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Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To Brandi Parker, Axess Family Services assistant director of Veterans Services, and her associates for moving swiftly in their needed community mission to assist homeless veterans in the Mahoning Valley. Last week, Parker showed off progress that has been made in constructing 14 apartments for homeless military veterans out of steel shipping containers in Youngstown. The complex, complete with a commons area with special services for veterans, is expected to be ready for occupancy this fall. But Axess is not stopping there. It has purchased land on each of the three other ...

Legislature should act to enhance service delivery to Ohioans

Editorials

If you’ve ever been puzzled, perplexed or perturbed while navigating the often slow-moving and sometimes problem-prone agencies of our state bureaucracy, rest assured, you’re not alone. Complaints regarding Ohio state-sponsored services and professional licensing are relatively common, with some areas seeing eye-popping increases. In one recent year, for example, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office handled over 20,500 complaints from state residents. Clearly, there is plenty of room for improvement in the delivery of Ohio services that could reduce bureaucratic hurdles for ...

Democratic Party is dead, long live the Jacobins!

Editorials

For the past century, the agendas of the Democratic Party were predictable. They professed concern for working Americans and supported blue-collar unions. Unemployment insurance, a 40-hour work week, disability insurance and Social Security were their trademarks — often rapidly achieved by growing government bureaucracies and continually raising taxes. Still, many Democrats were socially conservative. By the 1970s, Democrats still deplored antisemitism. Party officials had rejected their own segregationists to champion civil rights. Presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, Harry ...

Perspectives on DeWine’s fast decision on attorney general

David Skolnick

Everything happened so fast. Two days after the primary, Attorney General Dave Yost announced May 7 that he was resigning, effective June 7, to take a leadership position with a Christian conservative legal advocacy group. Four days after that, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was appointing Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and a member of his administration for more than seven years, as Yost’s successor. DeWine, a former attorney general, said: “It was very important for me to make this decision quickly. The new attorney general, frankly, has to start ...

Summer fun just around the corner

Editorials

State officials celebrated Tourism Day at the Ohio Statehouse earlier this week. As they did so, they highlighted many of the destinations and experiences that make the Buckeye State the heart of it all. Surely, there are Ohio destinations that are known all over the country — maybe even around the world — such as the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland or Cedar Point in Sandusky. But our lesser known gems are what really makes Ohio worth the trip. “Summer in Ohio means county fairs, lake trips, family road trips, baseball games, ...

Could President Trump care less about you and me?

Editorials

WASHINGTON — Camelot, it’s not. King Arthur, not even close. Donald Trump is a pretender president who doesn’t even pretend to do right by the people. In all candor, this city, graced by garden squares, memorials and museums, feels like a crime scene, with his fingerprints everywhere on it. Places we held dear are demolished (the White House East Wing) or closed (the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). But who knows what’s in the knave’s heart? Trump also dumped toxic debris from the East Wing site onto a popular public golf course. His visage scowls from windows at ...