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Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To Lisa Hill for her well-deserved promotion to Mahoning County dog warden last week. Hill has been working for over 17 years with organizations committed to the welfare of our beloved four-legged friends. For the past 10 years she has worked at the dog warden’s complex on Meridian Road as a kennel canvasser and supervisor. Clearly she brings a wealth of experience and a passion for humane treatment of dogs to the post. We’re also impressed with her goals of much stronger community outreach and education on the roles and responsibilities of pet ownership. Given the seeming ...

Legislators face large agenda but little time

Time is rapidly running out for our great state’s lawmakers to address a wide host of critical public policy issues gnawing at Ohioans. Too bad they plan to squander most of that potentially productive time. Now that summer is unofficially over, you’d think our state legislators would be rip-roaring ready to high-tail it to the Statehouse to get back into action. If so, you’d be sadly mistaken. The Senate plans to convene this coming week for committee work and a possible full session with only a handful of other dates on their legislative calendar for the next two months. ...

Don’t ever forget 9/11

I was sitting in my home office not far from the Pentagon when it happened. The TV behind me had the sound lowered but I suddenly became aware of a major development. I reached for the remote and cranked up the audio. A plane had struck one of the twin towers in New York. TV anchors initially speculated it must have been a small plane that had run off course, but soon a much larger plane struck the building and then a second one hit the other tower. It quickly became clear America was under attack. I saw smoke rising from the Pentagon and went up on the roof to get a better look. My ...

Rent control still does not work well

In 2022, politicians in Minneapolis and St. Paul voted for rent control. I said that would lead to bigger problems. Was I right? My update video reveals what happened. St. Paul politicians pushed rent control, saying rent caps would stop “unfair profiteering.” But what the heck is “profiteering,” and how is it different from “profit”? Who decides what is “unfair”? The opportunity for profit is what persuades people to invest in things. And build things. If enough people invest in new housing, rents will stop shooting up. That’s just how markets work. ...

Progressive regression and the new medievalism

For most people, the story of the medieval world was one of cramped cities, constant violent crime and episodic outbreaks of deadly plagues — the dividends of unclean urban conditions, rotting food, fouled water, open sewage, and unchecked rats, fleas, and lice. Most of each day was spent simply trying to survive until the next. Castles and walls dotted the landscape to protect kingdoms from marauding tribes and foreign invaders. City gates were usually closed at dusk to keep out nocturnal marauders. Public executions drew massive crowds. And religious schisms and conflicts often ...

Remembering how Americans united after attacks of 9/11

“Never forget.” What did we mean, when we declared as a country that we would forever remember the events and lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001? What do those words mean to the people born afterward? They are Gen Z and Gen Alpha, now. All they know is what they read in history books, what ...