If you were located within the city limits on Saturday, you may have heard the sounds of multiple steam-powered train whistles.
To activate the whistles, The Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association tapped into Youngstown Thermal's underground steam pipes that supply heat throughout the center of the city.
While the tones were better live, you can check out some of the recorded sounds here:
Set between the Mr. Peanut Bridge and the B&O Train Station, the annual Whistle Blow event ties into Youngstown's transportation heritage.
"We all have our opinions, I thought I'd share my experiences growing up in The Great Melting Pot of Youngstown, Ohio.
I used to be embarrassed to tell anyone I was from there. Now, it's like a Badge Of Honor!"
The author is "a Baby Boomer that grew up in the Youngstown, Ohio area wearing many hats in school, business, and life events. My Blog reflects that life and times, hopefully with humor."
"My grandfather earned a Zippo lighter for spending 30 years working at Youngstown Sheet and Tube before he died of a heart attack. I’m sure there are a lot of Zippo lighters floating around Youngstown. What I’ve never seen is movie that captures that era.
So the time is ripe for a son of a son of a steelworker (or a daughter) to rise up and write some screenplays and make some documentaries on the area. Watch Gran Tornio (about Michigan in transition) and Country (about the farm crisis here in Iowa in the 80s) and start adding notes into your idea bank.
That’s what regional screenwriting is all about and there is still some magic to tap into down by Yellow Creek . . . there in Youngstown."
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Finally, Reuters just published a series of stories about Youngstown in their ongoing Route to Recovery series.
It's a decent snapshot of what it's like on the ground in Youngstown: - dreamers trying to marshal the resources to make an impact - technology-based businesses succeeding and thriving - how downtown is the location for future businesses - real suffering exists due to poverty
Don't you love the smell of really really old books?
The Shout Youngstown blog has acquired a very significant old tome, that being an original printing of Edward Galaida's "Mill Creek Park" from 1941.
on page one of this great historical text, one can find the introductory paragraph from the book's forward.
They are some of the most striking words I've read in print, and the SY blog would like to share them with you.
(editor's note: the original words are in paragraph form, but for spacing purposed have been rearranged below.)
From the placid times of the nomad Indians to the present age, Mill Creek Park and its flanking acres have unendingly offered solace to understanding spirits.
Sounds in the waters, in the underbrush, overhead in the firry hemlocks and the shady hardwoods, frightened silences;
colors of the rising and setting sun;
kaleidoscopic changes from season to season;
smells sweet, strange, exotic, heavy, and delicate;
currents of moving air that arouse moods and stir deep inexplicable sensations--
these make up, to many nature lovers, the whole significance of Mill Creek Park.
Setting intentional fires to vacant properties is a serious problem in many cities.
In Youngstown recently, two fires set during the month of October destroyed four historical structures on the north side - all within the same block. The concentration of the damage and grandeur of the original homes really upset many people.
The Youngstown Renaissance blog covered the arsons particularly well, complete with before and after photos, in addition to a respectful dialogue in the comments section.
It's appalling that firefighters have to risk their lives put out these arsons, and it's suspicious that private construction firms the next day are leaving messages at city hall to clean up the sites for free (to loot any salvageable remains).
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Earlier in the week came word that some signage was popping up around the arson site on Pennsylvania Ave. I went this morning to investigate what others have been talking about:
No comments here on the signage . . . make your own interpretations.
But, if you have any information on the arsons, contact the numbers on this sign:
Tips to 330.782.0055 and 330.743.2141 can lead to a $5,000 award.
Kudos to the folks at the Business-Journal, as they continue to build value around their news-reporting prowess.
Earlier today, visitors to their website were able to view the premiere episode of Daily Buzz, which may become a welcome addition to your own daily media consumption.
You can watch the premiere in a stand-alone webpage here, just in case the tomorrow's edition is displayed on their homepage before you read this post.
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The Business-Journal seems to be spreading its wings of late, incorporating alternative methods for sharing the news they collect with the region and beyond.
For example, the paper is identified as the local content provider for the new mega-regional NEOtropolis show on pbs.
Add to that their recent three-minute local interviews, and now this daily news and business review, and you have top-shelf hyper-local journalism. (as opposed to stuffing a publication with too many canned AP stories)
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If it seems like this blog is heaping praise today, it's because The Business-Journal deserves it.
This blog has never received payment or gifts for writing on a subject or pushing an event (we've been offered on occasion), nor will the SY blog ever do any form of advertising.
This whole blog thing is a four-year experiment in sharing stories, raising awareness, and unintentionally building trust with an audience.
So when recalling the 4th of the 10 Rules of Living of someone I never had the chance to meet face-to-face, we need to give credit where credit is due: The Business-Journal delivers outstanding journalistic content every day with high value - and it is a joy to absorb their content, both as an in-print subscriber and an online viewer.
how often you do receive a press release announcing a tv show that caters just to you?
well, besides this show:
Tonight at 9pm is the premier of NEOtropolis on Western Reserve Public Media, a weekly show that "focuses exclusively on the business and economy of northeast Ohio. The show will tell the full story of the regional economy, sharing both the challenges and opportunities unfolding in northeast Ohio."
The program is hosted by Thomas Mulready, publisher of CoolCleveland.com. Content partners are Crain’s Cleveland Business and The Business Journal of Youngstown.
“NEOtropolis will offer timely information about the region’s business and economy in a fast-paced yet in-depth format,” said Duilio Mariola, Western Reserve Public Media executive producer. “We want to be a vehicle for dialogue about regionalism for the four major cities in our broadcast area — Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Youngstown.”
strong leadership leads to supportive press leads to inquiries for outside investment leads to realities like this...
"Now we are thinking in 10-year increments moving forward. When we talk about a technology economy, which would have been laughable five or 10 years ago, having a tech core downtown that attracts some of the best and brightest college students, that pays them $50,000 and $60,000 a year right out of college, while they're able to live in an upscale apartment complex that just opened — these are all things we're going to be talking about for Youngstown in 2010, 2015 and 2020. Downtown Youngstown is once again becoming a destination point for people in the region, whether it's arts or entertainment or culture or business."
let's consider dining at local restaurants, buying gifts for friends and family, and other personal spending decisions to all be wrapped into Product A.
then let's consider someone's spending at casinos to be Product B.
If casinos are placed into Ohio's four largest cities and downtowns, many many people will be buying Product B. That means fewer dollars and less opportunities to buy Product A.
The result: when casinos go up ... personal spending on other goods such as tickets to the performing arts, dining and family restaurants, and donations to charity go down. That means the people associated with these components within the community will lose their jobs.
Net community-wide job growth is zero.
This is the fallacy of all the "economic development" claims by those pushing casino growth.
If the total amount of money in a community is not growing because of exports or stays the same, all we are talking about here is shifting money, not gaining money.
And like any modern slot machine, the house always wins over time.
Sure, here and there people may be winners or losers at certain instances pulling the handle, but system and machine is designed in the long run that the casino always walks away with profit.
