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Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners for recently allocating $60,000 of federal opioid settlement funds toward hiring a mental health professional for the county’s jail. That “navigator” will serve as a liaison among jail staff, inmates and the county court system. He or she will ensure that court officials are informed of mental-health challenges prisoners face and to determine what resources they need, particularly to avoid reincarceration. Given that local and county jails have effectively become de facto mental health hospitals for many inmates, the potential ...

Spirited back-to-school giveaway

Editorials

My church in Columbus, Ohio, Vision of Breath with Life Ministries, hosts an annual back-to-school giveaway in August on the far east side of town, in the Leawood neighborhood. The need for assistance with school supplies, clothing and food in this area is great, as the poverty rate is just over 18%. Parents of school-age children living in this residential section are definitely feeling the economic pinch as school supply prices have risen. Even the basics like pencils, erasers, glue sticks, scissors and notebook paper have gone up. According to the Groundwork Collaborative and The ...

In a world full of AOCs, become a Leavitt

Editorials

Even famous and successful women can’t avoid the reality of trade-offs. Earlier this month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Instagram that she is freezing her eggs. The 36-year-old congresswoman even gave herself an injection on camera. AOC said she would have to give herself another round of shots before her upcoming appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “I want you all to see that, because women can do anything,” she said. “And I think it’s badass that I’m gonna be, you know, giving myself shots in the green room, get my glam on, roll out, talk ...

Letters to the editor

Letters to the Editor

Prepare for the constant noise of data centers DEAR EDITOR: The transformation of voters into cicadas. Our future life in an industrial park. This is what the wealthy have planned for America, while they themselves leisure hundreds of thousands of miles away. America shall be humming away, literally. Data center noise typically remains audible within a 0.5- to 2.5-mile radius, a continuous hum of 55 to 85 dBA. Prolonged exposure to noise over 70 dBA can cause permanent hearing damage. Something like the 7-year itch of a cicada, with their loud buzzing sound, only opposite with a ...

Shock and outrage, surviving a madman

Editorials

Trump claimed this past week that his job approval ratings are “fabulous” — they’re “above 60%.” He also asserted that the United States is enjoying “the greatest economy we’ve ever had.” And that the U.S. has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz. “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump’s braggadocio doesn’t just mask his failures. His statements wildly contradict the calamities he’s created for America and the world. To be sure, since he first entered American politics, we’ve been shocked and outraged by his ...

Mainstream Dems taking back the wheel?

Editorials

You couldn’t find a wackier candidate than Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist vying to become the governor of Wisconsin. She wanted to defund police and abolish ICE, topping it all off with a call to end Thanksgiving. “Saturday Night Live” couldn’t have made her up. Hong lost the Democratic primary but left behind some sobering thoughts. She finished second by only a hair and against a sterling Democrat with relevant experience. The winner, David Crowley, is the Milwaukee County executive and an African American born into poverty. Crowley will face off against ...