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How Did Youngstown, Ohio, Get Its Nicknames?

Osupa — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:21:21 +0000

Yahoo.com

By John Hull, Yahoo Contributor Network

Posted February 6th 2012

(PHOTO: BY STUART SPIVCACK, REMAINS OF YOUNGSTOWN IRON SHEET AND TUBE)

Youngstown, Ohio, was established in 1797 by New Yorker John Young, for whom it was named. It was incorporated as a village in 1848, then a city in 1867.

The story of the naming of Youngstown is pretty straightforward: Young’s Town. It is the many nicknames the city has received over the years that make for an interesting story.

The nicknames “Steel City” and “Steeltown, USA” describe Youngstown’s key role in America’s steel industry. Key players in the steel industry were Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube and Republic Steel, among others.

Strikes at these mills, such as the “Little Steel Strike of 1939,” garnered national attention. During what was known as “Woman’s Day” on the picket line outside Republic Steel, the women took offense to Youngstown Police Captain Charley Richmond, who told them to go home where they belonged.

Richmond stated the women began cursing him and approaching, at which time a gas canister was deployed to disperse the crowd. The women’s husbands, members of the heavily Communist Committee of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor union, then attacked the police. A melee occurred, including a firefight that left six dead.

Martial law was declared by Democratic Ohio Gov. Martin L. Davey, with the approval of President Roosevelt, and the National Guard was sent in to bring order.

Another strike in 1952 gained national significance when Democratic President Harry S. Truman seized control of Youngstown Sheet and Tube in order to avoid a strike during the Korean War. Out of this decision came the Supreme Court decision Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company et al. v. Charles Sawyer, Secretary of Commerce, 343 U.S. 579 (1952), which reaffirmed the limits on presidential power as established by the U.S. Constitution.

The eventual closing of the steel mills in the 1970s and ’80s led to the nickname “Rust City,” and the area became known as the “Rust Belt.”

Other dubious monikers given to Youngstown include “Mobtown,” ” Little Chicago,” “Crimetown, USA,” and “Bomb City” due to its extensive Cleveland and Pittsburgh mafia connections. The term “Youngstown tune-up” described the all-too-common method of assassinating mafioso, the car bomb. Check out AmericanMafia.com for more information.

A mafia-owned night club on Youngstown’s east side is said to have been frequented by Frank Sinatra. The bar is no longer there. Comedian Richard Pryor also stated in his concert performance “Live on the Sunset Strip” that he worked as an emcee at a mafia-owned night club in Youngstown, presumably the same one frequented by Sinatra.

Youngstown also became known as “Murdertown, USA” and “Yompton” (a play on words referencing Compton, California) due to the heavy presence of street gangs, with the 51/50 Bloodz being the dominant national gang set.

Youngstown also topped the list of dangerous cities as released by Quitno Press in 2001 and 2002.

But all of this takes away from the rich history of the city.

Youngstown is the birthplace of the Good Humor ice cream bar and inventor Harry Burt; Cream of Wheat icon model William H. Calbreath; and musical groups The Edsels, Glass Harp, The Human Beinz, and Billy Beck of the Ohio Players.

Also from Youngstown are the Warner Bros., who opened the Warner Theater downtown in 1931; the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Jim Cummings; Joe Flynn of “McHale’s Navy;” and “Married With Children’s” Ed O’Neill.

Sports figures include IBF lightweight champion Harry Arroyo, lightweight champion of the world Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, and former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik; and the NFL’s Jerry Olsavsky, Sherman Smith, and Brad Smith.

This list can go on ad nauseum, but we’ll stop here.

Where’s The Snow? Not In Lower 48, But Elsewhere!

Osupa — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:26:47 +0000

Associated Press

By Seth Borenstein

Posted February 2nd 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Snow has been missing in action for much of the U.S. the last couple months. But it’s not just snow. It’s practically the season that’s gone AWOL.

“What winter?” asked Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. For the Lower 48, January was the third-least snowy on record, according to the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University. Records for the amount of ground covered by snow go back to 1967.

Last year, more than half the nation was covered in snow as a Groundhog Day blizzard barreled across the country, killing 36 people and causing $1.8 billion in damage. This year, less than a fifth of the country outside of Alaska has snow on the ground.

Bismarck, N.D., has had one-fifth its normal snow, Boston a third. Buffalo is three feet below normal for snowfall this year. Midland, Texas, has had more snow this season than Minneapolis or Chicago.

Forget snow. For much of the country there’s not even a nip in the air. On Tuesday, the last day in January, all but a handful of states had temperatures in the 50s or higher. In the nation’s capital, where temperatures flirted with the 70s, some cherry trees are already budding — weeks early.

For the Northeast it’s one of the warmest and least snowy winters on record, with most of the region’s temperatures the last couple months averaging 5 degrees warmer than normal, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

“I am disgusted that golfers are golfing on my cross-country ski course,” said New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson, director of the Global Snow Lab.

Matt Dulli, an assistant golf pro at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Centerville, said 115 rounds were played Tuesday amid balmy temperatures that reached a high of 60 degrees.

“The first thing you hear out of people’s mouths is, ‘Can you believe we’re playing golf in January?’ They’re just ecstatic that they can get out at this time of year,” Dulli said.

But there is lots of snow and dangerous cold — it’s just elsewhere in the world. Valdez, Alaska, has had 328 inches of snow this season — 10 feet above average — and the state is frigid, with Fort Yukon hitting a record 66 below zero over the weekend.

Nearly 80 people have died from a vicious cold snap in Europe, and much of Asia has been blanketed with snow. January has been the ninth snowiest since 1966 for Europe and Asia, though for the entire northern hemisphere, it’s been about average for snow this season.

The weather is so cold that some areas of the Black Sea have frozen near the Romanian coastline, and rare snowfalls have occurred on islands in the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. Ukraine alone has reported 43 fatalities, many of the victims homeless people found dead on streets. More than 720 other Ukrainians have been hospitalized with hypothermia and frostbite.

The reason is changes in Arctic winds that are redirecting snow and cold. Instead of dipping down low, the jet stream winds that normally bring cold and snow south got trapped up north. It’s called the Arctic oscillation. Think of it as a cousin to the famous El Nino.

When the Arctic oscillation is in a positive phase, the winds spin fast in the Arctic keeping the cold north. But in the past few days, the Arctic oscillation turned negative, though not in its normal way, Halpert said. The cold jet stream dipped in Europe and Asia, but is still bottled up over North America.

That’s because another weather phenomena, called the North Atlantic oscillation is playing oddball by staying positive and keeping the cold away from the rest of North America. About 90 percent of the time, the North Atlantic and Arctic oscillations are in synch, Halpert said. But not this time, so much of the United States is escaping the winter’s worst.

What’s happening isn’t just an inconvenience.

Trees and plants budding early may lose their chance to bloom when the inevitable deep freeze returns, said U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Jake Weltzin, who heads a national network that monitors the timing of spring for plants and animals. He said peach trees are budding in Georgia and in Oklahoma forsythia and daffodils have been out for two weeks now, adding “it’s happening everywhere.”

“If you think about plants and animals being kind of biologic thermometers, they are indicating a very early spring,” Weltzin said. “That’s a problem.”

This could mean less fruit available this year, Weltzin said. In New York, it could weaken the grapes used to make wine, added Cornell University horticulturalist David W. Wolfe.

But it is getting people outside more often.

In the heart of the snow belt, Holden Arboretum saw a 32 percent jump in December attendance and a 20 percent jump in January visits. Over the two months about 4,200 people visited the site in Kirtland, Ohio, outside Cleveland, that features gardens, woodlands and trails.

Along Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio, a ferry service that carries visitors to islands was beginning winter routes Wednesday for the first time in six years.

“We’ve just had a remarkable run of unusual winters in the past six years globally,” said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Mich. “I have to say that winter hasn’t really hit yet. Certainly not where I live.”

____

JoAnne Viviano and Doug Whiteman contributed to this report from Columbus, Ohio.

Cleveland Ranked #8 In Top Tailgating Cities in the U.S.!

Osupa — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:15:15 +0000

Delish.com

Posted January 22nd 2012

NFL and college football fans across the country turn tailgating into over-the-top celebrations with enviable food. Here, the best traditions from cities that have perfected pre-game festivities.

Hosting a football or Superbowl party this month? Wow the crowd with a perfect-for-football snack or one of these sensational Super Bowl party ideas.

Cleveland, OH #8

NFL: Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Browns Stadium

Local microbrews, like those from the Great Lakes Brewing Company, are popular with Browns fans. When it’s time to grill, they opt for beer-can chicken.

CLICK HERE AND CHECK OUT WHO IS THE TOP DOG IN FOOTBALL TAILGATING.

Ohio Turnpike To Increase Some Tolls Jan. 1

Osupa — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:58:22 +0000

Associated Press

Posted December 29th 2011

BEREA: Some tolls on the Ohio Turnpike will increase at the beginning of next year for the first time in more than two years, despite objections from truck drivers.

Truckers paying cash for a one-way trip across the length of the turnpike will be charged $61 — up $6 beginning Jan. 1.

Drivers of cars traveling the same distance will pay $16.50, an increase of $1.50. Those using the E-ZPass electronic toll system will pay $11.25 for that same cross-state trip, up from $10.25.

The Ohio Turnpike Commission said Tuesday that the price increase was approved in 2009, before the last increase that accompanied the launch of E-ZPass. Vehicles not using the system were charged more when it was introduced in the fall of 2009.

Some drivers who only travel between one or two exits won’t see any toll increases.

The 241-mile turnpike connects Pennsylvania and Indiana and crosses through northern Ohio.

Turnpike officials say the toll increase is needed to ensure the health of future budgets and continue paying off the toll road’s debt, which stood at $600 million at the beginning of 2011. The turnpike collected a record $232 million in tolls last year.

The Ohio Trucking Association opposed the rate increases and warned that many truck drivers would avoid the turnpike and drive on secondary roads.

Many independent drivers who pay for tolls out of their own pockets already use other roads, while trucking companies prefer their drivers take the turnpike across northern Ohio because it’s faster.

The turnpike increased its speed limit to 70 mph in April from 65 mph, hoping it would lure trucks back to the toll road from parallel routes that run through smaller communities and might be less suited for large-vehicle traffic.

Ohio is exploring the possibility of leasing the toll road. Republican Gov. John Kasich has said he believes that move could bring several billion dollars to the financially ailing state.

Kasich has said that money could help pay for new road and bridge projects. Critics say leasing the road could bring higher tolls and less maintenance.

Dutch government Delays Plans To Ban Tourists From Buying Weed!

Osupa — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:03:56 +0000

Associated Press

Posted December 16th 2011

AMSTERDAM — The conservative Dutch government said Thursday it is delaying plans to ban tourists from buying marijuana until at least May 2012, though it still intends to curtail the country’s famed tolerance policy.Cannabis is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but police turn a blind eye to possession of small amounts and it is sold openly in designated cafes known euphemistically as “coffee shops.” Large-scale growers are prosecuted.

Among other measures, the Cabinet wants to introduce a “weed pass” system that will allow only legal residents of the Netherlands to buy marijuana.

Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said a test rollout in southern cities planned for January will now be delayed until May because of practical difficulties. Supporters of the idea hope it will solve problems caused by an estimated 3.9 million French, German and Belgian buyers who drive across the Dutch border annually just to purchase the drug.

Opstelten said the pass system will be applied nationwide in 2013, despite some opposition. “Coffee shop” owners say it will violate privacy laws, since it will require them to store passport and other information about their customers.

Some southern cities have begun lobbying against the plan after academics predicted it will result in street dealers taking over the marijuana trade again — the very problem the tolerance policy was introduced three decades ago to address.

“If it appears that additional (police) support is necessary, I will ensure that it’s available in a timely manner,” Opstelten said in a letter to parliament.

The city of Amsterdam also opposes the pass plan, arguing that nearly a quarter of the tourists who come to the city smoke weed, usually staying several nights and contributing to the economy rather than causing problems.

Opstelten said a separate plan to close any “coffee shop” located within 350 yards of a school will now go into effect in 2014, near the end of the current Cabinet’s term.

Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan has said he hopes to negotiate with Opstelten on that rule, since it would mean the closure of around half of the city’s “coffee shops.”

12 Top Black Chefs And Restaurateurs!

Osupa — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:31:31 +0000

TheRoot.com

By Erin E. Evans

Posted December 10th 2011

Black chefs are increasingly visible on TV, but high-profile success in the restaurant world is still rare. These culinary luminaries are defying the odds.

There are three B. Smith restaurants on the East Coast: in Washington, D.C., New York City and Sag Harbor, N.Y. If you’re big on brunch, like many buppies in cosmopolitan cities, B. Smith offers a smoked salmon platter, sweet potato pecan pancakes and cinnamon brioche French toast. And B. Smith tries to do everything with style. She’s turned her love for elegant lifestyle into the B. Smith brand. She’s hosted shows on TV One and has appeared on Good Morning America, The View and The Today Show. Smith isn’t a professional chef, but she’s been in the restaurant business for 25 years. Bon appétit.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE BLACK CHEFS AND RESTAURATEURS

State Urges Ohioans To Prepare For Winter!

Osupa — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:00:13 +0000

Associated Press

Posted November 29th 2011

COLUMBUS: Ohio officials say the freak October snowstorm in the Northeast was a lesson for Ohioans to start getting ready for winter.

Executive Director Nancy Dragani with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency says now is the time to winterize homes and vehicles, before the first big snowfall hits the state.

Officials say homes, schools, businesses and organizations should review safety plans and stock disaster supply kits to prepare for the possibility of snow and ice storms that can cause lengthy power outages. Dragani says in a statement that families should store several days’ worth of food and water.

Last month’s storm along the East Coast left millions of people in the dark, some for over a week.

Winterfest 2011 Kicks Off The Holiday Season!

Osupa — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:17:57 +0000

Downtown Cleveland Alliance

Posted November 27th 2011

Every year, Northeast Ohio welcomes in the holiday season with the sights and sounds of Winterfest, the annual holiday lighting ceremony right on Public Square!

Events for the whole family take place throughout the day, including free horse-drawn carriage rides, the Radio Disney Stage Show, live holiday concerts at Old Stone Church, pictures with Santa, performances on the Tower City grand staircase and the Huntington Winter Wine & Ale Fest (a fundraiser for Generocity Cleveland).

The city’s Christmas tree and Terminal Tower all light up at once for the holiday season with a spectacular fireworks display to end the evening.

The official lighting ceremony is always at 6pm, with a performance by the All City Musical group.

To read about the lights this year and some of GE’s activities during Winterfest click here

This year Winterfest Village included a Made in the 216 Pop Up Holiday Shop, featuring great locally designed products, and the Cleveland Handmade Market.

Cleveland Handmade is a collective of local artists and craftspeople who sell their handmade items online. Guests to Winterfest Village found beautiful local crafts, including jewelry, clothing, scarves and other accessories, glassworks, home decor, and repurposed vintage pieces. Winterfest Village is a great way to buy local this holiday season.

Several other retailers and vendors were on site with crafts and activities for the whole family to enjoy. YELP hosted a free gift-wrapping station for holiday shoppers who purchasd items from the Winterfest Village retailers, and YELP holiday swag gift bags were given away.

AirTran To Adopt Southwest’s ‘Customer Of Size’ Policy!

Osupa — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:22:51 +0000

USAToday.com

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Posted October 28th 2011

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports “the new policy will require those passengers — whom Southwest delicately calls ‘customers of size’ — to buy a second seat if they are flying in AirTran’s coach section.”

That means starting March 1, AirTran may require customers to purchase more than one seat if they are unable to sit in a single seat with the armrest down. AirTran says such evaluations will be made “in the carrier’s sole discretion.”

AirTran, of course, is now a subsidiary of Southwest following an acquisition deal that closed earlier this year.

Southwest is in the process of integrating AirTran into its network, though it’s recently come into question if that will be a full merger into a single brand — as first expected — or if Southwest will continue to operate AirTran as a stand-alone subsidiary.

As for its large-flier policy, Southwest says it allows “customers of size” to ask for a refund for a second seat if their flight ends up having empty seats on it. AirTran will do the same, according to the Journal-Constitution.

In a “Customer of Size Q&A” on its website, Southwest says:

We became more vigilant regarding the additional purchase when we began seeing an increase in the number of valid complaints from passengers who traveled without full access to their seat because a large Customer infringed upon the adjacent seating space. …

We could no longer ignore complaints from Customers who traveled without full access to their seat due to encroachment by a large seatmate whose body extended into the neighboring seat. These Customers had uncomfortable (and sometimes painful) travel experiences, and it is our responsibility to seek resolution to prevent this problem.

While some applaud the airline for its policy, Southwest also has had a few high-profile dust-ups with big passengers upset by the rule. One of those was actor Kevin Smith, who created a national flap last year by tweeting is outrage at Southwest.

Cleveland Ranks #7 In ‘America’s Most Mustache Friendly Cities’ Study!

Osupa — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:11:21 +0000

AmericanMustacheInstitute.com

Posted October 16th 2011

Following a two-year analysis of 100 U.S. cities, the American Mustache Institute (AMI) today released a new White Papernaming Chicago as “America’s Most ‘Mustache-Friendly’ City.”

As a result, Chicago will play host to AMI’s annual ‘Stache Bash 2011 charitable benefit on Friday, October 28. The event will serve as the Chicagoland kick-off event for Movember, the global moustache-growing charity campaign raising awareness and funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

In determining America’s most Mustache-Friendly cities, AMI researchers interviewed two hundred Mustached Americans in each of 100 high-performing U.S. municipalities to determine what makes their municipal region a flavor saving destination based on five key indicators: Employment, Transportation, Entertainment/Sport, Culinary, and Education.

Researchers asked participants to freely respond to open-ended questions about their lifestyle and spending habits. Qualitative data received during this study shed light on to why these cities received high AMI City Index scores.

Following Chicago in the top 10 Mustache-Friendly cities were: Houston;, Pittsburgh; Oklahoma City; Detroit; Milwaukee; Cleveland; New York; Huntsville, Ala.; Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.

“It’s important to document these unique enclaves of mustached culture in America,” noted AMI historian Samuel Glasscock, Jr. “Each city contributes its own unique piece to a rich tapestry of American upper-lip hair.”