STRUTHERS – Like public food? What about sanitary public food? Normally, you wouldn’t get one without the other, but you may have been exposed to food-borne illness if you visited the Tangier Pizza Shop before it closed in September.

Dominion Gas Company had shut off gas to the Tangier, 880 Youngstown-Poland Road, on Aug. 27, according to a letter from Struthers City Board of Health Commissioner John J. Yemma to the shop’s owner, Michael Nicholson.

On Sept. 4, the letter said, the board office received a call that the food facility had no hot water. Struthers’ registered sanitarian, Lori Diorio, tested the water that day and confirmed the findings.

“Quote from Lori. Gotta find my notes.”

This is not the first time this has happened, the letter stated. A few months ago, the same situation occurred and the Tangier was given time to resolve the situation before being allowed to reopen.

This time, Nicholson apparently abandoned the cause, and the words “For Lease” and a phone number dress the marquee near the shop’s landmark patio front. The Tangier has been in Struthers for decades.

“Quote from someone who visited the Tangier”

According to the letter, the Tangier Pizza Shop served both ready-to-eat and potentially hazardous foods, classifying it as a Commercial Risk Level 4: the highest tier of risk levels, requiring four in-depth inspections a year. Not having hot water is considered a critical violation of the Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code, since it could contribute to food-borne illness.

According to the board of health, having no hot water is grounds for a license suspension, and repeat offenders can have their licenses revoked completely (giving business more than one chance is "a matter of protocol," according to Mahoning County Director of Environmental Health Rick Setty). Even though the Tangier has been found without hot water in the past, the board merely suspended Nicholson’s license again.

If Nicholson hadn’t moved out in September, he may have reopened once more.

Diorio, a member of the Struthers Board of Health for over a decade, said she has never had to revoke a businesses license, but various violations happen all the time.

The Tangier's was the first business license she had to suspend.

“Try to call Nicholson”

The Tangier is a weed in sea of roses, according to Mahoning County Director of Environmental Health Rick Setty.

"Overall, most restaurants have a pretty good track record," he said. The Mahoning County board of health covers everything in the county except Youngstown and Struthers, who have separate heath departments. "Typically, most problems are fixed [at a business] after the first or second notice."

Delaware will make America aware of its voters

DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio - Just by sheer size and popularity, Delaware County is sure to have a remarkable impact on the 2008 general election.

According to the county's official Web site, Delaware "is not only the fastest growing county in Ohio, but one of the fastest growing in the nation." With more and more people going to live in Delaware, the role it will have in the swing state's election choice is growing.

The county is situated 20 miles north of Columbus and is arguably the most upwardly trendy place to be in the state, according to Forbes Magazine, which named it the fifth best place in the United States to raise a family and the best place in Ohio to reside.

It really isn't all that surprising. The county is just minutes from one of largest and most influential "Big 10" secondary schools, Ohio State University. The county receives a population pull from graduates looking for a nice suburb to live in. According to the Ohio Department of Development, the county is expected to see a population of 266,000 by 2030 - almost double its current population of around 160,000.

Teaching activism

A local college could help that growing population stay active in voting.

Delaware County is the home of renown liberal arts school Ohio Wesleyan University, where faculty members say the student body is extraordinarily involved in politics.

"Students are definately very active on this campus," said Ohio Wesleyan University Assistant Director of Admissions Stephen M. Was, "more so than other campuses that I've been on. The student body here at Ohio Wesleyan is very ... activist oriented."

Was, an experienced Spanish teacher and registered democrat who moved to Delaware from Tennessee, thinks the friendly atmosphere of the college is worthy of the "southern hospitality" he is used to from his home state. In February, students put together a visit from Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, to hear her speak on behalf of her mother.

Although he didn't recall any republican figureheads coming to the university, he did explain that "both sides of the story" are represented on campus.

Amanda Thompson, a senior and politics major at Wesleyan, is planning on voting for republican candidate John McCain in the November election. She is strongly involved in all politics, regardless of alignment, and would vote for non-republicans if they were better equipped.

"I do tend to vote more republican," Thompson, president of her class, said. "There are some smaller offices that I would definately, if I felt there was a more qualified candidate in another party, I would vote for, but nationally, I'm 100 percent McCain."

Thompson said the school has a strong politics program and keeps the students "well informed" off political occurences.

With voters potentially going in any direction, only time will tell how the county will fare in November.

RAINY AND WET BUT FIRED UP: Tina Stull (left) and Tisha Gildee aren't strongly for any political side, but are carefully basing their voting decision on views.

MORROW COUNTY, Ohio - Morrow County is not what it seems. Despite republican overtones, the central Ohio agricultural staple is politically mixed.

According to the county Web site, morrowcounty.info, the majority of registered voters who went to the polls for the March 4 primaries were democratic, but only by a margin of 5530 to 4881 , making this area particularly volatile in the midwestern swing state. Voting trends have seen the county go either way in past elections.

Two individuals with moderate views don't want to be too hasty in their November choice.

Tina Stull, a homemaker and parent of two whose children attend school in Galion, a suburb of county seat Mt. Gilead, voted republican in the last election. While at a crowded, rainy football game at her son's high school, Northmor, on Sept. 12, she acknowledged that the political lean of the county "might be even." Some of her most pertinent concerns were national security and gas prices.

"Take care of what's at home," she said, referring to her perception of the mishandling of the war in the middle-east.

At the same time, Stull was reserved about blaming too much on the government. "I ... think that the American public at large takes for granted a lot of the rights that, supposedly, we have."

Tisha Gildee, a registered republican and Longaberger consultant who was also at the game, was still undecided for the upcoming general election. Her problem? She had mixed feelings on issues, and considers herself moderate enough to not let views from one side cloud her feelings for another.

"My tendency is ... everything non-social, republican," she said. "Everything social, democrat ... I would go [for an] independent who had that blend."

Others at the football game, sometimes unwilling to talk about their politcal views or give their names, seemed concerned about their small town and where it was headed.

A rich mix

During the March 4 primaries, 11448 cards were cast from the 25087 registered voters in Morrow, according to the county Web site. This means that 45.63 percent of the county's registered voters showed up to the polls that day.

This percentage is higher than the statewide average for voter turnout that day, which was 40.5 percent, according to a study done by George Mason University, Va. With such a strong showing, the county can have an impact on central Ohio's role in November, despite Morrow's relatively small population of about 31,000, according to the US Census Bureau's online fact finder.

The political division in Morrow, which statistically is split right down the middle between the two parties, goes deeper.

Between republican voters in Morrow county, almost half of them voted for Mike Huckabee, who took 40 percent of the votes. John McCain, the eventual republican party nominee, took 46 percent, according to an election report on the county Web site. Trying to appease bitter Huckabee supporters, fomer New York State Huckabee Chairman Myers Mermel recently sent out e-mails encouraging them to get involved in republican MEETUPS, or informational meetings, to back McCain rather than democratic nominee Barack Obama, according to Mitchell Langbert's blog.

The story is different for the democratic side of Morrow County, which overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton over Obama for the primaries. Clinton took 64 percent while Obama, the eventual democratic party nominee, took just 32 percent. The republican party may benefit from counties such as Morrow, where angry Clinton supporters could join a growing rally for McCain, according to a Wired news blog by Sarah Lai Stirland . One such gathering is "Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain," or  hcsfjm.com.

Unpredictable circumstances like these only add to the speculation that Morrow County - and Ohio in general - may swing in unexpected directions.

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To hear audio from the interview mentioned in this blog, click here!

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Contact Information:

Tina Stull
6156 Us Highway 42
Mount Gilead, OH 43338-9629
(419) 946-2776

Tisha Gildee
9650 Township Road 211 NE
New Lexington, OH 43764-9421
(740) 342-7305
 

MAHONING COUNTY - Not dwelling on the past is one thing, but, according to local leaders, forgetting it entirely is a mistake Youngstown and the surrounding areas should never make. There are certain things one can learn from the Mahoning Valley’s rise and fall.

The first historical blunder, according to Campbell Mayor Jack E. Dill, was putting all the economical eggs in one basket.

"Everyone was too dependent on one industry," he said, referring to Northeast Ohio’s overwhelming reliance on steel in the mid-1900s. "And to make matters worse, almost nothing happened in Campbell for 30 years [after Youngstown Sheet & Tube closed]."

The city of Campbell was founded in 1926 and is comprised of the area formerly known as the village of East Youngstown. It was named for James A. Campbell, then chairman of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company, which in itself paints a telltale picture of just how important steel was for Northeast Ohio in the 20th century. The company closed on September 19, 1977, and started a wave of devastation that is still visible from Campbell’s main roads.

Up until the last few years, most of the ruins of the closed steel mills were left standing, giving area residents "false hope" that they would come back to life, Dill explained. While Campbell did virtually nothing else industrially, Struthers made Castlo into an industrial park and made use of the land Astro Shapes, Inc. had purchased near the Mahoning River. But the scars of the past still take the form of brownish land and concrete foundations where the mills once thrived, standing out like a nuclear wasteland behind the few remaining riverside businesses.

Campbell, in particular, was hit hard by the fall of local industry and is struggling to collect the funds necessary to complete brownfield restoration.

"It takes a proactive administration in a community to re-establish a tax base," he said. Dill, who was elected to Campbell’s office in 1999, has been working to rebuild a tax base, or the sum of taxable activities, collective value of real estate and assets subject to tax within a community. "It’s hard," he said.

Such proactive thinking, coupled with the metropolitan area working together, is what should have happened a long time ago, Dill explained.

"It’s terrible that it has taken 35 years to start brownfield redevelopment. All of these mill buildings should have been torn down already."

Though some think it may be too little too late, Campbell has been readily cooperating with Youngstown and Struthers to regain some of the ground lost in the last three decades.

"When you work together, it is much easier," Dill said. "Columbus is more willing to help three communities get a project done than just one community."

Successful joint efforts like the "Clean Ohio" program has helped Campbell secure $1 million in grant money, Dill said. The program, which was voted on by the state of Ohio six years ago, has helped Campbell begin Phase II redevelopment of the brownfields, which involves boring holes into the ground to determine environmental stability.

"The whole process can seem tiresome at times because it can move so slowly," he said.

It might be time consuming, but it’s important. Dill believes that prospective businesses need to have everything laid out in front of them in order to be attracted to the area.

"When you try to get a company [to invest], they don’t want to have to wait two or three years for the brownfield restoration to be done," Dill said. "If it were already done, we would be in good shape."

Another crippling problem in gaining new businesses is the expensive cost of electricity in Northeast Ohio. Again, if this were addressed in years past, Dill said, we would be in a better situation.

"[The city was] talking with a company from western Pennsylvania that would have brought in 300 new jobs. It ended up coming down to the cost of a kilowatt-hour. We have one of the highest electricity costs in Ohio and in the country."

History has shown some positive prospects about our area, though. "We do have a good work force," Dill said. "We’ve always had a lot to offer in that area."

That fact, coupled with the many resources the Valley has left, may be the saving grace of Youngstown and the surrounding areas, and Marsha Kamensky, co-founder of the Lowellville Historical Society, has a positive outlook.

"Oh, there are so many things the Mahoning Valley has that are great, and we have so much to be proud of," she noted. "We need to work together, keep our ethics high and think positive."

Kamensky, who works at Lowellville’s Ralph Conti K-12 School, has studied the changes that have taken place since Lowellville was an industrial powerhouse. One of the great resources we have left, she explained, is our culture.

"Traditions are a great part of the past," she said. "My husband’s family is Slovak and we still celebrate many [past traditions] today. They bring a family together and make them closer."

The society sells calendars that feature historical photos and is often very involved in teaching the youth about local history.

"I don’t think dwelling on the past is a bad thing," she said.

MAHONING COUNTY – The Youngstown area has a few problems, but none seem as dire as the need for jobs. Residents who basked in the former glory of the once-bustling industrial empire of northeast Ohio still feel the sting from watching it all waste away three decades ago. But as one experienced local leader explains, these lingering wounds are part of the problem.

"Some of the more successful areas, like Allentown [Pa.], weren’t any worse off economically than we were," former Struthers Mayor and educator Dan Mamula said. (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. closed shortly before Allentown’s main steel producer, Bethlehem Steel). "But [other areas] don’t wallow in their failures. They tout their successes, and they pulled together nicely."

Mamula, a businessman and political science instructor, praised for his long term in office – 16 years – makes it his job to understand why things have happened the way they have and has come up with a few solutions.

"Everyone has good ideas," he said. "But these ideas need to be prioritized. We need aggressive leadership that transcends political boundaries and [we need] private investment."

Youngstown thought Mayor Jay Williams was the man for the job. He was elected two years ago and is known across the county for his extremely active role in shaping the future of Youngstown.

Williams’ 2010 Plan, which has been honored by the American Planning Association, hailed in The New York Times and recently featured on CNN, calls for the removal of "urban blight" by tearing down abandoned buildings and redistributing property in a land grab program.

Joe P. Tone explained in his 2007 Cleveland Scene piece, "Think Small," that Williams, the youngest mayor ever elected to Youngstown’s office, believes trimming the city for a smaller population rather than struggling to boost growth is the best option. In doing so, he hopes businesses will find the area more attractive.

"The city was built to house 180,000 people," Mamula said, "but now it only has 80,000." He agrees with Williams’ plan and added that infrastructure repair like this is the key to bringing in successful businesses.

Unfortunately, however, many people still revel in the age where "bigger is better."

"We’re not stuck in those old paradigms," Williams said. "I’m looking at what the city can be versus what it was 50 years ago."

Some are skeptical that ambitious plans like 2010 will ignore metropolitan areas that have also suffered since Black Monday.

"Youngstown is too busy [to worry about us] and trying to survive on their own," said former Struthers councilman Mark Sandine. "They are trying to pull business in from the suburbs, but how does that help us?"

Sandine, like many Valley residents, is familiar with Youngstown’s efforts to bring life back into the urban area … a recovery movement that has spanned decades. Many also share his dissatisfaction, which he believes is arguably well founded, given the limited amount of perceived success and the general inability of the city to hold new businesses.

"It’s going to take time," said Mamula, who went on to explain that feasible new business efforts should have started 20 years ago. "No one place in this Valley has the resources to do it alone. It needs to be a joint effort."

Business partnerships between Kent State University, YSU and the city have promise in this regard, he explained.

"There has been talk of using some of Kent’s local campuses for the [proposed] Community College," Mamula said. Kent currently has eight campuses, and the three most likely to be used would be in Salem, East Liverpool and Trumbull County. "Partnerships like this will make people want to stay here."

But, according to Mamula, there are other problems that need to be addressed.

"Investors have to know that they aren’t investing in a ‘black hole,’" he said. "International and national news are misrepresenting us. Why are we still cast as the ‘Rust Belt?’ Work force redevelopment is a big issue, and some people here have little work ethic. They aren’t motivated."

Part of that problem is proper education, he stressed, but another issue is how the area is laid out for potential businesses.

"Businesses need a one-stop system," Mamula said. "The incentives need to be put in front of them, rather than [the businesses] having to look for them. And not just big businesses. Little businesses have a very hard time getting started, more so than the big businesses, because they simply don’t have the resources to [seek out] the incentives."

The residential appeal already exists, though, and this can help. "The Youngstown area is used as a suburb for larger cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh," he said. "Commuters are attracted to the lower cost of living."

Once businesses are made aware of this, he said, the economical status of the area will improve.

"You can’t find anywhere else in this country where two art museums, a college campus and a metropark system all exist," he said. "It’s a shame more businesses aren’t investing in the incubator system."