SitemapThere was no shortage of prominent personalities and trends featured on the front pages of The Vindicator this year.
Arno Hill, the mayor of Lordstown, was out front in his support of a HomeGoods warehouse in his village that would create hundreds of jobs and bring in much-needed revenues.
The health of Youngstown Bishop George V. Murry took center stage as he battled leukemia, and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, was at the forefront of several issues, including his political battles with President Donald Trump.
Here are the top people and trends for this year as selected by Vindicator staff and editors.
1 - Certainly one of the most far-reaching stories of the year, and one of the most heartbreaking, is the story of Amer “Al” Adi Othman.
The former owner of the Downtown Circle Market and Circle Hookah lounge, Adi, a native of Jordan, became a local symbol for the crackdown on undocumented immigrants by the Trump-empowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Adi’s story was a roller coaster, particularly for his family, who watched him face deportation, celebrate a potential reprieve and then disappear when ICE agents apprehended him during what was supposed to be a check-in meeting.
The fight to keep Adi in Youngstown included politicians from both parties and a sizable show of support from the public, but the outcry was not enough to stave off the deportation.
Adi was deported to Amman, Jordan, on Jan. 29 after a two-week hunger strike. The family sold its downtown businesses in September, and Othman’s wife, Fidaa Musleh, moved to Jordan to be with her husband.
2 - Dave Green, United Auto Workers Local 1112 president, and Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, often found their names in the headlines. GM and its Lordstown assembly plant were often the subject of bad news this year. In June, Lordstown’s second shift was eliminated, and on Nov. 26, GM announced it would idle five North American plants, including the plant at Lordstown.
Green, newly elected to his position as president of the union local, was thrust into the spotlight as the 1,500 remaining workers at the plant – and their families, and the thousands of workers whose jobs are dependent upon the plant – looked to him for guidance in the face of the doomsday they’d dreaded for decades. To read the full story from the Vindicator, click here.