TODAY'S VINDICATOR HEADLINES | SUNDAY

What will happen when The Vindicator goes out of business Saturday, community leaders are wondering. Although the Tribune Chronicle purchased The Vindicator masthead, web domain address and subscription list, most of the Vindicator's 144 employees will have to find work elsewhere, possibly creating what is called a “news desert.” William Binning, retired YSU political science department chair, noted that "TV news does virtually no investigative journalism except what they copy off of print.' And U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland said “Without someone looking over your shoulder, it’s not just corruption we’ll see, but bad public policy. Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he’s concerned about what will be done with the building and the displaced employees. A 2018 study showed the loss of a newspaper causes municipal borrowing costs to increase, more government inefficiencies and increased taxes. Between 2004 and 2018, the US lost nearly 1,800 papers, with 100 in Ohio.

On Labor Day 100 years ago, labor unrest was rampant, according to Vindicator files, particularly in the Mahoning Valley, and the Great Steel Strike of 1919 broke out. Perhaps spurred by World War I, which ended Nov. 11, 1918, soldiers came home to find inflation making it difficult to afford basic needs, discrimination on the job, and long hours working seven days a week. Workers in the American Federation of Labor struck US Steel, and were joined by workers at other companies, eventually involving more than 350,000 workers. Timothy A. Seman, genealogy and local history librarian at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. The Great Strike, and all the smaller strikes of that era, added to the gradual movement toward collective bargaining.

The 173rd annual Canfield Fair is gearing up to open Wednesday with a jump from a plant that morning by Pat Moran Sr., the 84-year-old owner of Window World. There are more than 100 free shows and exhibits for fair-goers this year, and more than 600 food stands. Fair board President David Dickey said new thrills this year include the “Ring of Fire” looping ride, bigger rides that can hold more riders so lines are expected to move faster. For a full schedule of events, see today's Vindicator and Vindy.com.

Youngstown will become a Purple Heart City and part of the Purple Heart Trail during a ceremony at noon Wednesday on Central Square, downtown. Herman K. Breuer, commander of Military Order of Purple Heart Chapter 606 in Trumbull County, and a member of the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission, will be master of ceremonies. Posting and retiring of colors will be by American Legion Post 737 of Lake Milton. The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces who is wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the U.S. or as the result of an international terrorist attack against the U.S. or a foreign nation friendly to the United States. All veterans and the general public are invited to attend.

The Butler Institute of American Art has been around for 100 years, and Lou Zona has been in its driver’s seat for almost the last 40. The museum has been marking its centennial this year with special exhibitions, performances and lectures, and a black-tie gala celebration will take place in October. In a recent interview with The Vindicator , Zona recalled his lifetime in art and his work at the Butler, from his childhood with a commercial artist brother through the beginning of his association with the Butler, through then-Butler chief Joseph G. Butler, the grandson of the founder. Read today's Vindicator or Vindy.com. for his full story.