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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 ...

New witness may delay start of murder trial

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County prosecutors succeeded in convincing Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum this week to hold one trial for Vincent Marbley, 61, and Eddie Winphrie, 43, instead of two trials, in the Oct. 17, 2024, murder of Reynaldo Hernandez, 24, at a home on Bott Street on Youngstown’s East Side. The aggravated murder trial is set to begin Monday. But a new issue arose in the case at the same time: Prosecutors learned that a Mahoning County jail inmate contacted law enforcement Aug. 29 to say that he had information relevant to the guilt or ...

Valley gets election ready with voter registration drive

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation partnered with the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown to host a voter registration drive Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center as part of National Voter Registration Day. The four-hour event gave community members an opportunity to register to vote, verify their registration status, obtain absentee ballot request forms and locate their polling places. Founded in 2012, National Voter Registration Day was created to focus national attention on helping eligible Americans register and participate in ...

Ex-Boardman bowling coach nets prison term

YOUNGSTOWN — A former Boardman High School bowling coach was sentenced Tuesday to two to three years in prison for felonious assault and sexual battery involving a minor. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio handed down the sentence to Kevin C. Randolph, 70, of Stadium Drive in Boardman. As a Tier II sex offender, he will have to register his address every six months in the county where he lives for 25 years. Randolph was indicted Feb. 13, 2025, on felony counts of assault, sexual battery and two charges of endangering children. As part of a deal, Randolph on ...

New law creates state defense and space commission

Gov. Mike DeWine had a bill signing ceremony for a new law to create the Ohio Defense and Space Commission — legislation sponsored by state Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles. The Monday ceremony follows DeWine officially signing the bill into law on July 7. Santucci said: “Ohio is uniquely positioned to lead the next generation of American defense and aerospace innovation. This commission will bring together the right partners to compete for investment, grow advanced manufacturing, support our military installations and create good-paying jobs across our state.” The bill passed 86-7 ...

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 ...