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Tradition marches on in Niles

NILES — It was a homecoming in more ways than one at Bo Rein Stadium on Friday night. It was the annual homecoming football game in which the Red Dragons took on Shaw High School. However, it also was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Niles McKinley High School marching band ...

Warren updates ward map

WARREN — Longtime Warren City Councilwoman Helen Rucker said council members are happy with the redrawn lines marking the boundaries of the city’s seven wards. The new map was approved at the Sept. 9 council meeting. “Long story short, ward councilmen came to the consensus that they ...

Hubbard’s Mark Boals joins Rock Godz in hall of fame

It’s official. Hubbard native Mark Boals is a Rock God. The 1977 Hubbard High School graduate, who has been played with Yngwie Malmsteen, Savoy Brown, Ted Nugent and dozens of other acts in a professional career spanning nearly 50 years, will be inducted into the Rock Godz Hall of Fame in Las Vegas at a Nov. 7 ceremony. Before that, he’ll perform Oct. 3 at the Robins Theatre in Warren as part of the Baldassarre Orchestra. Boals got the call about his selection over the summer. “I was flattered, of course, and surprised,” he said. “I haven’t gotten any of those ...

Child rapist dies in prison

WARREN — A Niles man serving a 14- to 55-year prison sentence for his actions against victims as young as 5 has died in prison. According to a news release from the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office, JoEllen Smith, chief of communications for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, confirmed that Paul Czoka, 78, died at 3:17 p.m. Tuesday at the Franklin Medical Center. His cause of death was not disclosed. Czoka, who had been incarcerated at Pickaway Correctional Institution 16 miles southwest of Columbus, had his parole request denied Feb. 11 on a 5-to-3 vote, ...

Technology advances learning at TCTC

CHAMPION — Trumbull County Career and Technical Center leaders noted that the school’s recognition as an Apple Distinguished School wasn’t about the brand of technology being used, but students’ ability to utilize it in ways that broaden their horizons and opportunities. TCTC officials announced recently that it has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for the 2026-29 program term. It is the school’s fourth time being recognized as such a school, according to Innovative Learning Specialist Brian Foutty. Foutty said about 2,300 schools in the country are ...

WRTA gets $1.76M grant for Belmont Avenue bus route work

YOUNGSTOWN — The Western Reserve Transit Authority is receiving a $1.76 million grant to make improvements along its Belmont Avenue bus route, which runs from the downtown Federal Station to the Churchill Giant Eagle in Liberty. The funding is coming from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Ohio Workforce Partnership Program, which uses federal dollars to support public workforce transportation projects. As a condition of the grant, WRTA is providing $440,000 — a 20% match — for the work, which brings the project’s total to $2.2 million. ODOT announced $13.5 million ...