VINDICATOR HEADLINES | THURSDAY

In an exclusive with The Vindicator editorial board Wednesday,

Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham recommended that school districts in the county consider consolidating to reduce budget constraints in the face of a continually dwindling tax-paying population. The proposal received pushback from area school officials, but Meacham said from a business perspective, it could be considered “right-sizing.” The five-county Mahoning and Shenango valleys in Ohio and Pennsylvania lost a combined 3,486 people, according to U.S. Census Bureau, and the year prior, it lost 6,384 people. Responding to the objections, Meacham asked, “Is the function here to employ adults or to educate children?”

The smallest word of encouragement could provide a very big positive impact on someone considering suicide, a local expert said Wednesday. Angela Kearns, mental health liaison at Alta Behavioral Healthcare, presented the program Wednesday, which trains gatekeepers to learn how to recognize suicide warning signs, how to offer hope, and know how to get help and save a life. QPR is an acronym for Question a person about suicide; Persuade someone to get help, and Refer someone to the appropriate resource. “The biggest thing is not to be apprehensive that by talking to someone about suicide you might put the thought into some’s head,” one attendee said. Suicide is the second-leading cause of deaths in youth and young adults.

As Poland Historical Society prepares to celebrate its 40th birthday, its next endeavor is expanding the parking lot at tits headquarters, the Little Red Schoolhouse on Center Road. The group has grown from single digits in 2012 to 107 members today, so more parking space is needed. Leaders credit the success of the group's programming with its recent growth. After its monthly meetings, the society hosts presentations on topics ranging from the history of Native Americans in the Valley to churches in Poland.

Mahoning County voters will consider 14 proposed tax issues while Trumbull County will have 22 during the Nov. 5 election.

One issue that failed to make the ballot is Youngstown schools' renewal levy, but one school board members noted the current levy doesn’t expire until the beginning of 2021, so there is time to get it placed on a ballot next year. Among the 14 issues in Mahoning County is renewal for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, the largest levy for the ballot and the only one that is countywide. There also are competitive trustee races in half of the county’s 14 townships. The elections board will meet Tuesday to certify issues and candidates to the ballot as well as potentially disqualify those that had issues with their petitions.

The attorney representing convicted killer Claudia Hoerig wants even more time to file a brief on behalf of her appeal. Hoerig was sentenced from 28 years to life in prison following her aggravated murder conviction in January for the shooting death in 2007 of her husband Karl Hoerig, a major in the Air Force reserves. She is serving her sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Atty. Michael Partlow asks in a new filing with the 11th District Court of Appeals that his deadline be extended to Aug. 16. It is his third extension request. Two previous extensions have been granted.

Attorneys on both sides of the Jesse Williams aggravated murder trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court agree on one thing that Williams shot 62-year-old Diane Dent to death June 10, 2018, as she answered a knock on her front door. But they disagree on why he did it. Assistant Prosecutor Rob Andrews told jurors in his closing argument Wednesday that Williams planned to kill Dent at her Goleta Avenue home because he was mad at her son, with whom he had fought the night before. But Williams’ attorney said Williams never planned the shooting and was coerced into it by a co-defendant, Rebecca Perez, 47, who played Williams off against Dent’s son, whom she used to date. Jurorsbegan deliberating about 2:30 p.m. and left at 5 p.m. without reaching a verdict. They are expected to resume deliberations today.

Starting Friday, Mahoning Valley audiences can get their first look at the film “Them That Follow," which was shot in Columbiana County, premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and also screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival. “Follow” is set in present-day Appalachia among an isolated snake-handling congregation of devout Pentecostals and tells the story of a pastor’s daughter who's promised to marry a young man in their faith but is having a relationship with a nonbeliever. The cast includes Oscar winner Olivia Colman; Walton Goggins, who will star in the upcoming CBS sitcom “The Unicorn; Kaitlyn Dever; Lewis Pullman; prolific and popular stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan; and Alice Englert. Four Valley residents have parts as extras.

The Music of Queen show will arrive at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre Saturday for its Mahoning Valley premiere. The show is a hybrid that follows a successful formula in which a rock band teams with classical musicians – in this case, the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra – to play classic rock.

Led by the late Freddie Mercury in its 1970s and ’80s heyday, Queen was one of the world’s biggest bands, producing hits such as “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “We Are the Champions,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Radio Ga Ga,” and of course, the operatic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”