The Biggest Local Stories of 2016

January 1, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

By GRAIG GRAZIOSI

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown – for better or worse – became a convenient symbol for the national media in 2016.

The city became a catch-all for portraying the “forgotten America” that elected Donald Trump: Across the nation, images of abandoned steel mills and pudgy, blue-collar workers accompanied print and television reports telling the tired-but-true tale of a marginalized population saying “enough is enough.”

Away from the national narrative, plenty of local news – ranging from unusual political developments and high praise for high schools to murder and terrorism – added depth and complexity to the evolving story of Youngstown, and Vindicator readers took notice.

Top Page Views

One way to gauge the interest of Vindicator news is to measure which stories garnered the most page views on Vindy.com. Here are the top stories:

Politics reporter David Skolnick played a large role in bringing national attention to Youngstown’s shifting political climate during the presidential election.

In April, Skolnick reported that more than 6,000 Democrats in Mahoning County switched party affiliation to Republican with the intent to vote for Trump in the state primaries. The story was the most viewed of the year and was publicized nationally by Yahoo News.

Creepy clown sightings became a near national panic in the months leading up to Halloween.

Though the legitimacy of many of the sightings of menacing clowns is debatable, it can be said with confidence these creepy encounters captured the public’s morbid fascination. Though a number of sightings were reported in Canfield, residents across the Mahoning Valley – and the United States – reported seeing the jarring jesters. The clowns drew thousands of page views during their short-lived reign of terror.

An East High School fight on March 8 resulted in three arrests and class cancellations at the school. The fight made national news due to the intensity of the fight and the magnitude of the response. Police officers had to use pepper spray to break up the fight.

It was revealed that United Airlines Flight 93, one of the airliners hijacked during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before crashing into a field near Shanksville, Pa., flew directly over Howland. According to GPS data tracking Flight 93, the doomed plane dropped altitude just over state Route 11, and continued to lose altitude as it passed over Howland Springs Elementary School.

The bizarre story of a drunken woman who, spurned by a lover in a “side relationship,” kicked a Youngstown paramedic in the face and head after having her phone taken away. It was viewed more than 10,000 times. On May 9, V’Aira Janelle Vaughn-Lewis was found by police dry heaving outside of the home of a man with whom she had the relationship. After police took her phone, she became angry and kicked a paramedic in the head several times before being restrained.

After U.S. marshals arrested Kimani Hodges on Feb. 17 in connection with the shooting death of Jason Fonseca on the East Side of Youngstown, the story resulted in thousands of page views. Fonseca was killed during an argument over a woman both he and Hodges were involved with. Hodges – along with Angel Bell, a woman associated with the men – are awaiting trial for the incident.

Unexpected layoffs at Mill Creek MetroParks due to “internal reorganization” in early 2016 proved controversial, setting off significant public backlash and prompting a call from a group of outraged citizens for the repeal of a 15-year renewal tax levy for the park. The Vindicator broke the story that prompted months of follow- up reporting.

A U.S. News and World Report released in April highlighting the top high schools for college preparedness nationwide included six Mahoning Valley high schools. Columbiana, Canfield, Boardman, Hubbard, Struthers and Springfield high schools were the highest ranked schools – receiving a silver designation – in the Mahoning Valley on the list. Twenty-one other Mahoning Valley schools were included on the list, receiving a bronze designation.

The death of Austintown firefighter John Fritz, 48, on June 27 drew significant attention from the public. Fritz was a 24-year veteran firefighter and died while on duty at Fire Station No. 1.

Confirmation in December that four YSU football players faced suspensions for testing positive for illicit substances drew thousands of page views in the days before the FCS semifinal game against Eastern Washington.

MAKING NATIONAL NEWS

While Skolnick’s politics coverage and the East High School melee story also garnered national attention, other Vindicator stories were featured elsewhere.

Black Lives Matter continued to dominate national headlines in 2016. A Youngstown attorney, Andrea Burton, made her own headlines when she was arrested July 22 after refusing to remove a BLM button in the courtroom.

More specifically, a story the newspaper broke reporting that Burton was suing the city as well as Judge Robert Milich – who ordered her to take the button off – and Judge Elizabeth Kolbywas picked up by both the Associated Press and the New York Daily News.

The Washington Post named Vindicator Columbus correspondent Marc Kovac one of Ohio’s best political reporters for the 2016 primary elections. Kovac was one of eight Ohio reporters on the list assembled by the Post’s “The Fix” political blog by Chris Cillizza.

The story of Damon Hodges – a Liberty high school football player with prosthetic legs – ranked among the most viewed stories on Vindy.com in 2016. The story of Hodges, who hopes to eventually play for the pros, also gained national media attention.