Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To the Youngstown State University Board of Trustees for launching a new era of growth for the higher education institution. The board last week unanimously agreed to accept the property title for the former Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville as part of its plan to open a branch campus there. YSU is planning an open house at its new campus in January with classes expected to begin there next summer. The expansion will benefit thousands of potential students in the Steubenville area who lost their nearby access to higher education two years ago. It also will expand YSU’s statewide footprint, increase enrollment and help stabilize its finances. With so many benefits of expansion, we’d hope university officials might consider any options for taking over property in its own backyard — the former EGCC campus in downtown Youngstown.
ONION: To operators of bars and nightclubs in the Mahoning Valley that flagrantly violate laws governing their operation. One clear example of such has been the Levels Sports Bar & Grill on Hubbard Road in Youngstown. Police have said they’ve been called to the establishment weekly recently for reports of unruly overcapacity crowds, fights, double parking, and operating past the legal 2:30 a.m. closing time. This “disturbing of the peace,” as police describe it, must end. If not, the city should begin action to revoke the establishment’s liquor license.
ORCHID: To Monica Moore of Poland for her industriousness in constructing a preschool playground at Poland Township Park for her Eagle Scout project. The soon-to-be-completed park, designed for the under-age 6 set, includes a playhouse, coaster set, climbing slide and sand toys. Monica, the daughter of Tim and Andrea Moore and a junior at Poland Seminary High School, is a member of Poland’s BSA Troop 8044, the community’s first all-girls BSA troop. Her hard work and responsible commitment to its completion will leave an indelibly positive and lasting mark on the park for years to come.
ORCHID: To Youngstown City Councilman Jimmy Hughes, D-2nd Ward, and his army of volunteers for their tireless work to transform one of the oldest African-American cemeteries in the city from a dilapidated and nearly abandoned eyesore into a clean, well landscaped and respectable final resting place for hundreds. The Mount Hope Cemetery today is hardly recognizable from its state of near-total disarray a few short years ago. About 100 dead trees have been removed, high grass and weeds have been cut, new gates and pavement repairs have been completed, and many headstones have been repaired. Kudos, too, to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. for providing funding and labor for the cemetery’s incredible metamorphosis.
ONION: To FirstEnergy, of which Ohio Edison is a subsidiary, for its corrupt actions that finally are being punished by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The electricity utility had paid approximately $60 million in bribes to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his associates from 2017 to 2020 to secure passage of a $1.3 billion ratepayer-funded bailout for the company’s nuclear and coal plants. Last week, the PUCO ordered the Akron-based utility to pay more than $250 million in fines and refunds as a result of its seedy and despicable misconduct. PUCO Commissioner John Williams did not mince words in admonishing FE: “Our actions today should also stand as a clear reminder to FirstEnergy of the importance of continuing to reform its corporate culture and work diligently to rebuild the trust of the public.” First Energy should take Williams’ stern words to heart.
ORCHID: To Hubbard High School’s Future Educators of America Club and its adviser Josh MacMillan for continuing their commendable public-service tradition of visiting Fairhaven School in Niles to lead children in its preschool and workshop programs in a variety of art projects. In last week’s Hubbard Art Day visit, students colored paper winter hats, created a Christmas tree by coloring a specially shaped paper, made a paper cup snowman and engaged in other artistic endeavors under the guidance of the high schoolers. The project, now in its 12th year, wields a double whammy of advantages. It benefits Fairhaven students by providing them an outlet for creative expression, and it benefits the Hubbard students by giving them up close and personal experiences in hands-on teaching of young charges.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Wanda Vaught of Youngstown for launching a fundraising campaign to assist students in all six Boardman public schools with delinquent lunch accounts. With Thanksgiving approaching and with many families struggling through these tough economic times, the 1984 Boardman High graduate’s GoFundMe campaign is timely and compassionate. Money raised will be channeled into the school district’s Angel Fund to ensure no student goes hungry at lunchtime. To make a donation, search GoFundMe and “Help Boardman Kids with Lunch Bills.” Let’s carry this fundraiser over the top of its $3,000 goal by Thanksgiving.
ORCHID: To the city of Youngstown’s Parks and Recreation Department and its director Clemate Franklin for winning the 2025 Community Group beautification award from Youngstown CityScape recently. It was one of 20 individuals or groups to receive honors from the civic improvement group downtown at Concept Studio downtown. Visitors to the city cannot help but have noticed significant improvements with over $10 million being invested in renovations across the city. These projects include new playground equipment, updated facilities, new lighting, security cameras, and landscaping at multiple parks. They play no small role in the city’s ongoing revitalization.
ONION: To all dimwitted trigger-happy numbskulls who terrorize public safety by playing Wild West games on urban interstate highways. A recent example of such played out on Interstate 680 in Youngstown, where a man in a tan coat reportedly shot at a moving vehicle from the sunroof of another moving vehicle near the South Avenue exit. No one appeared to be injured, but a bullet hit the victim’s engine block and disabled his car. Though this police report could have had a much more tragic ending, suffice it to say that city police should do all in their power to capture the dangerous and aggressive traveling assailant and work to keep that ilk off of all public roads all the time.
ORCHID: To Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works for the city of Youngstown, for spearheading a project to remove 10 unnecessary traffic lights on major thoroughfares in the city, most of which are on Market Street. The city had two studies performed and both came back with similar results, showing the lack of necessity for the signals. As most all motorists know, there is little more frustrating than waiting minutes on end at a red light with not a single solitary other vehicle in sight. The downsizing of the traffic light network complements the downsizing of many roads from four to two lanes in the city and should contribute to moving traffic more efficiently.
ONION: To supporters of Ohio Senate Bill 50 that recently passed and was sent to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk over its potential for taking advantage of the cheap labor of young people. The bill would permit 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights — two hours later than current limits — and would permit them to be paid the paltry federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. We side with Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, who said, “How dare we pretend that putting 14-year-olds on late-night shifts, in dangerous workplaces, is somehow helping families. It’s not helping anyone. It’s exploitation, plain and simple.” DeWine should waste no time in vetoing it.
ORCHID: To Arthur Newell of Struthers for a lifetime of achievements marked on his milestone 100th birthday earlier this month at a gathering with dozens of family members and friends. Newell is a certified World War II hero, as proven by his work in liberating two Nazi concentration camps and in his receipt of the French Legion d’honneur, France’s highest and most prestigious national military and civil order of merit. Newell remains no slouch today, eight decades after his valor in the Army. According to his son Tim, he’s still very “active, active, active.” Arthur clearly represents the greatest of his Greatest Generation, and we wish him many more celebratory birthdays.
ORCHID: To Hubbard City Councilman at-large Michael Kerr for his lobbying on Capitol Hill recently for funding of the HEARTS Act, legislation passed late last year designed to ensure schools are prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency through funding of Automated External Defibrillators. He was one of many advocates urging Congress to appropriate dollars for the coming fiscal year to implement the potentially life-saving program. Kerr, a CPR instructor, knows more than a thing or two about the critical value of AEDs. If a victim has access to a defibrillator and CPR within three to four minutes, there is about a 93% survival rate, Kerr noted. Their presence in every public school would lessen the number of heartbreaking tragedies such as the death of a 17-year-old Ohio wrestler this year who collapsed and later died after waiting 30 long and anguishing minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To the Youngstown State University men’s and women’s cross country teams for going the distance to win 2025 Horizon League championships this fall. The YSU men won their fourth-consecutive league title, becoming just the third program in conference history to achieve that amazing feat. The YSU women won their second Horizon League title in program history and first since 2014. If all that glory was not enough, Penguins coach Brian Gorby soaked in his own deserved kudos as Horizon’s Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. We salute all of the victors for the honor they bring to themselves, their teams and the university.’
ORCHID: To Youngstown City Schools Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor for his standout distinction as one of the Top 10 school superintendents in the entire nation. That honor was bestowed upon Batchelor last week by Education Insider, a national publication in print and digital formats (educationinsidermagazine.com) that often presents well researched analyses and rankings of leaders from grade school to graduate schools. Insider commended Batchelor for his “data-driven leadership, fostering academic improvement and promoting school safety.” Given the tangible improvements in academic achievement under his tenure the past two years, the Insider made a great choice. We wish him and his team the best as their commitment to improving all facets of district operations shows no signs of waning this school year.
ONION: To those irresponsible and reckless drivers who continue to operate vehicles while distracted by cellphone talking or texting as well as any other preoccupation that keeps their eyes and minds completely on the road. Such distractions can prove deadly, as indicated in the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s initial report on the crash that killed a Canfield trooper last month. According to the OSHP, Ohio has recorded 57,824 distracted driving crashes since 2020, of which 1,757 caused fatal or serious injuries. Such gross indiscretion also rises as a serious problem in the Mahoning Valley as the OSHP has made 2,268 citations for distracted driving here since the beginning of this year alone. Clearly the patrol and other law enforcement agencies have their work cut out for them, and we urge aggressive enforcement of the state’s tougher distracted driving laws that can result in fines up to $500, four points on your license and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
ORCHID: To Meijer store workers at its Mahoning Valley locations for giving back generously to their communities via the Meijer Team Gives program. Thanks to the corporation’s commitment to community engagement, each store receives $10,000 to distribute to nonprofits chosen by that store’s employees. Local recipients this year included Every Dog Matters, a dog rescue organization; the Brightside Project in Salem and the Howland Local School District’s Tiger Backpack Program. Nationwide, Meijer donated $3 million to 500 organizations this year. That proves the big-box store truly puts its money where its stated purpose — enriching lives in the communities we serve — is.
ONION: To Kohan Retail Investment Group, owner of the Southern Park Mall in Boardman, for its failure to responsibly live up to its financial obligations and its reticence to communicate with public officials and the press about the issues and its plans for the future of the shopping complex in the heart of the bustling township. According to Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree, Kohan’s unpaid taxes represent a potential $200,000 to $300,000 budget hit next year for the township. Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti is also rightly irked over what she reported as mall security guards receiving bounced paychecks, which caused a sudden short-term closing of the mall last week. Sadly, the company has a repugnant history of acquiring struggling shopping centers, collecting rent, but failing to pay its own bills for taxes, maintenance and utilities. We join many others in appealing to Kohan to pay its taxes in full and to responsibly manage its Boardman property or suffer any and all legal consequences.
ORCHID: To Erika T. Gold of Cleveland for offering her emotional and harrowing perspectives as a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust in Europe in the 1940s to more than 1,000 students from the Mahoning Valley in a recent address at Stambaugh Auditorium. She recounted the anguishing experience of escaping from a truck that had rounded up her, her mother and about 300 Hungarian Jewish women working in a Budapest uniform factory headed toward a concentration camp. She also recounted how her father was sent to a forced labor camp and her grandfather was gassed and cremated at another. We commend Gold for her courage in sharing her gripping and often grisly experiences that should put to rest any remaining slither of Holocaust denial.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Mahoning County Law Library Executive Director Susan McGrew and her staff for overseeing the successful completion of needed improvements to the facility to better serve the public. The $400,000 privately funded makeover to the library on the fourth floor of the Mahoning County Courthouse featured renovations that enhanced its ability to use electronic resources for legal research as well as construction of three large meeting rooms. That major remodeling now will allow attorneys to meet with clients to privately discuss issues surrounding their cases. What’s more, these user-friendly enhancements restore the library to its original architectural plans by acclaimed Valley architect Charles F. Owlsley. It called for the library’s second room to be subdivided into three or four offices. We’re confident Owlsley would be proud.
ORCHID: To the Ohio Tax Credit Authority for last week approving a 1.126%, seven-year Job Creation Tax Credit for a $43.8 million expansion at specialty-steel producer Vallourec Star in Youngstown and Girard. The company that employs about 1,000 at its Mahoning Valley operations plans to manufacture a newly developed and industrialized production line to meet increased demand from the North American market. The project is expected to create about 40 jobs here with $2.3 million in new annual payroll, with tax benefits flowing to the two cities and their school systems. Girard Mayor Mark Zuppo is particularly enthused about the expansion: ”Vallourec has been a great beacon of light here in the Valley, especially for Youngstown and Girard.” We couldn’t agree more, mayor.
ORCHID: To the Student Investment Fund at Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration for winning first place in the national Portfolio Building Competition at the Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium, which took place recently in Chicago. The annual competition challenges teams from across the country to design a long-term investment strategy and construct a mock portfolio of $100,000. The students’ stellar performance against their peers nationwide reflects exceptionally well on the caliber of education they receive from WCBA.
ONION: To CoreCivic, operator of the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, for seemingly failing to adequately address repeated cases of physical violence among inmates at the private prison in Youngstown. Just last week police were called to the lockup after a prisoner reportedly stabbed his cellmate multiple times in the back, torso, ear and finger. It was the ninth reported stabbing so far this year and the 17th since the start of last year. In September, one prisoner died from stab wounds. The U.S. Justice Department, which has investigated another CoreCivic-managed prison in Tennessee after reports of excessive violence there, would do well to now turn its attention to NEOCC.
ORCHID: To the more than 300 compassionate and hard-working volunteers who last week prepared and assembled a whopping 128,000 packages of soup and hot cereal at the United Way Volunteer Resource Center in Boardman. The food packages have been distributed to food pantries throughout the Valley to meet the growing needs of the growing ranks of food-insecure individuals and families in our midst.We therefore also roll out robust kudos to Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, United Way, Meals of Hope and other partners for carrying out this gargantuan and caring community service.
ONION: To general election candidates and their supporters who have been too lazy to remove campaign signs from private and public properties throughout the Valley. The sign owners have had ample time since Tuesday’s election to remove them. When placed, the signs supporting candidates for a variety of local offices presented a timely message to help impact the outcome of the election. Today, however, they serve no useful purpose and merely stand out as outdated visual environmental pollution.
ORCHID: To Austintown Fitch High School senior John Check for earning an amazing perfect score on the ACT college-entry exam. John thereby singles himself as among the less than 1% of the 1.4 million ACT takers annually with that honorable distinction. A look at his background, and it’s clear this National Honor Society member is an extremely intelligent and highly motivated student indeed. He challenges himself with a schedule of honors, advanced placement and College Credit Plus coursework. We wish him continued success as he plans to pursue a degree in creative writing.
ORCHID: To the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission for going the distance to make fueling up at any of the 14 service plazas on the 241-mile highway more convenient and affordable for motorists. The commission recently launched a new Real-Time Fuel Pricing webpage (https://www.ohioturnpike.org/travelers/service-plazas/fuel-prices) that displays current per-gallon fuel prices. What’s more, the commission, in an effort to battle perceptions that the turnpike heavily inflates gasoline prices, has vowed to keep prices within 3 cents of the average of stations located off the turnpike. Thanks to the new policies, drivers should never more have to contemplate time-, money- and gas-wasting detours off the pike.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Youngstown City Schools Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor, other administrators and teachers for their collective efforts to elevate the school system’s academic standing. In his recent annual State of the Schools address, Batchelor noted many significant improvements in the district’s overall performance, including raising the graduation rate from 76% in 2018 to 90% last school year and noteworthy improvements on the recent state report cards for East and Chaney high schools and many elementary schools. Though the district still has more work to improve its overall standing, clearly it has turned the corner toward becoming a district that draws cheers, not jeers, from parents and the community.
ORCHID: To JobsOhio, the state’s quasi-public nonprofit designed to drive economic development, for awarding GSP Land Holdings of North Jackson a $500,000 grant to build a mammoth 25,000-square-foot building on Silica Road in Austintown to house a range of industrial tenants. The Lake to River development district, a partner of JobsOhio, worked with developer Joe Cetor, co-owner of GSP, to secure the funding. The investment has great potential to attract a wide swath of industries, perhaps some tied to the Valley’s new Kimberly-Clark plant and distribution center. As Alexa Sweeney Blackann, interim CEO of Lake to River, aptly put it: “With this investment from JobsOhio, we’re removing barriers for site selectors and giving companies more reasons to choose our region. This grant is a win for our entire region.”
ONION: To candidates for public office who patronize vendors from outside the Mahoning Valley for services such as advertising and marketing their campaigns. In the most recent campaign finance report that politics writer David Skolnick presented this week, candidates spent tens of thousands of dollars for services from companies based in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Texas, New York and other locales far from the Youngstown-Warren metro area. If such candidates are truly serious when they say they wish to serve the best interests of their communities, they would also put their money where their mouths are when it comes to supporting Valley-based businesses.
ORCHID: To Dionne Dowdy-Lacey for winning the prestigious 2025 Woman of the Year Award from the Youngstown Business & Professional Women’s Club at its recent dinner, program and fundraiser for scholarships in Poland. Dowdy-Lacey serves as executive director and co-founder of United Returning Citizens, based in Youngstown. URC offers a wide variety of services aimed at helping those who have been incarcerated re-acclimate to their return to society and build self-sufficient lives in spite of many barriers they face. Her success in carrying out the laudable goals of URC is evident in its numbers: More than 17,000 individuals have received services to lead self-sufficient lives, several hundred have had their criminal records expunged, more than 6,000 have received job training and more than 5,000 of those served have found secure employment. Clearly, Dowdy-Lacey’s honor was well deserved.
ONION: To the growing ranks of pernicious fraudsters and con artists plying their despicable trade against our nation’s honorable military veterans. Mahoning Valley Elder Scam Consultant David Long recently reported a significant rise in attempted rip-offs against veterans here and throughout the United States. One such hoax has scammers sending out millions of fraudulent texts, emails and letters in the name of the Department of Veterans Affairs claiming the veteran has been overpaid and must return a portion of their benefits. Many scammers try to add credibility to their stories by hijacking the identities of actual veterans and service members. If you should find yourself on the receiving end of such an attempted swindle, do not give out personal information or funds. Then report the scam to Senior Services units in Mahoning County at 330-480-5078 or in Trumbull County at 330-675-7096.
ORCHID: To Dylan’s House, a nonprofit founded to support people on the autism spectrum and their families, for breaking ground last week in Boardman for a large home that will provide safe, supportive housing for eight adults. Amy and Kevin Shope founded Dylan’s House in 2022 in honor of their son, Dylan, and in recognition of the challenges he and others on the autism spectrum encounter in securing long-term care. The Shopes and members of Dylan’s House merit communitywide praise as the need for such independent living spaces with appropriate care and services is compelling. According to the Autism Society of the Mahoning Valley, 87% of autistic adults live with their parents, yet only 22% wish to do so, and only 7% have access to the support services needed to live independently.
ORCHID: To Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin for his remarkable success and long tenure in overseeing the county’s drug court for nearly three decades. Durkin, the longest continuously serving felony drug court judge in Ohio, has helped more than 1,600 individuals charged with serious crimes — often induced by substance-abuse struggles — graduate from the program. Of that number, more than 90% have never been charged again with any serious offenses. The program, which features intensive drug-abuse counseling and assistance in working through personal traumas, clearly is a model for the state and nation. Should the compassionate sexagenarian judge ever decide to step down from the drug court, clearly his replacement will have mighty big shoes to fill.