BOARDMAN The word on the street: It's Jennette, not Jeannette

Residents had petitioned to have the old name updated.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If you're going to play "Wheel of Fortune" on Jennette Drive, don't ask to buy an "a," because there isn't one.
Mahoning County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to restore the spelling of the Boardman Township street from Jeannette, as it's currently known, to Jennette, its original spelling.
Jennette is a short street that extends south off Overhill Drive, east of Glenwood Avenue. It was originally named Jennette when it was built many years ago, but at some point over the years, residents and local officials began spelling it with an "a" inserted.
It appears as Jeannette on street signs.
Judith Kuti, who's lived on the street for 33 years, discovered the discrepancy last year and began pushing to have the name restored to its original spelling.
Several other residents of the street, though, petitioned township trustees and commissioners to officially change the name to include the "a." Commissioners rejected that petition Thursday.
"Thank you for helping me, and good luck to all of you," Kuti told commissioners.
Township trustees and the county engineer's office had sided with those who felt the current spelling should be adopted, because that's the one that has become commonly accepted.
"We just felt it would be the fairest and easiest way to go," Trustee Elaine Mancini said. "But the commissioners have spoken, and we'll let it go."
She said the township road department will post new street signs with the revised spelling. She wasn't sure how much a sign will cost but said the department has a shop where it makes its signs in-house.
Mancini said the change will create something of a hardship for residents who now will have to change the spelling of the street name on their driver's licenses and other legal documents.
"In everyday life, it doesn't mean anything," Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy county engineer, said of the change. "It's not going to cause anyone to stop getting their mail or anything like that."
Kenner said there at least two other streets in the county whose names are often spelled two different ways: Lyon Boulevard, sometimes called Lyons Boulevard; and Lutheran Lane, sometimes called Luteran Lane. Both are in Poland.