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Man arrested in aggravated robbery with deadly weapon

YOUNGSTOWN — A man, 32, was arrested following the aggravated robbery of a cellphone store on Mahoning Avenue on Wednesday night. A Youngstown police report states that officers were called to the store at 7:58 p.m. at an address on Mahoning Avenue that was blacked out under the provisions of Marsy’s Law, which protects victims of crime, including businesses. The call was for an aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon on or about the suspect, kidnapping, resisting arrest and obstructing official business, according to the report. Sixteen officers were involved in the call. The ...

YNDC gets $1M grant for Glenwood Avenue cleanup work

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. received a $1 million federal grant to clean up at least two contaminated sites on Glenwood Avenue and do testing on others on the South Side street. Funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup program will go toward doing Phase I preliminary reviews of at least six vacant properties on Glenwood Avenue, more extensive Phase II soil borings and samplings on two others, and doing final preparations to clean up two other sites, including a former gas station, said Ian ...

Taxes, property values headline commissioners meeting

Mahoning County’s Board of Developmental Disabilities is asking voters to approve its first new operating levy in 26 years, but the measure could face a considerable hurdle. The Mahoning County Auditor’s office also reports that residential property values increased an average of 24% during the county’s latest triennial property update. That will translate to a slight increase in property taxes for many residents, although Auditor Ralph Meacham said the exact amount is still unclear. MCBDD Superintendent Bill Whitacre says the agency needs additional funding because a 2023 ...

Man convicted of rape caught on nanny cam

YOUNGSTOWN — The jury in the Keontae Thomas rape, kidnapping and aggravated robbery trial found Thomas guilty on all counts and specifications Wednesday in a verdict that left prosecutors happy that they had obtained justice for a woman who endured a number of challenges to get to that ...

PUCO approves significant SOBE rate increase

SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC’s downtown Youngstown customers will see significant increases in the cost for steam heat — 93% for most to take effect shortly and then by 162% more by November. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted 3-0 Wednesday in favor of the emergency rate increase, recommended by its staff and requested May 21 by John C. Collins, SOBE’s receiver, to keep the troubled utility in business. Voting in favor of the increase were John D. Williams, Daniel R. Conway and Lawrence K. Friedeman without any comment. Chairwoman Jenifer French and Dennis P. ...

Rulli says bill will end predatory litigation by ‘radical groups’

U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, introduced a bill he said will end predatory litigation by “radical special-interest groups” against the federal government filed under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The act, passed in 1980, authorizes the awarding of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to certain individuals, small businesses and other entities that prevail against the federal government in judicial proceedings and certain adversary adjudications when the government’s position is not substantially justified, according to the Administrative Conference of the United States, ...