PUCO staff’s attorney wants requested changes to SOBE rate hike dropped

September 23, 2026

An attorney for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s staff argued that requests for an end date for the major emergency rate hikes approved by the commission for SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC and the inclusion of language that the increases are “subject to refund” aren’t valid. The two requests made by the city of Youngstown and the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel in a Sept. 14 joint filing should be rejected by the PUCO “because they are outside the scope of the commission’s rehearing entry,” wrote Julian Johnson, an Ohio assistant attorney general with ...

SOBE sends disconnection notices to four customers

September 23, 2026

YOUNGSTOWN — SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC sent disconnection notices to four of its downtown Youngstown customers that haven’t paid their bills in at least the past 60 days. The disconnection notices state service may be disconnected as soon as Friday. The steam heat to the four buildings won’t be cut off Friday, but the disconnections would likely occur the week of Oct. 5, unless payments are made, said Michael Moran, attorney for John C. Collins, SOBE’s receiver. Those receiving disconnection letters were West 34 Investors LLC, the owner of Wick Tower; Erie Terminal Place ...

Superintendent: Job’s not done for city schools

September 23, 2026

YOUNGSTOWN — Earning a three-star rating of a possible five stars on the recently released state report card is a reason for the Youngstown City School District to celebrate, but not to rest on its academic laurels, a top official says. “The work is not done. We’re showing that we can do this work,” Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor said after the regular Youngstown Board of Education meeting Tuesday afternoon at Youngstown Rayen Early College High School. The district’s ranking was revealed after the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce released the report cards Sept. ...

YSU president: University is doing well

September 23, 2026

YOUNGSTOWN — When it came to assessing Youngstown State University’s state of affairs, YSU President Bill Johnson left the starting gate not with a trot but with a gallop. “I’m glad to share with you that the state of Youngstown State University is very, very good,” he said. That ...

Devon Stanley case delayed by absence of medical records

September 23, 2026

WARREN — The parties in the Devon Stanley felonious assault case met by Zoom on Tuesday afternoon with Special Prosecutor Dan Kasaris of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office saying the case is being held up by a lack of response from Mercy Health in providing medical records. Stanley, 53, of Liberty, a Liberty Township trustee and chief deputy clerk of the Trumbull County Clerk of Courts Office, is charged with second-degree-felony felonious assault. It involves an Oct. 23, 2025, incident involving a woman. Stanley was arrested at the Oct. 24 Niles McKinley-Girard football game at ...

Trumbull commissioners considering annual vehicle purchasing program for sheriff

September 23, 2026

WARREN — Trumbull commissioners are considering establishing an annual program allowing the sheriff office to purchase at least four patrol cars per year to replenish its aging vehicle force. Under the proposed program, the county will be able to purchase a minimum of four vehicles per year or one vehicle per quarter. Sheriff Michael Wilson told the commissioners there is a critical need to obtain new vehicles because some of the vehicles in the fleet have more than 200,000 miles on them. “We have 12 vehicles with more than 150,000 miles, 10 with more than 200,000, with five of ...