‘Best of Covelli’ game starts Monday

We’ve added two things to The Vindicator lineup for you to note – one for fun and one for public service.

First the fun.

On today’s front page, we take a long look at the 10-year history of the Covelli Centre and its amazing trek to today.

I wrote about it last week saying that, to me, the downtown we enjoy today in Youngstown is largely the result of the center.

The downtown we could possibly have in the years to come will still be a result of the arena. But it also will be from the energy and economy of other businesses, which were still the result of the center.

That’s the power. Our story today connects today’s success back to the bumpy beginning.

It’s been an amazing path.

Key to the Covelli’s success has been the exhaustive list of top artists who have visited the venue.

But the Covelli significance has not just been A-list stars, but also events and performances that are right or right for their time.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Cirque du Soleil, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, sports with Youngstown Phantoms, Mahoning Valley Thunder and Youngstown Steelhounds, etc.

So that got us to thinking: What’s the best Covelli event ever – regardless of money?

Is it Elton John selling out twice?

Was it the middleweight championship fight with Kelly Pavlik?

How about the civic surge when Bill Clinton rallied the Mahoning Valley during the Obama run?

Exciting sports opportunities like hockey and arena football?

There are so many successes. But is there a best success? It’s almost unfair to ask.

So we will!

We created a fun game on Vindy.com. It starts Monday at 9 a.m., and it’s called “The Best of the Covelli Centre,” and you get to decide all this week in tournamentlike voting.

We are presenting to you 16 key events that we think helped define the facility.

Some are obvious for their sellouts, but they are not all sellouts. Some are for their significance – even if they were smaller in crowd turnout.

Our “Best of” opening round will be Monday and Tuesday, and the 16 events we chose have been paired off into eight contests. You will vote for a “Best” event in each contest.

The eight “Best” will advance to Wednesday. Four will advance to Thursday. The final two “Bests” will have a championship match Friday.

Have fun with us this week.

lockup list

Certainly not fun is crime and the court system.

A key role for The Vindicator is to keep you aware of key criminal activity in various places around the Valley.

Our coverage is the most comprehensive of any you will get from any local media. We’re in local police stations for neighborhood-level arrests. We chase the police-scanner calls. We report on the most-significant court cases.

We added to the effort last week with the “Lockup List,” a daily listing of the people who have been booked or released from the Mahoning County jail.

It’s been well-read content on Vindy.com. But it has surprised a few folks, and even prompted some complaints that we’re stooping to low-brow coverage.

A main staple of a daily newspaper is monitoring public safety and equipping the community with vital information.

If it’s low-brow work, then we’ve been guilty for a long time.

You can look for the information to hit our website and Facebook page each day about 1 p.m.

Stay safe.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.