Vindicator file photo /  December  9,  1933 | Esther Hamilton greets actress Rae Samuels and her accompanist, Bee Walker, at the railroad station before the Alias Santa Claus Show in 1933.  Hamilton was a columnist for the Youngstown Telegram in 1933, three years before the Vindicator absorbed it. Samuels was born in Youngstown in 1887 and this photo was taken the year her movie, “The Big Benefit” with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was released.
 
December 9
 
1996: Poland Mayor Ruth Wilkes says village zoning ordinances are not strong enough to hold off the sprawl that has transformed Boardman. 
 
The Pittsburgh Steelers clinch their fourth AFC Central Division title in four years under Coach Bill Cowher.
 
Dr. Henry Yoo, a Niles veterinarian, is looking for a home for a screech owl that was found injured in Farrell in November and that he has treated. The bird has become domesticated during its care and its broken wing would not allow it to fly normally, so it can't be released into the wild. 
 
1981: The Mahoning County Children Services Board fires a 31-year-old house parent for spanking an 11-year-old boy with a belt at a CSB receiving home. 
 
The Social Security office in Warren will move from Elm Road to the former Sears building on N. Park Ave. 
 
Youngstown will administer a new Civil Service test for minority applicants for police officers after the city hired 14 white police officers but only had four applicants on the minority list. The city is under a federal court order to hire one minority cadet for every two white cadets. 
 
1971: Youngstown Mayor Jack C. Hunter's salary is increased by City Council to $24,776, an increase of $1,363.
 
Niles police are searching for two suspects in the abduction of a girl, 6, and a boy, 4, at gunpoint from a Mason Street home. One of the gunmen is believed to be the children's father. 
 
Frank A. Nemec, chairman of the board of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., is elected a trustee of the Youngstown Hospital Association. 
 
1946: Willard Peterson of Linesville, Pa., a former Army pilot, is seriously injured when his plane crashes while attempting a takeoff from a field along Route 18 near the Isaly farm. 
 
Youngstown Hospital Association Trustees appeal to the people of Youngstown for $1 million needed to rebuild and expand South Side Hospital. 
 
The Rev. Henry Hughes, pastor of Elm Street Congregational Church who was a leader in clerical circles and among the Welsh people, dies in St. Elizabeth Hospital. He was 75.