Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To the Mahoning Valley Scrappers for successfully opening their 2021 season at Eastwood Field this week to the cheers of 2,000 in the stadium and tens of thousands throughout the Valley. It’s been a tough one-year hiatus for the team, what with a total shutdown of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic and an uncertain future over much of the past year in the face of contraction in Minor League Baseball. The Scrappers, as scrappy as ever, survived the cuts and now have become part of the new Major League Baseball Draft League. Their survival keeps the many benefits the team provides the Valley alive: affordable and exciting fun for their legion of fans, an economic boost for businesses near Eastwood Field, myriad community- ervice good works by team members and a unifying bond of regional pride for fans throughout Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
ONION: To State Rep. Larry Householder, R-Glenford, for failing to heed the call of a growing chorus of Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly and throughout Ohio demanding his resignation. Ten months ago, Householder was federally indicted on bribery and racketeering charges alleging he accepted some $61 million in donations in exchange for pushing through passage of a $1 billion nuclear energy bailout. Although Householder deserves his day in court, even the appearance of such major corruption is enough for many to lose trust in his leadership capabilities. We argued as much in an editorial last July. In the absence of his voluntary resignation, the full General Assembly should move one or both recently introduced bills to expel Householder from the Legislature to speedy and overwhelming passage.
ORCHID: To students and staff at Youngstown’s Taft Elementary School for taking a stand — literally — against violence that has been plaguing the South Side neighborhood where the school is located. About 130 students from the elementary school marched around the school with signs reading “Stop the Violence,” “Love one another. Forgive one another,” “We are respectful, We are responsible.” Ironically, a man was shot and killed in that neighborhood just hours before the march, proving the validity and urgency of the students’ messages. Youngstown police should listen to the students’ appeals and continue intense patrols through the South Side and other high-crime areas of the city.
ORCHID: To the donors to the Inspiring Hope fundraising campaign of Youngstown’s Beatitude House, which offers shelter and self-help services to disadvantaged women and children in the area. The campaign easily surpassed its $3.4 million goal by raising more than $3.7 million. That funding will help the house, operated by the Ursuline Sisters, provide living space for homeless women and their children, expand its immigration outreach services and buttress the Sisters’ urban scholarship awards. Those impressive results are also a testament to the community’s appreciative recognition of the good works of the Ursuline Sisters.
ONION: To any and all scumbags who poison the environment by illegally dumping such items as tires and building supplies at recycling sites and other forbidden places. Recently, a recycling center at a Trumbull County church had to close because staff there could not keep up with the growing piles of dumped materials. A slew of cases of large amounts of junk dumped illegally also has been plaguing recycling sites in Trumbull County operated by the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District. Kudos, however, to officials at the district who have placed cameras at recycling sites. They have helped to prosecute and in several cases convict illegal dumpers through the use of cameras in place at the sites. In Youngstown, officials continue to battle wanton dumping of used tires in lots throughout the city. They, too, have adopted appropriate get-tough attitudes in the name of improving urban aesthetics and safeguarding public health.
ORCHID: To owners of the Hot Dog Shoppe and Reyer’s Shoes, two longstanding and iconic businesses in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys for making plans to broaden their footprints in our region. The Hot Dog Shoppe, under relatively new ownership of CEO Greg Vojnovic, is scouting sites in the Youngstown-Boardman area for a new restaurant. Meanwhile, Steven and Mark Jubelirer, owners of what they bill as “the world’s largest shoe store,” plan to leave their century-plus-old business in downtown Sharon and take up shop in an expansive space inside the Eastwood Mall in Niles. Both moves should be mutually beneficial for the business owners who broaden their base of clientele and for residents who gain easier access to some of the region’s hottest commodities.
Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To Judge Carla Baldwin of Youngstown Municipal Court for doing her homework and refusing to dismiss the misdemeanor criminal charge against Christopher Wilkinson, 32, of Springfield Township. He was accused of flying too low over Stambaugh Stadium during a 2019 Youngstown State University football game. The defendant’s attorney argued that the Federal Aviation Administration and federal courts have sole jurisdiction over criminal violations committed by pilots in Ohio. The judge presented case law backing up her dissenting opinion on sole federal jurisdiction and ordered the case to proceed in her court. In a society where the wheels of justice often turn all too slowly, Baldwin should be commended for doing her part in moving them along.
ORCHID: To David and Pat Leo of Girard, parents of Justin Leo, a Girard police officer who was shot to death in the line of duty in 2017, for keeping the memory and spirit of community service of their son alive. The Leos recently awarded $5,000 scholarships to four Girard High School students — Bella Alejars, Nick Carlo, Emily Fitzgerald and Krissa Kadel — for their volunteerism and service to the community. In the past four years, the Justin Leo Foundation has totaled $80,000 in scholarship awards as well as $225,000 in donations to the Youngstown State University Foundation.
ONION: To leaders of the Ohio Republican Party for censuring Rocky River Republican U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez this month and calling on him to resign his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives over his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump earlier this year. One may agree to disagree on Gonazalez’s vote but such disagreements should not be grounds for a forced exit from office.
ORCHID: To five outstanding members of the Canfield High School Speech and Debate Team for winning the Academic All American Award from the National Speech and Debate Association. The prestigious award recognizes academic rigor, speech and debate successes and personal excellence. Fewer than 1 percent of 141,000 members of the association receive the honor. Hats off to Canfield’s winners: Bridget Fekety, Hannah Kelly, Nicholas Krcelic, Emily Mashqbeh and Madison Zets.
ORCHID: To Derek Porter, son of Harold and Michelle Porter, for extending a longstanding family tradition of perfect attendance throughout his kindergarten through 12th grade journey in Austintown schools. He is now the fifth member of the Porter family dating back to 1971 to achieve that distinction. We commend Derek and his rationale for striving for perfection: “We are given a free yet valuable education, so I think it is important for us to take advantage of it.”
ORCHID: To officials of Lordstown Motors Corp. for planning a weeklong open house of sorts for investors, auto analysts, customers and partners of the electric-truck manufacturer in June. It will provide these key constituents opportunities to tour the 6.2 million-square-foot facility, speak with company
executives and test drive the electric Endurance pickup truck. Such openness and transparency could serve the company well as it continues to recover from a series of lawsuits and a dive in its stock value in recent months. Much, however, will ride on LMC’s ability to begin early mass production of the Endurance by late September as promised. It is incumbent for the truck maker to stay firmly on track.
ORCHID: To the Poland Board of Education for backing off — at least for the time being — from a plan to demolish the former North Elementary School in the district. Earlier this week, board members listened to proposals to transform the historic structure into a community center for Poland or as new space for the Mahoning County High School. Either one would be a better option than the wrecking ball destroying a key piece of the school district’s proud history.
editorial@vindy.com
Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To Mahoning County Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick for winning the 2021 ATHENA Award at a ceremony Thursday night in Canfield. The annual award, sponsored by The Vindicator and the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber, honors exceptional professional women for their career successes, service and leadership to the community and their empowerment of other professional women through active mentorship. Dellick has been described as a “visionary” for her public service and mentoring and creating job opportunities for young people. We congratulate Dellick on carrying on the noble tradition of the award.
ORCHID: To Joe Meranto, superintendent of Youngstown City Schools, for his 18 years of service to the district. Meranto announced he will retire next month to move into “the next chapter” of his life. Though the responsibilities of superintendent in Youngstown have been weakened since the state took control of the district several years ago, Meranto is to be credited for his stable presence and leadership over a district engulfed in so many changes in recent years. Justin Jennings, the district’s chief executive officer, credited Meranto for the sage advice and counsel he has given him over the past two years he’s been at the helm.
ORCHID: To Shirley Christian for being honored as Community Legal Aid of Mahoning County’s Volunteer of the Year. Christian has remained steadfastly committed to the legal assistance program for low-income residents for some 13 years now and has provided assistance on such issues as consumer debt, custody / visitation rights and record sealing. Christian, a former Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge, consistently has showed a robust commitment to community service. She also was named Woman of the Year Youngstown Business and Professional Women a few years back.
ONION: To many Youngstown parents for failing to encourage their children to take advantage of free COVID-19 vaccination clinics at city high schools. On one recent day only three of 1,300 eligible students signed up for the vaccination. We hope students and parents alike will recognize the value of protecting themselves and loved ones around them from the dangers of the coronavirus. Let’s hope future school vaccination clinics produce much more robust turnouts.
ORCHID: To Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for ending the state’s payment of $300 in bonus unemployment benefits to the jobless in the state. Judging by the number of “Help Wanted” signs sprouting up in our community, the extra benefits have served as a disincentive for unemployed workers from actively searching for work. We’re pleased, too, that DeWine is reinstating the requirement that all unemployment benefit recipients actively look for work.
ORCHID: To the anonymous donor of $20,000 to the Youngstown Playhouse that will be used to establish the Joseph E. Scarvell Youth Theater Endowment Fund. The funding will be used to support and expand the Playhouse’s youth theater programming. What a fitting tribute to honor the legacy of Scarvell, a passionate and hard-working Playhouse director, actor, board member and patron for 62 years.
ORCHID: To Youngstown police Chief Carl Davis for launching new neighborhood response units to target and reduce violent crime in the city. Five police officers began the new offensive largely on the South Side last week. According to Davis, they’ll work to disrupt dangerous street-level activities in an effort to provide a safe and secure environment and improve the quality of life within neighborhoods. Davis and the new response team can’t win the war on crime alone, however. It’s now up to residents to give the police 100 percent support and cooperation to make this and other initiatives as successful as they can be.
editorial@vindy.com
Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To Justin Rogers, planning and operations director for Mill Creek MetroParks, and other park leaders for giving new life to a once vibrant park asset — the former warming house next to the former ice rink at the James L. Wick Jr. Recreation Area. In the nearly 20 years since the ice rink closed, the building has been shuttered for public use. New plans, however, call for it to become a hub for recreation and public gatherings. The MetroParks board is expected to give the green light Monday to award contracts for the $775,000 project that calls for transforming the 4,000-square-foot structure into space for banquets, meetings, offices and recreational activities such as sports league sign-ups. We’re pleased this prime piece of real estate no longer will be underused, and the dream of park founder Volney Rogers to preserve the district “for the evercoming future” lives on.
ORCHID: To Hubbard native Curren Katz for winning recognition from corporate giant IBM as one of the top 40 women around the world singled out for the company’s prestigious Women Leaders in AI program. Katz and her team at Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health worked to predict people who are at risk of sepsis, a condition that happens when, as the body fights infection, it damages its own tissue. She, like the other winners from 18 countries, is credited for significant achievements in artificial intelligence. Katz also serves as a strong local role model for young women seeking to break into male-dominated Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers.
ONION: To tens of thousands of registered voters who failed to participate in this week’s primary election in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. In Mahoning County, voter turnout was an embarrassingly low 13.2 percent. The Trumbull County turnout rate was even more shameful at 8.8 percent, one of the lowest levels in history. We believe many mistakenly interpreted this off-year election’s races for city leaders such as those for Youngstown mayor and Warren City Council members to be insignificant and unconsequential. But as Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull County Board of elections pointed out, “These elections affect your everyday life through taxes, roads.”
AWOL voters lost their voice in the makeup of local governance and forfeited one of
the most sacred rights of our constitutional democracy.
ORCHID: To Stephen Gage, Youngstown State University professor of conducting and director of bands and orchestra in the university’s Dana School of Music, on his retirement after a stellar 28-year career at the prestigious institution. A grand finale concert last week near campus reunited many past Dana School students with Gage at the baton. Alumnus Bob Antonnucci likely spoke for scores of them when he said at the concert last week: “He’s been so influential in my life and my career. I wanted to pay it forward and show him how much he meant to me.”
ORCHID: To the Austintown Senior Center for reopening its doors this week after being shuttered for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seniors from the Austintown area were tickled with the ability to socialize and partake in group activities again. Leaders of the center are to be commended for making those activities more individualized to maintain social distancing and for
other COVID-19 health protocols that remain in place. Their responsible actions can serve as models for other senior centers throughout the region.
ORCHID: To the Youngstown State University softball team for clinching the 2021 Horizon League championship by defeating Cleveland State last weekend. The dynamo squad will now host the upcoming Horizon League softball tournament. We’re certain the Penguin squad will continue to bring honor and pride to their university and community with exemplary play at next week’s tourney on home turf.
editorial@vindy.com
Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley for setting a near-record in fundraising during the challenging pandemic-plagued year of 2020. At its in-person annual meeting in Poland this week, UW President Bob Hannon reported $3.38 million was raised last year — the second-highest total in its 101-year history. Those millions will benefit an array of community service organizations throughout the region at a time when assistance is more sorely needed than ever to survive the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis.
ORCHID: To Mark Matasic of Campbell for winning the Caregiver Hero Award from the American Stroke Association recently. Matasic stayed by his father Stephen’s side as an attentive caregiver 24/7 after Stephen suffered a debilitating stroke. After Stephen’s death, Mark became a passionate advocate for Survive Stroke, a national movement that calls for more streamlined treatment of stroke victims. Matasic also has lobbied in Columbus on stroke victims’ behalf. We congratulate Matasic and countless others in our community who make tremendous personal sacrifices to properly care for sick family and loved ones.
ONION: To former New Middletown Police Sgt. Brooke McCon for setting an extremely poor example of the strong leadership skills and law-abiding character traits law enforcement officers are sworn to uphold. Boardman police arrested her and charged her with drunken driving after a collision with another vehicle last month on Interstate 680 in which McCon’s vehicle caught on fire and the driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries. To her credit, however, she owned up to her carelessness by pleading guilty to the OVI charge this week in Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman, and later resigned her position.
ORCHID: To Randy Newby for launching the new Respect Basketball League in Youngstown. Newby, commissioner of the league, was inspired to help stem the rising tide of violence in the city. The league consists of eight 12-member teams. Early indications show the program already is achieving its goals of giving inner-city youth productive and character-building alternatives to the street. In addition to basketball, other elements of the program include mentoring, GED instruction and job training. Kudos, too, to the many community groups providing valuable resources for the league, including the Central YMCA, the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, Express Employment Services, the Youngstown Police Department and others. We wish its participants many slam dunks in their games and their personal growth.
ORCHID: To the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Transportation for joining forces to launch a proactive anti-litter campaign titled “A Little Litter is a Big Problem.” The agencies are seeking support and participation from local governments, environmental groups, schools and businesses to send a message out loud and clear to all Ohioans. With full cooperation, we’re confident the campaign can curb such shameful facts as these: 42 percent of Ohioans report having littered in the past month, and ODOT has spent about $50 million since 2019 to clean roadside trash of careless litterers.
ONION: To individuals who are victims or witnesses of crimes but fail to cooperate with law enforcement to bring criminals to justice. A case in the Mahoning Valley this week illustrates this stinky onion well. Police released a man who they say was photographing women in the Walmart store in Boardman, including at least one in which a woman was photographed from under her dress. The suspect also admitted to similar acts of voyeurism at other township stores, according to police. But the authorities could not arrest him as witnesses to the seedy acts would not cooperate. Now that the suspect is on the loose, don’t be surprised when hearing of new reports of voyeurism at public places locally.
ORCHID: To the parents and alumni of East High School in Youngstown who saved prom for the Class of 2021. Youngstown schools CEO Justin Jennings had announced Tuesday that proms for city high schools would be canceled this spring due, in part, to lack of interest. Many students and alumni were heartbroken by that decision and went to work to salvage the traditional rite of passage seniors. By Wednesday, the informal group had raised $3,000 and acquired many free services and discounts to announce a 2021 Senior Weekend for East students. Such speedy mobilization behind a noble cause is to be commended.
editorial@vindy.com
SCRIPTURE
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James 1:27 NLT