TODAY'S VINDICATOR HEADLINES | MONDAY

Mary Guerrieri, a resident at the Heritage Manor Rehabilitation & Retirement Community, 517 Gypsy Lane, is one of the five residents participating in the new Music & Memory program.

The program involves senior citizens, especially those with Alzheimer’s and dementia, listening to music that jogs pleasant memories for an hour at a time. “It brings back every memory, it’s wonderful,” said Guerrieri, who has dementia. The Association of Jewish Aging Services awarded a $31,000 grant for a Music & Memory program to Heritage Manor, which paid for equipment including headphones and iPod/MP3 players. According to the Music & Memory program website, a study on participants showed increased elimination of anti-psychotic medication because the program lessened agitation and negative moods.

Ideal weather greeted the estimated 12,000 people of all ages in the 2019 Panerathon who walked or ran in support of loved ones who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and to raise funds for the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Sunday's event was expected to generate more than $525,000 for the Mercy Health Foundation and the center. “This is a special year as we come together to celebrate where our Valley began – with one of the highest breast cancer mortality rates in the nation – to where we are today,” Sam Covelli, owner and operator of Covelli Enterprises, said in a statement. “Over the last 10 years, the quality of life for the people in our community has been improved through Panerathon and its mission to support" the Abdu Center.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened eight disaster recovery centers in the aftermath of the late May flooding, and Mahoning County was second to Montgomery County in grant money awarded to affected residents.

As of Friday, 936 Mahoning County residents registered with FEMA and received a total of $670,325 in FEMA grant money.

The grants are divided into three categories: basic repairs, temporary housing and repair or replacement of essential household equipment, including vehicles. Mahoning County residents can register with FEMA until Sept. 3.

If it seems as if the portion of Lowellville south of the Mahoning River is markedly different from the northern section, that’s because until Lowellville’s incorporation in 1890, it was a completely different community called McGillsville. In 1800, John McGill moved to the region from Pennsylvania and became the first person to settle the area along the river that now known as Lowellville. McGill bought 200 acres and built a grist mill, which attracted more people who formed a small community eventually called McGillsville. Today, McGill and his family are remembered as the namesakes of McGill Street in Lowellville.

The death of Christine Beheler, a mother of four who drowned saving the lives of two young children swimming in Mosquito Lake July 29, left her family bereft and the family’s dog, Max, without a home. Then, on Aug. 14, another dog was discovered in a donation bag at The Salvation Army in Warren by Carlton Gillis, who saw the bag moving and found a flea-infested dog inside. He posted the event on Facebook. Enter Jason Cooke and his nonprofit organization, the Healthy Hearts and Paws Project. Cooke stepped in and found homes for both Max and the trashed dog, who Carlton named “Daisy.” Max joined the family of Jennifer and Dennis Shields of New Castle and their other dogs, and after being inundated with adoption requests for Daisy, Cooke settled on an Austintown couple who recently lost their dog to illness.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland has called on his fellow Democratic presidential candidates to end the exclusivity agreement to allow candidates to discuss their plans in front of the American people in light of the Democratic National Committee’s failure to vote to hold a climate debate. “It’s truly a disappointment that the DNC denied our party the opportunity to show America that a strong agenda that reverses climate change means high-paying manufacturing jobs for American union workers and solid profits for American farmers,” said Ryan, D-13th. Ryan invites other presidential candidates to have that debate in Northeast Ohio in front of audience members from industrial belt communities who want to know how climate change and green energy plans could affect them.