BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      A plan prepared by a group that calls itself the Boardman Resident Mall Committee has outlined what it calls “actionable steps, incentives and strategies” to redevelop the Southern Park Mall in Boardman.
      The plan calls on public entities, like township government and the local school board to oversee some provisions of ‘the plan,’ although township government in most instances, lacks such authority.
      The current owner of most of the mall property, Kohan, based in Great Neck, New York, purchased the site, excluding the former Dillard’s Department Store, in late 2024 for a reported $24.1 million.
      Kohan is more than $900,000 delinquent in the payment of property taxes since buying the site from the Washington Prime Group; an...Read More >>

     BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      The game of football has strong roots in the Mahoning Valley.
      What first comes to mind is longtime Cardinal Mooney Head Coach, the late Don Bucci, who played in his prep days at East High School before becoming a quarterback at Notre Dame, and then moving on to lead the Cards to four state championships on the gridiron, often using coaching skills he learned from the legendary Denny Barrett, who helped establish Mooney’s football program.
      Mr. Bucci’s influence has had a strong impact on collegiate coaches across the country---coaches like Bob Stoops who won a national championship leading the Oklahoma Sooners, and Mike Stoops, who now serves as head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats and is the winningest grid coach in school history; or Bo Pelini, who guided Youngsto...Read More >>

     BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      D.J. Dota’s Boardman High School football team opens the season hoping to light-up Spartan Stadium’s new, $225,000 scoreboard, with 15 seniors from last year’s team,, who have been in the Spartan grid program for each of the four years Dota has served as mentor.
      Coming off a 6-5 season a year ago, the Spartans begin play at home on Aug. 22 against fellow Ohio Div. II, Region 5 foe Twinsburg Tigers with renewed attitude and a lot of experience, especially on the offensive and defensive front lines. Twinsburg had a 3-7 record in 2024. (Kickoff set at 7:00 p.m.)
      Boardman’s starting offensive line this season averages 257-lbs. a man, while the defensive front four are bigger yet, averaging about 266-lbs. a man.
      The Boardman Win...Read More >>