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’26 report cards show ups, downs

A new academic year is in full swing, and districts across the Mahoning Valley are learning what leaps — or steps back — they took over the past year, as Ohio hands out its report cards. Released Tuesday morning, these assessments offer insight into how schools in the Valley are faring ...

End date sought for SOBE rate hikes

In a filing with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the city of Youngstown and the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel did not object to the significant emergency rate increases for downtown steam heat customers, but want the hikes to have an expiration date. If an end date isn’t set, the two entities urged the PUCO to require SOBE Thermal Systems LLC, the troubled utility company for most of downtown, to file an application for new permanent rate increases. In its joint filing, the city and the OCC wrote: “Absent an ending date for the emergency rates or a ...

Trump calls AI risks a ‘hoax,’ blasts data center opposition

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be a sufficient guardrail against rogue artificial intelligence, claiming that any efforts to limit the technology is part of a “SICK conspiracy.” Trump was pushing back against calls by tech leaders such as ...

Flock cams addressed at Austintown meeting

AUSTINTOWN — Many expected this month’s trustees meeting to focus heavily on Flock cameras. Instead, only one resident raised the issue, just enough for police Chief Valorie Delmont to provide an update on the department’s process and progress with installing the controversial traffic cameras. “We’re just in the very beginning stages of planning for Flock. And we’re still, I’m still, going through the education process,” Delmont said. She was responding to resident Doug Wright, who asked a few questions about the six license plate reader cameras that Austintown ...

Liberty fire chief voices safety concerns

LIBERTY — Liberty’s fire chief emphasized challenges in keeping both first responders and the public safe during emergencies, noting that one of his department’s vehicles has been struck several times by negligent drivers. Fire Chief Doug Theobald, during his report at Monday’s meeting, recalled the details of an Aug. 15 spill that closed Tibbetts Wick Road for eight hours, covering the road in a flour-like substance, a byproduct of steelmaking that was being hauled by a private company. Theobald said the department’s on-duty personnel, himself and two mutual aid ...

Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting already underway. The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the ...