The Mahoning Valley will shine again after Saturday night.
That's when an episode of the TV show ''Cash Explosion'' will be recorded at the Eastwood Mall in only the second time in the past six years that the Ohio Lottery Commission took it on the road. When the show airs, segments on the National Packard Museum, the mall, Wagon Trails Animal Park in Vienna, the McKinley Memorial Library and Museum in Niles and Fellows Riverside Gardens and Lanterman's Mill in Mill Creek Park will be shown.
The impetus for this started in the spring when Trumbull County resident Michael Verich, a member of the Lottery Commission, suggested it. Gov. John Kasich endorsed the idea as a way to showcase one of the most economically promising regions in the state.
How fitting, then, that earlier this week the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical area retained its distinction as the fastest-recovering area in Ohio based on economic growth since The Great Recession.
When the show airs, residents across the state will learn a lot about what Trumbull and Mahoning counties have to offer in terms of quality of life. It's also good for locals to watch and allow the news flashes to reinforce how nice we have it.