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New tool helps all to track students’ chronic absenteeism

Editorials

It’s just common sense that students who are able to attend school regularly are more likely to perform at grade level in reading and math, and eventually graduate on time. But during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school year, approximately one-fourth of Ohio students were considered chronically absent (missing two or three days per month). Addressing such a challenge will require having the information to get a handle on each student’s situations. To that end, the state has unveiled an attendance dashboard that should give schools another tool in the effort. “The goal is to spot ...

Mahoning Valley’s momentum is real — and it’s gaining steam

Editorials

In 2020, we saw a generational opportunity to grow our economy based on the number of leads for economic development projects. That year, nearly 60 leads startled us. By the way, in 2020 we also received one lead for what’s called a mega project—think Ultium Cells’ $2 billion investment and more than 1,000 jobs. We used to get about one every other year. We were told this level of activity would sustain itself for years. So, we made population and talent expansion our No. 1 priority and housing expansion our No. 2 priority. We didn’t sustain this level of interest. In ...

Hovis is best pick in the GOP race for commissioner

Editorials

Incumbent Denny Malloy wants a second four-year term as a Trumbull County commissioner. Michael J. Hovis, currently a two-term Bazetta Township trustee, is bidding to oust Malloy from office in the May 5 Republican primary. The winner of that race will face Democrat Kristen F. Rock, an attorney, in November’s general election. Hovis and Malloy share similarities beyond being Republicans. Hovis, 57, lives in Bazetta and Malloy, 56, also resides there. Both — questioned during endorsement interviews with this newspaper’s editorial board and a reporter — are concerned about ...

Trump, Pope Leo XIV and the gospel of ‘Pulp Fiction’

Editorials

It is hardly surprising that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s explicitly Christian monthly worship services monthly in the Pentagon have raised alarm in some quarters about the separation of church and state. But who expected to find him quoting lines of alleged scripture that were lifted from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 cult classic “Pulp Fiction”? The flap begins with a prayer. At an April 15 worship service, Hegseth recited a prayer he said was sent to him by the lead mission planner of “Sandy One,” of the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in Iran that saved a ...

What are politicians thinking?

Editorials

Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales were both accused of sexual misconduct involving staffers. Californian Swalwell said he’d resign from his House seat after giving up on his run for governor. Texan Gonzales said he was withdrawing from the 2026 reelection race. Back in the day, male politicians cavorted with their female staffers and got away with it. But that was way back and many days ago. An official cheating on his wife with a woman picked up at a rally doesn’t seem to bother voters the way it once did. Donald Trump has numbed the electorate to that level ...

Stacy A. Marling should be GOP candidate for Trumbull auditor

Editorials

The Republican race for Trumbull County auditor is one of the most interesting in the May 5 primary. Incumbent Martha Yoder is bidding for a second term against GOP challengers Stacy A. Marling, the current deputy auditor in Mahoning County — who also serves as Bazetta Township’s fiscal officer — and former state Rep. Mike Loychik. In Yoder’s first campaign, she emphasized increased accessibility, transparency and fiscal responsibility. “We made a lot of progress,” Yoder said. “We revamped our website to make information more accessible by moving those things that ...