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MVSD discusses potential rate increase

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NILES — City officials said a water rate increase would impact communities across the Mahoning Valley and a one-hour conversation wasn’t enough time to reach a conclusion. City council members ahead of Wednesday’s regular meeting heard from Mahoning Valley Sanitary District representatives, who are proposing a purchasing bulk rate of 37 cents per 1,000 gallons used. The rate would be the wholesale cost to the city, not the final rate directly billed on an individual resident’s utility bill. Brenda Duffett, MVSD’s finance manager and board secretary, said none of them ...

Choffin honors life of student killed in crash

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Staff report YOUNGSTOWN — Students and staff at Choffin Career & Technical Center gathered recently to honor the life and memory of E’Lexus Conner, a Public Safety Academy student who was killed in a crash July 12 at Market Street and East Myrtle Avenue on the South ...

Ohio AG: Criminalize misuse of Flock cams

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While calling Flock Safety automatic license plate reader cameras effective when used properly, Attorney General Andy Wilson said the state Legislature should criminalize their misuse. In a Wednesday statement, Wilson, a Republican, said: “Misuse of Flock is rare and breaches should result in serious consequences. To that end, the Ohio General Assembly should criminalize the misuse of Flock just as it currently criminalizes the misuse of other law enforcement technology.” Wilson said: “Unauthorized use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, for example, is a fifth-degree felony ...

McDonald council places moratorium on data centers

Local News

McDONALD — While recent meetings have lasted for two or more hours, village council at a special meeting Wednesday took less than five minutes to approve an emergency ordinance placing a one-year moratorium on data centers in the village. Council voted 5-0 on the moratorium. Councilman Brian Bosheff was not able to attend. The one-year moratorium means the village will not accept, process or consider any applications for any data centers in the village. Council President Sean Schmidt said council and village officials will always do what is in the best interest of the village and ...

YBI rings in $35K with 3rd Taco Bell grant

Local News

Staff report The Taco Bell Foundation, an extension of the fast-food restaurant chain, has awarded $35,517 to YBI’s Explore VR program. This marks the third consecutive year the Mahoning Valley-based incubator has received the community grant. This year’s funding will support career exploration and awareness in the Youngstown area through Explore VR’s immersive, VR-based lesson plans. “We’re incredibly grateful to the Taco Bell Foundation and its local franchise partners for supporting YBI’s Explore VR Youth Program,” said Rochelle Landy, director of Explore VR at ...

Procurement day aimed at Valley business owners

Business News

Staff report The Connector, an event to help business owners navigate procurement and land contracts across government, healthcare, transportation and more, will take place 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County. YBI and the Youngstown/Warren Minority Business Assistance Center are presenting the gathering. The Connector is built around a simple idea: business owners already know how to run their operations, and procurement is the path to landing contracts with schools, cities and state organizations to do that same work at scale. The event ...