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OUR COMMUNITY

Youngstown mayor targets finances, crime, neighborhoods as 2009 priorities

By Peter H. Milliken. The mayor will seek re-election, but, this time, as a Democrat.
YOUNGSTOWN - Mayor Jay Williams said his priorities for 2009 will include keeping the city's budget balanced, putting into effect the city's landlord registration program and achieving another 28 percent or greater reduction in the city's homicide rate. “We're going to again face some very tough economic challenges, but I believe that, if we work together as a City Hall, labor and management, that we can get through 2009, hopefully with no deficit and no layoffs,” the mayor said. “We want to continue our neighborhood development. We've seen demolition have a positive impact on our neighborhoods,” the mayor said. The mayor said he wants to use the city's multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to strengthen neighborhoods through demolition and rehabilitation and to put into effect the landlord registration program.

...more

Valley marchers show support for Palestinians

Monday, January 5, 2009 By Sean Barron. The route approximated the length of Gaza, an organizer said. YOUNGSTOWN - When it comes to showing solidarity toward those who are suffering or have lost their lives during the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, Najah Ahmed and Fadwa Aburahma were more than willing to go the extra mile. Or 14 miles, to be more precise. “I hope we will encourage someone to do something about the killing and bombing,” Ahmed said, referring to one reason she decided to take part in Sunday's Death March, in which participants walked about 14 miles from downtown Youngstown to Warren. Ahmed, of Youngstown, who has relatives in the West Bank, said seeing disturbing images on the news, such as medical personnel being unable to reach injured people near demolished homes, prompted her to join the walk. Much of the media is biased in favor of Israel, and Hamas is trying to defend land that was stolen from the Palestinians, said Aburahma, of Youngstown. Many people in Gaza are without food, electricity and other essential needs, she continued. “I love the Palestinians; they 're my family,” Aburahma added. The march was set up to call attention to and honor the several hundred lives lost in eight days of Israeli air and ground strikes in Gaza, and to protest what marchers say is unjustified Israeli aggression against Palestinians and others living in the narrow region.

...more

Govenor Strickland holds Education Forums

On September 3, 2008 at Youngstown State University, Govenor Strickland conducted a forum on Education. The Youngstown forum was the eleventh of 12 statewide meetings. The first forum was in Columbus Ohio on July 22 and the last will be in Mansfiled on September 15. At each regional forum, local citizens including parents, and educators, have the opportunity to share their thoughts and propose ideas on creating a system of education that is innovative, personalized and linked to economic prosperity in Ohio. At the Youngstown forum, the Govenor discussed his six principles for education reform and specific ideas for education while facilitating an interactive conversation with audience members. A second round of education forums will be held later in the fall of 2008 and will focus on how to properly finance a truly reformed system of education. The governor plans to introduce his education reform proposal in 2009. ...forum

Senator Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States

From ABC news Barack Obama cruised to victory Tuesday night in an historic triumph that promised change, overcame centuries of prejudice and fulfilled Martin Luther King's dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. Barack Obama is elected the 44th U.S. president in a landslide. Obama, a first-term senator with little experience on the national level, made history by becoming the nation's first black president and defeating Sen. John McCain in a landslide. In his acceptance speech before some 150,000 supporters in Grant Park in Chicago, Obama complimented McCain on a hard-fought campaign and promised that a “new dawn of American leadership is at hand.” ...more

Polls Find that Race did not play a role in election

From New York Times All the ominous predictions, all the fretting about hidden votes and closeted racists frustrating a victory for the nation's first African-American president came down to this: the so-called Bradley effect did not exist. People did not lie - to pollsters or to themselves - about whether they would vote for a black man. The polls, national and statewide, generally predicted the results with accuracy. “The unambiguous answer is that there was no Bradley effect,” said Mark Blumenthal, the editor and publisher of Pollster.com, a Web site that publishes and analyzes poll results. A different question, of course, is whether race was a factor in how people voted, and for a small group of voters - 19 percent - it was, according to surveys of voters leaving the polls. But race turned out to be less of an issue than predicted even three months ago, when twice that percentage in a CNN poll said it would be at least a small factor in their vote. ...more

Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama visited our area

Before attending the funeral of Sen. Tubbs in Cleveland, on Saturday August 30th, Senator Barack Obama Democratic Nominee for President with his running mate Sen Joe Biden and wife Michelle Obama, visited our area for a campaign stop. The unlikely place was Yankee Kitchen Family Restaurant in Boardman. Sen. Obama also made a campaign speech in Dublin, Ohio before a crowd of almost 20,000. Before becoming the nominee, he spoke at YSU at Beeghly Center before nearly 20,000.

...more

Sen. Joe Biden Visited Youngstown

Sen. Joe Biden, vice-president elect, visited the Valley on Thursday Sept. 18. He spoke to crowd of over 1000 supporters Downtown infront of the old Phar-mor Building in Federal Plaza. This was one stop in Biden's bus tour of northeast Ohio which included stops in Canton, Wooster, Toledo and Akron. He was introduced by our Mayor Jay Williams who spoke briefly on the realities of managing a small town with big problems likened to many cities in Ohio and America and how the Obama/Biden ticket have the policies that will help address those problems. Sen. Biden spoke on our current economic crisis and the need government policies that allow average workers to regain the respect they have lost over the last 8 years. ...pictures

OUR COMMUNITY		Archive
Youngstown mayor targets finances, crime, neighborhoods as 2009 priorities By Peter H. Milliken. The mayor will seek re-election, but, this time, as a Democrat. YOUNGSTOWN - Mayor Jay Williams said his priorities for 2009 will include keeping the city's budget balanced, putting into effect the city's landlord registration program and achieving another 28 percent or greater reduction in the city's homicide rate. “We're going to again face some very tough economic challenges, but I believe that, if we work together as a City Hall, labor and management, that we can get through 2009, hopefully with no deficit and no layoffs,” the mayor said. “We want to continue our neighborhood development. We've seen demolition have a positive impact on our neighborhoods,” the mayor said. The mayor said he wants to use the city's multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to strengthen neighborhoods through demolition and rehabilitation and to put into effect the landlord registration program. ...more

Valley marchers show support for Palestinians Monday, January 5, 2009 By Sean Barron. The route approximated the length of Gaza, an organizer said. YOUNGSTOWN - When it comes to showing solidarity toward those who are suffering or have lost their lives during the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, Najah Ahmed and Fadwa Aburahma were more than willing to go the extra mile. Or 14 miles, to be more precise. “I hope we will encourage someone to do something about the killing and bombing,” Ahmed said, referring to one reason she decided to take part in Sunday's Death March, in which participants walked about 14 miles from downtown Youngstown to Warren. Ahmed, of Youngstown, who has relatives in the West Bank, said seeing disturbing images on the news, such as medical personnel being unable to reach injured people near demolished homes, prompted her to join the walk. Much of the media is biased in favor of Israel, and Hamas is trying to defend land that was stolen from the Palestinians, said Aburahma, of Youngstown. Many people in Gaza are without food, electricity and other essential needs, she continued. “I love the Palestinians; they 're my family,” Aburahma added. The march was set up to call attention to and honor the several hundred lives lost in eight days of Israeli air and ground strikes in Gaza, and to protest what marchers say is unjustified Israeli aggression against Palestinians and others living in the narrow region. ...more

Govenor Strickland holds Education Forums On September 3, 2008 at Youngstown State University, Govenor Strickland conducted a forum on Education. The Youngstown forum was the eleventh of 12 statewide meetings. The first forum was in Columbus Ohio on July 22 and the last will be in Mansfiled on September 15. At each regional forum, local citizens including parents, and educators, have the opportunity to share their thoughts and propose ideas on creating a system of education that is innovative, personalized and linked to economic prosperity in Ohio. At the Youngstown forum, the Govenor discussed his six principles for education reform and specific ideas for education while facilitating an interactive conversation with audience members. A second round of education forums will be held later in the fall of 2008 and will focus on how to properly finance a truly reformed system of education. The governor plans to introduce his education reform proposal in 2009. ...forum

Senator Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States From ABC news Barack Obama cruised to victory Tuesday night in an historic triumph that promised change, overcame centuries of prejudice and fulfilled Martin Luther King's dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. Barack Obama is elected the 44th U.S. president in a landslide. Obama, a first-term senator with little experience on the national level, made history by becoming the nation's first black president and defeating Sen. John McCain in a landslide. In his acceptance speech before some 150,000 supporters in Grant Park in Chicago, Obama complimented McCain on a hard-fought campaign and promised that a “new dawn of American leadership is at hand.” ...more	Polls Find that Race did not play a role in election From New York Times All the ominous predictions, all the fretting about hidden votes and closeted racists frustrating a victory for the nation's first African-American president came down to this: the so-called Bradley effect did not exist. People did not lie - to pollsters or to themselves - about whether they would vote for a black man. The polls, national and statewide, generally predicted the results with accuracy. “The unambiguous answer is that there was no Bradley effect,” said Mark Blumenthal, the editor and publisher of Pollster.com, a Web site that publishes and analyzes poll results. A different question, of course, is whether race was a factor in how people voted, and for a small group of voters - 19 percent - it was, according to surveys of voters leaving the polls. But race turned out to be less of an issue than predicted even three months ago, when twice that percentage in a CNN poll said it would be at least a small factor in their vote. ...more

Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama visited our area Before attending the funeral of Sen. Tubbs in Cleveland, on Saturday August 30th, Senator Barack Obama Democratic Nominee for President with his running mate Sen Joe Biden and wife Michelle Obama, visited our area for a campaign stop. The unlikely place was Yankee Kitchen Family Restaurant in Boardman. Sen. Obama also made a campaign speech in Dublin, Ohio before a crowd of almost 20,000. Before becoming the nominee, he spoke at YSU at Beeghly Center before nearly 20,000. ...more	Sen. Joe Biden Visited Youngstown Sen. Joe Biden, vice-president elect, visited the Valley on Thursday Sept. 18. He spoke to crowd of over 1000 supporters Downtown infront of the old Phar-mor Building in Federal Plaza. This was one stop in Biden's bus tour of northeast Ohio which included stops in Canton, Wooster, Toledo and Akron. He was introduced by our Mayor Jay Williams who spoke briefly on the realities of managing a small town with big problems likened to many cities in Ohio and America and how the Obama/Biden ticket have the policies that will help address those problems. Sen. Biden spoke on our current economic crisis and the need government policies that allow average workers to regain the respect they have lost over the last 8 years. ...pictures