21 WFMJ archives  / August 14, 1956 | Democratic women from Ohio gathered with Mrs. Frank X. Kryzan, center, wife of Youngstown’s mayor, at the Sherman Hotel on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago 68 years ago.  From left, Mrs. Clara Keener of Warren, Mrs. Margaret Moore of Warren, Mrs. Frank Whitaker of Youngstown, Mrs. Kryzan, Mrs. Joseph Knoske, Mrs. Ann Caporali, and Mrs. Mary Qualey, all of Warren.

August 15

1999: Poland officials and residents have mixed emotions about demolishing the 150-year-old Bishop House on Main Street. Some see the loss of an historic building, others recognize that it had been allowed to fall into disrepair and was unsalvageable.

Alice and Staughton Lynd, who heads a prison watchdog group called Prison Reform, surveyed more than 80 of the 500 inmates at the Ohio State Prison in Youngstown after two inmates committed suicide. The inmates suggested that without changes, there would be more suicides at the maximum security lock-up.

There is a construction boom in community mausoleums at area cemeteries, with Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown, Green Haven Memorial Gardens in Canfield, and Crown Hill Burial Park in Warren building new structures.

1984: The Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. will pay $150,000 for the Youngstown & Akron Railroad spur that serves Youngstown Steel Door and Ply Trim Corp. in Austintown. Conrail had petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the three-mile spur.

Jose Vargas, a 6-foot-9 basketball star from the Dominican Republic, was supposed to show up for orientation at Youngstown State University, but he is instead reported to be at Louisiana State University, and LSU's sports information office announced he would be playing his college basketball there.

Southern Park Mall will hold a birthday party for Donald Duck, who is turning 50. Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto will join Donald.

1974: Youngstown's assistant chief of detectives, the police chief's secretary, and two patrolmen are injured, none seriously, in three separate accidents involving police vehicles in a single day.

South Korean President Chung Hee Park escapes an assassination attempt, but his wife is killed by a gunshot. Much produce from home gardens appears destined for spoilage because of an acute national shortage of canning jars and lids. 

1949: Mahoning County Auditor Charles Rayburn signs a contract with Cole-Layer-Trumbull of Dayton to reappraise all real estate in the county based on 1941 building costs. 

Sister M. Germaine, superintendent of St. Elizabeth Hospital for 12 years, is assigned as director of the three Holy Humility of Mary hospitals in Ohio. 

Frank Bellino wins the Youngstown District Amateur Gold Medal Play Tournament Championship at the Warren Avalon Course.