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The Valley's Top 10 Stories of 2010
By Elise Franco
efranco@vindy.com
The launch of the Chevrolet Cruze was undeniably one of the most significant events in the Mahoning Valley in 2010.
Whether it was the anticipation of the new General Motors Lordstown-built car or the widely spoken notion that the Cruze was expected to bring Lordstown back to peak operations, Vindicator editors and reporters voted it the top local news story of 2010.
Jim Graham, president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112, said hearing the Cruze was voted to the top means a lot to autoworkers.
“We worked very hard to get the Cruze, and now it’s paying off,” he said. “A lot of people in the area knew how important the plant was. The Cruze has done a lot for the image and economy of Lordstown and the Mahoning Valley.”
Graham said he expects 2011 to be another strong year for the Cruze and GM Lordstown.
“To sell a lot of cars, that’s our expectation,” he said. “That’s what we’re working toward.”
No. 2 St. Dominic murders
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Father Gregory Maturi, pastor of St. Dominic Church
Violence continued to rear its head in Youngstown in 2010.
Two murder victims were elderly members of the same church.
Angeline Fimognari, 80, was gunned down Jan. 23 as she sat in her car in the parking lot of St. Dominic Church on the city’s South Side. She had just left an early morning mass.
Jamar Houser, 18, is charged in the murder.
Thomas Repchic, 74, was shot and killed Sept. 24 as he and his wife, Jacqueline Repchic, 74, were driving from the church.
Police have said the shooting was likely a case of mistaken identity.
Aubrey Toney, 29, and Kevin D. Agee Jr., 25, both of Youngstown, are awaiting trial for murder and felonious assault in that case.
The Rev. Gregory Maturi of St. Dominic Church said the tragedies helped spark something in parish members and in himself.
Father Maturi, who came to Youngstown in November 2009, said these murders were so much more shocking because of who the victims were.
“A big factor is the notion that these were elderly people; these were innocent people minding their own business not harming anybody,” he said. “That upset people more.”
No. 3 Oakhill indictments
Seven prominent players – and three companies – in the Mahoning Valley were indicted July 29 by a Mahoning County Grand Jury in connection with Oakhill
Renaissance Place. Mahoning County Commissioner John A. McNally IV, County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, former county treasurer John B. Reardon, attorney Martin Yavorcik, businessman Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., Flora Cafaro and former Jobs and Family Services Director John Zachariah were indicted on charges of corruption in connection with the county’s purchase of the former South Side Hospital.
The 73-count indictment followed an investigation by special prosecutors who investigated the county’s relocation of the County’s Job and Family Services (JFS) office from Garland Plaza to the Oak-hill Renaissance building. A trial is tentatively set for June 2011.
No. 4 V&M Star deal finalized
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Hundreds break ground for V&M Star expansion.
Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said the V&M Star expansion is a project that will help define the community for decades to come.
The announcement that V&M Star would invest $650 million in an expansion plant next to its current location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard came in February. Williams worked with Girard Mayor Jim Melfi and other city officials to negotiate a land-tax deal.
“What you have with V&M is the reincarnation of a part of the industry that made us great,” Williams said. The Mahoning Valley will have a more-diversified economy and be more globally competitive.”
No. 5 Vivian Martin murdered
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Realtor Vivian Martin
Robert Brooks, 25, of Youngstown and Grant Cooper, 21, of Brookfield face the death penalty in the September murder of local real-estate agent Vivian Martin.
Martin, 67, was robbed and murdered in a Nelson Avenue home before the building was set on fire with her body inside. Investigators with the Mahoning County coroner’s office determined that Martin had been strangled before the fire at the home had been set.
After her funeral, friends and relatives gathered at the Nelson Avenue home where Martin was killed.
“The legacy she passed on to us is, ‘You can make it,’ said Martin’s brother, the Rev. Raymond Pates of Birmingham, Ala. “We cannot allow this to stop us or turn us bitter. Let the death motivate us to do better.”
No. 6 Sidney Cornwell granted clemency
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Sidney Cornwell
Outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland came under fire after granting last-minute clemency to convicted murderer Sidney Cornwell on Nov. 15.
The decision, which shifted Cornwell’s sentence to life in prison without parole, went against the 7-1 recommendation of the state parole board.
Cornwell was convicted of killing 3-year-old Jessica Ballew in an early-morning shooting in June 1996.
Strickland cited a recently diagnosed genetic disorder known as Klinefelter’s syndrome as part of his decision, saying that if the jury had known about the disorder they may have made a different sentencing recommendation.
No. 7 Forum Health sale
The $120 million sale of Forum Health to Tennessee-based Community Health Systems in October ended a 17-month bankruptcy for the local health system.
Forum’s three main hospitals — Northside Medical Center in Youngstown, Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland — will change their tax-exempt status to become for-profit affiliates of CHS, the country’s largest publicly traded hospital company.
CHS has more than 120 affiliates nationwide.
No. 8 Youngstown schools fail again
For the second consecutive year, Youngstown city schools are in academic emergency, making them the worst in the state, according to state report-card data.
Since then, an academic- distress commission adopted an Academic Recovery Plan and is working with Youngstown to implement it in the 2011-12 school year.
Some of the plan’s benchmarks include increasing the graduation rate by 2 percent and reducing the percentage of students not proficient in math and reading in each subgroup by 10 percent as measured by the Ohio Achievement Assessments and the Ohio Graduation tests.
No. 9 Local Democrats ousted
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Gov. Ted Strickland
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Charlie Wilson
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Linda Bolon
The Nov. 2 general election left democrats in the Mahoning Valley feeling a bit sour.
In addition to Gov. Ted Strickland’s loss to Gov.-elect John Kasich, two local Democrat incumbents lost their seats to Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson and state Rep. Linda Bolon both lost their elections.
No. 10 Reconfiguration of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese
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Bishop George V. Murry
The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown announced its reconfiguration plan in May.
Bishop George V. Murry said the final plan will consolidate parishes from 112 to 87 over a period of two years.
The plan merges 22 of the 35 Mahoning County parishes; seven of the 19 in Trumbull County; and three of the 11 in Columbiana County. The rest either will collaborate with other parishes or stand as single units.