Forward Ohio launch

Forward Ohio launch

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University is joining Ohio’s 13 other public universities to launch Forward Ohio, a statewide campaign to raise awareness of the value of public higher education, spur efforts to close the state’s college attainment gap and mobilize support for enhanced investment in public higher education.

YSU has introduced several programs aimed to keep college affordable and help students graduate on time, including a new guaranteed four-year tuition program.

YSU also has put into place several initiatives to help improve Ohio’s workforce, including the new Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center under development just south of campus.

Bling Boutique Sale

AUSTINTOWN

The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary is hosting a Bling Boutique Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Preakness Neighborhood Garage Sale, just off New Road.

Find the Bling Boutique at 5280 Nashua Drive for costume jewelry, scarves and purses. All proceeds from the boutique support Salvation Army programs and projects.

These programs include the after-school program, the holiday toy drive and the soup kitchen to help those less fortunate.

2 juveniles escape fire

NEW MIDDLETOWN

Two juveniles treated for smoke inhalation escaped serious injury when their home at 10202 Main St. in the village caught fire about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Several fire departments responded to the blaze, which was across from the Dairy Queen, said Tammy Beatty, village assistant fire chief.

Providing mutual aid were the Western Reserve Joint Fire District and Springfield Township fire departments.

Beatty said the cause of the blaze, which severely damaged the two-story, single-family structure, remained unknown Wednesday night.

Spoken-word events

YOUNGSTOWN

Two spoken-word events are set Friday at South Side Academy, 1400 Oak Hill Ave., and Kirkmere Elementary School, 2851 Kirk Road, featuring The Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word, a group of male teens 8 to 18 from Cleveland who deliver performance poetry.

The group will be at South Side Academy at 10 a.m. and at Kirkmere at 1 p.m.

The group takes classic poetry pieces, movement poetry (mime/breaking/flexing) and combines them with the art of spoken word. The performance features the literary works of Shakespeare, Langston Hughes and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. The young men have dedicated themselves to a drug- and violent-free lifestyle and the achievement of academic excellence.

The performance is a project of Coalition For Health Promotion, an activity of the Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, which attempts to reduce youth substance use.

Foster parents needed

NILES

Homes For Kids/Child and Family Solutions will host an open house Tuesday. A morning session will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, and the evening session will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Homes For Kids training building, 41 N. Main St., for anyone over age 21 interested in becoming a foster parent.

There is an extreme shortage of foster homes in the Mahoning Valley due to the number of local children coming into care. Many of the foster children are suffering from abuse and neglect and range in age from toddlers to teenagers.

Pre-service classes for becoming a foster parent are available and are ongoing. For information, contact Karla Matig at 330-544-8005, ext. 414, or email Karla@hfk.org.

‘Day with Dr. Kathy’

BOARDMAN

Kathy Padgitt, of The Center for Lifestyle Change, is offering “A Spring Day with Dr. Kathy” on Sunday at the Holiday Inn, 7410 South Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. the day of the event during a meet and greet.

Tickets are $65 per person, which includes a plant-based lunch. Tickets can be purchased via the event link on Dr. Kathy’s Facebook page. For information, call 330-759-4570.

Scheduled activities are a yoga session at 8:45 a.m.; session on essential oils at 9:45 a.m.; a sound bath experience that is part meditation and part listening exercise at 10:15 a.m.; a superfood lecture on “Beyond The Basics: Supplements, Super Foods & Combining,” at 11:15 a.m.; and lunch at 11:45 a.m. during which Padgitt will discuss the value of a plant-based diet.

The event ends with a lesson in meditation led by Padgitt from 12:45 to 1:15 p.m.