Breaking News

Opinion

New prediction markets need more oversight

Editorials

Athletes can’t bet on their own sport, right? That could lead to charges of taking bribes or fraud. Employees of publicly traded companies can’t give stock tips based on nonpublic information. That’s insider trading. There are legal consequences for some people who make money based on information only they have, or on situations over which they have some control. Meanwhile, prediction markets such as Kalshi or Polymarket provide platforms so new there are not yet consequences for many cases in which a person might make money betting on something they know more about than the ...

Do not use bison as political pawns

Editorials

My sister Erica and I returned to Montana just a few days after the Bureau of Land Management revoked grazing permits for bison. American Prairie, a nonprofit working to create one of the largest nature reserves in the United States, was the target of that decision. Erica and I bounced along two-track roads in our Toyota RAV4 rental, hoping to get close to the American Prairie bison herd. It wasn’t as easy as one might think. What makes American Prairie different is scale. American Prairie has roughly 1,000 bison total. On the Sun Prairie section where we visited, approximately ...

Don't excuse political violence

Editorials

A society that begins to excuse political violence should not be surprised when political violence multiplies. Once you create a moral framework in which violence is not merely understandable but righteous — once you argue that certain institutions are so corrupt, so “murderous,” that the people who participate in them deserve to be killed — you are no longer condemning violence. You are licensing it. And when that cultural permission structure meets a criminal justice system increasingly designed to favor perpetrators over victims, the results are predictable: more criminals ...

Honor America’s fallen appropriately this Memorial Day

Editorials

Today’s Memorial Day holiday carries added poignance this year as it comes amid a new U.S. war — and war fallen — in Iran and as it ushers in a summer of events to mark this great nation’s 250th birthday. But sadly enough, many in the Mahoning Valley and across the country unintentionally will disrespect the true meaning and purpose of today’s solemn national holiday. After all, ever since 1971, when Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be observed on the fourth Monday in May, for many, the holiday is simply the final day of a long weekend dedicated to the ...

Sound off!

Letters to the Editor

I’m struck by the similarities of the last days of the Nazi regime in April 1945 to the faltering Iranian government. Like Germany, Iran is controlled by a small, deadly group of fanatics, preserving their grip on power at any cost. Civilian dissent is ruthlessly crushed, and the country is kept in a perpetual news blackout. People are scooped on any pretext and just hung from a crane — or worse. The big difference from World War II Germany is the enabling power of the Internet to continually pipe out rhetoric and threats to every media outlet in the world. I have to wonder what ...

Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To Dr. Robert Ricchiuti and Phyllis Ricchiuti for their prestigious and deserving honor as winners of this year’s Friends of the University Award from Youngstown State University. The high honor shows appreciation for their extraordinary leadership, philanthropy and lasting impact on YSU and the Mahoning Valley. More specifically, the Ricchiutis financed and launched The Paula and Anthony Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism 31 years ago in memory of family members. Since then, it has grown into a formidable and nationally recognized institution that transforms the ...