel is the center serving as an anchor for much of the East Side, as well as the work it has done in the community, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor said after Tuesday’s regular board of education meeting. “They’re ...

Official updates Liberty road projects

LIBERTY — Community improvements have quite literally been front and center for anyone navigating the Churchill portion of Belmont Avenue, and trustees learned the status of these and other ongoing improvements. At Monday’s meeting, trustees heard from Road Superintendent Wayne Hickman, who said the “never-ending” Belmont Avenue sidewalk project, which kicked off March 30, is undergoing some design changes. “We changed the design at the corner of (State Route) 304, (State Route) 193 to go behind the telephone poles; that’s why it’s been sitting stagnant,” Hickman ...

Ohio high court hopeful running for judicial independence

Democrat Marilyn Zayas said part of the reason she is running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court is “people are losing faith” in the judicial system “because of politics.” Zayas, who sits on the 1st District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County, said there are issues with the “politicalization of our courts, the integrity of our courts and the independence of our courts.” Zayas is challenging incumbent Justice Dan Hawkins, a Republican who won a 2024 election for an unexpired term, receiving 55% of the vote. Hawkins, who was a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge ...

Girard officials address trash collection issues with company

GIRARD — City officials voiced concerns regarding trash collection with representatives of Republic Services at the city council meeting Monday. Councilman Thomas Grumley, D-4th Ward, said he was concerned with the quality of the service, particularly in the past few months. He said he doesn’t ever remember a time when there has been such a neglect of trash collection on city streets. Grumley said he also was concerned that when residents’ trash is collected and being placed in the truck, it often ends up all over the road. “On windy days, it blows all over the place,” ...