Car Stolen

[Towntalk]

Just tell him what you're doing. Mr. Rivers is very easy to talk to, and it's folks like yourself that he wants to hear from. Projects like yours is what he preaches on his program every chance he gets. He himself gets involved in many projects that benefit Youngstown.

He's very busy what with being the Operations Manager (Program Director) at WKBN, and involved in work related projects but not too busy to hear from folks that are doing something to improve our city.

You might have to leave a message for him to call you which is why I'd suggest that you write him a brief letter that contains photos of your projects and set up an appointment to talk to him in person.

Hope this helps.

[Jaime Hughes]

The orange sticker says nothing about peeling them off. When dealing with the stickers, all they say is that the lawn was a nuisance to the community and that you have about 10 days to correct it and if you don't they will have to take futher action. They leave a name and number that you can contact if you have any questions and thats it.


The trouble is like Rick said was getting the sticker off. They dont make it so you can simply peel it off. I tried and it was unsuccessful, I will have to try your tip though! I mean it's bad enough that people can enter the house let alone give it a neon sign to rob it!!



I dont even know what to say to Mr. Rathers!? Any ideas...



I will be contacting Dan Rathers sometime this week! Thanks Everyone

[ForumManager]

I really like this site, by the way. Kudos to whoever maintains it. Keep on truckin . . .

How many people visit it a day?

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Thanks Much!
I like your blog too.  Excellent commentary about our town.
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[yfdgricker]

Is it illegal to remove the city's bright orange sticker from the window of that house?
Anyone know the best way to remove the sticker?

I don't know if it's illegal to remove the sticker or not. I assume that once someone has taken care of the property, that sticker can be removed by the owner or whoever they get to fix the problem situation. I've never seen one of the stickers up close so don't go by what I say.

In regards to what the best way is to remove those stickers, I use OOPS spray adhesive remover and a razor knife blade first to get the bulk of the sticker off. Then I use Citrus GooGone Spray and the razor to finish any left over crud. Works quickly and easily!

[Towntalk]

Jaime:

Your best bet would be to contact Dan Rivers - he would love hearing from you. Verb is hard to get and I wouldn't advise him any way.

Here is the information you need:

DAN RIVERS

Talk lines
330-729-9977
800-777-5700
Star 57 cellular

Office phone  330-729-2515

Write to:
Dan Rivers
7461 South Avenue
Youngstown, Ohio 44512

[Jaime Hughes]

Is there anyway that I can get ahold of people like Ron Verb and the other talk show hosts? I have a few things that I would like to say, I am also in the process of writing a letter to the Mayor and a few other political officials.

BTW...I found out who owns that how we've been caring for on Park Ave....Robert VanSickle, he also owns the Covington House and the Illinois Manner.

[Janko]

I really like this site, by the way. Kudos to whoever maintains it. Keep on truckin . . .

How many people visit it a day?

How many unique ip adresses come here each week?

[Janko]

Is it illegal to remove the city's bright orange sticker from the window of that house?

257 Park Avenue is a classic example of a house that would look a lot better if that sticker was removed.

Many of these stickers are still up even after the high grass is cut by the city or some neighbor, alerting the public of the house's vacancy. Maybe the criminals already know what houses are already vacant so they don't matter much, but it makes the neighborhoods look a lot worse . . . and they are appearing all over the county, not just in Youngstown.

Anyone know the best way to remove the sticker?

- - -

Second point, *note, this is not intended to belittle or upset anyone*.

The strength of media is that various forms of it have their various audiences, but this is also its weakness.

Talk radio, while a fine medium for public discussion, is skewed towards people who have the ability to listen to it. Those being people not working mid-day and local politicians for the most part. Many people with jobs do not have the luxury of listening to Dan Rivers from 10am to 11:45am, or afternoon shows until after work. Thus, talk radio leaves out an important and relevant part of the community.

This message board, while a fine medium for public discussion, does not get the daily traffic it deserves and is limited to those who use the internet. Thus, this message board leaves out an important and relevant part of the community.

The same is true of blogs, the same is true of local news at 6pm, the same is true for the print media.

So just because content is produced in one media format or a website, we can't expect the whole world to read it and know about it, especially when it is limited to a smaller audience.

The more we as a group want certain topics to be in the public sphere, the more we have to spread our ideas across many different media types, not just this discussion board. Or we have to get the other media types to talk about this message board.

Maybe the efforts of Miss Hughes is something that should be a topic on talk radio. I'd settle for 5 percent of the airtime that is geared towars the discussion of illegal immigration. 

[Jaime Hughes]

No, I have no talked to Mayor Williams about what I have been doing. But I think that Monday I am going to write a letter that will be sent out to local businesses, Politicians and other organizations. I would like to put some things together that will better this community, and it may take time but I am willing to wait to see the outcome.


Like I said, if ANY of you would like to come to 257 Park Ave, it's the boarded up Stone Mansion, I will be there taking pictures and probably cleaning up any trash that had been left. I would love to talk to a lot of you about what I am doing, what I'd like to do, and any imput that you may have about this.


I will be there at 4 p.m., probably till at least 6 p.m., or so? But I'd love to see some of you there, If my other computer was working I'd upload pictures before and after of that house and the yard!! Some of you should drop by and snap a few shots....


It's not words that make people want to help, it's ... seeing, watching, taking it all in. This is contagious, it spreads from one person to another...and if the community is able to see what I am doing...maybe it could spread a little further into Youngstown.

[Towntalk]

If more Youngstowners were like you Jaime, we would all be better off ... much better ... but all the work that you ad Rick are doing is at risk simply because most people are very quick with excuses and very slow in deeds.

Excuses will not make things any better, all they do is give aid and comfort to the city's criminal element.

For my part, I'd love to see you put together a team of willing workers who would expand their effort to beautify the city, God knows it needs it.

Have you spoken to Mayor Williams about what you're doing. Maby he can find a way to help support you through a CDA grant to help cover your costs.

Here's an idea that we can all consider. If everyone in this group were to donate as little as $5.00 a month and agreed to as little as 1 hour as a volunteer per month, you could be able to expand your great work.

[Jaime Hughes]

Thank you, It wasnt that I was aiming anything towards anyone, but like I have been saying it's just upsetting to see the city like this. After seeing pictures of what the city used to be, it's such a shame that I never got to see the city as beautiful as it was.

Today, at 4 p.m., I will be at that mansion on Park Ave, I believe it's 257 Park Ave?... Its the boarded up stone mansion, If any of you would like to stop by on this beautiful Sunday, I'd love to meet a lot of you as well as hear your concerns because I had some new ideas for a campaign.


Id really love to see a lot of you there, most of you I have not met yet and I would love to meet and hear what you have to say...this forum is the one way I can stay in touch with the city and the beautiful people!

[Towntalk]

No need to apologize Jaime, your comments were very timely and important.

Everyone of us should be deadly serious about the problem of crime and criminal justice in Mahoning County, and all of us as Ron Verb so often says, "we must not fear our tongue".

It's only when we rock the boat that we can get action, and it's high time that our efforts were so loud and strong that we send the fear of the Lord into the heart of every office holder.

"Don't just tell me what you're going to do, just do it, and we'll be the judge of whether you were just pumping hot air or were deadly serious." This is the message we must send every candidate.

As far as I'm concerned, I view political promises as nothing more than bald faced lies ... the office holder must prove to me with no room for reasonable doubt that they are worth my support. Until they do, they are as worthless as Three Dollar bills.

[Jaime Hughes]

I apologize for my rant! I didn't know it would stir up so many people, It's just upsetting at times.


Somewhat off topic, is there any contact information for the talk shows in the area? I would like to call in and speak my mind, and send some e-mails out.

Tim Ryan also knows who I am, I think I might speak to him about some things.

A great man in the community once said, You've got to get the older generation to listen to you! If you want to the younger kids to stay, you need to cater to them also!

[Towntalk]

Jay: First off, I've been working with local talk hosts since 1970 so I don't need to be lectured about them. My web site is primarily geared to talk hosts both local and national, and my newsletter goes out to talk shows and has been going out since 1995.

My point was that the present Councilmen will soon be out of office, and given their productivity up till now, talking to them is an exercise in futility. When the new council is seated, that's another matter, but how much can they do without the cooperation of the courts? They can enact all the laws in the world, but if the courts do not do their job, then those laws mean nothing.

Until we get the County Prosecutor off his fat posterior, and until the judges start doing the job we are paying them to do, there's little if anything that either City Council or the County Commissioners can do except pay lip service to our complaints.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:

1. The County Prosecutor MUST start moving the criminal cases through the system faster.
2. The Judges MUST place CRIMINAL CASES as a PRIORITY, and see to it that defendants aren't sitting in County Jail months before their case is heard.
3. If necessary, night courts MUST be reinstituted in Mahoning County at least until the case backlog is cleared up.
4. Both a Municipal and Common Pleas Judge MUST be assigned 24/7 duty to handle arraignments to speed up the process.
5. The courts must see to it that defendants found guilty of a crime are moved out of the County Jail and into a prison no later than 48 hours after the verdict is handed down freeing up space in the jail.

While there are legitimate gripes about the work of the Police, they can do only so much. Unless the Prosecutor's office does their job, their hands are tied.

City Council and the County Commissioners have precious little control over either the Prosecutor or the Courts under state law so how are they of any help? They can talk till the cows come home, but that's all they can do, and talk alone will not clean this city or county up.

And suppose Mayor Williams put more Police on the street, what good will that do without the cooperation of the Prosecutor and the Courts.

Is it time for a total cleanout of the Prosecutors office and the Courts? You bet it is, but just look at the election results over the past 10 years... How many elegable voters actually cast their votes? How do you propose we break down the prevailing voter apathy in Mahoning County?

[jay]

Why not do both suggestions?  If you can't call the talk shows, then attend the next city council meeting.

One thing to remember about talk shows.  The station broadcasts to most of Ohio and western Pennsylvania.  The subject matter has to be of interest to the audience of a very wide geographic area.  That is why the station no longer covers ward races in most local communities.  Maggy's hosting of the radio talk show was great for the residents of Youngstown, but the subject matter was sometimes of little interest beyond the city.