21 WFMJ archives  / January  17, 1985 | U.S. Rep. James A Traficant Jr., third from left, was surrounded by labor union members at Alberini's Restaurant 40 years ago for the launch of a local effort to attract a Saturn Corp. facility to the Valley.  Others are John Rock, Robert Holden, David Cracium, Harold Nichols, and James Flowers. 

January 19


2000: Mahoning Valley Democratic legislators give Ohio Gov. Bob Taft high marks on his State of the State address, which included proposals to fund school buildings and economic development that will affect the area.

James "Doc" Pugh, chairman of the Trumbull County NAACP, tells county commissioners that the seven member Children Services Board should have more than one black member, since the county population is 17 percent black.

Retired Sharon educator Donald A. Bennett, 76, was surprised when a motion was made in November to name the Sharon High School auditorium in his honor, then hurt when the motion failed on a 4-4 tie. The board has now voted 9-0 to rename the administration building the Donald A. Bennett Educational Service Center. 


1985: The Lake Milton Baptist Temple on state Route 534 is destroyed by fire despite the efforts in subzero temperature of firefighters from six volunteer fire departments.

Dr. Allen P. Splete announces his pending resignation  as president of Westminster College.

Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, reaffirms his interest in buying the San Francisco Giants baseball team. 


1975: Youngstown police arrest two men and confiscate heroin and cocaine valued at $8,000 following an investigation by narcotics officers.

Thomas Hart Benton, whose paintings bore a rugged flavor of America that won him worldwide acclaim, dies at 85 in Kansas City. 

Dr. Robert W. Kerpsack, co-owner of the Kerpsack Veterinarian Clinic, is elected president of the Chesterton Club. 


1950: Some Youngstown District steel plants will have to begin cutting iron and steel output within a week unless the strike by coal miners is settled. 

The explosion of a 20-inch gas pipe near Caldwell, Ohio, sends flames 500 feet in the air and blackens 60 acres of farmland before the line could be bypassed and the fire extinguished.