Steady traffic for Traficant tickets today

YOUNGSTOWN — Traffic was slow but steady this morning to get free tickets at the DeYor Performing Arts Center’s box office to a Nov. 30 public celebration of the life of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.

The box office was to open at 10 a.m., but it opened 30 minutes early because of the weather, DeYor employees said.

This was the first day to get the tickets with about 10 people lined up outside the building waiting for the box office to open.

Among them was Joe Louis Teague of Youngstown, who unsuccessfully ran in 2002 to succeed Traficant in Congress.

“He was good for the Valley,” Teague said. “I want to pay my respects.”

A number of those who came to get free tickets said they knew Traficant, who died Sept. 27, four days after a tractor he was driving fell on top of him.

“I grew up with Jim in the Lansingville area” of Youngstown, said Joseph Planey of Boardman. “With all the good he did in the area, he should get a packed house” on Nov. 30.

The event is at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 at DeYor’s Edward W. Powers Auditorium.

The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. There is a limit of four tickets per person and are being given away on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets are required to attend the event.

The facility can hold up to 2,300 people, but if there is a greater demand, DeYor officials said they can increase the capacity.

For the complete story, read Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com