Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Boardman Township Trustee Tom Costello for 22 years of leadership in that post that has guided one of the state’s largest urban townships to prosperity and controlled growth. Costello, who lost his reelection bid in November, received praises and a decorative plaque to recognize his stellar service. We’re also confident that Costello spoke from the heart when he said at that celebration, “I may not be sitting in this chair, but my heart is still in Boardman, and I will do whatever I can.”
ORCHID: To Carol J. Skye, former clerk / treasurer in Lisbon, for her resilience and resolve to accomplish her higher education goals. At the ripe young age of 83, Skye proudly marched across stage to collect her well-earned bachelor of arts in general studies and associate in fine arts degrees at Youngstown State University’s fall commencement earlier this month. In so doing, she serves as an inspiring role model for countless others to never let age or struggles get in the way of checking off all items on their lives’ bucket lists.
ORCHID: To the Boardman-based Vail’s Voice Foundation for raising more than $12,000 through a holiday-themed Christmas tree raffle recently. George Rohan III and his wife, Ashlee Russo, started the foundation after their daughter Vail’s six-month hospital stay during the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation assists pediatric patients diagnosed with serious or prolonged illnesses in the Mahoning Valley by providing comfort kits to Akron Children’s in Boardman. To contribute to the worthy foundation’s noble efforts, visit vailsvoice.org.
ONION: To those who are too quick on the draw to dial 9-1-1 for queries or issues that are hardly life-threatening or emergencies. Trumbull County 911 recently reported a whopping 200,000 such calls last year, and while many result from automatic transfers to 911 during off-hours of local police and fire departments, many also are simply a product of carelessness. The negative consequences are severe: They tie up emergency lines, delay responses to actual life-threatening emergencies and divert critical police / EMS / fire resources from serious incidents.
ORCHID: To Youngstown State University’s powerhouse quarterback Beau Brungard for his mountain of deserved recent accolades. He has been named first-team All-American by SI.com FCS Central, the Associated Press, FCS Stats Perform, the American Football Coaches Association, and he received the esteemed Walter Camp Award. If that weren’t enough the New Middletown resident also rises as one of three finalists nationally for the prestigious 2025 Walter Payton Award, affectionately known as The Heisman Trophy of the FCS, to be bestowed early next month. We wish Brungard nothing but continued success on and off the field.
ONION: To Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Michael Ciccone for his steadfast and stubborn refusal to resign from office after a series of disgraceful and embarrassing revelations about his conduct. On the short list of credible allegations include several incriminating text messages in which he used racial epithets, slurs about elected officials and acknowledgment of an “affair” with a female subordinate. Those, however, are only the tip of the iceberg of unsavory claims against the official. Given Ciccone’s obstinance, Mahoning County’s Democratic and Republican parties have united to legally remove the clerk through a complex process that begins with the collection of more than 13,000 signatures of county voters. There’s still time, however, for Ciccone for once to do the honorable thing — step down immediately.
ORCHID: To Karen McBurney for being a true angel to the Angels for Animals complex in Canfield. McBurney has pledged to match all donations made this month to the pet shelter and veterinary service organization up to $50,000. Her one-woman capital campaign comes at a crucial time for the 26-year-old facility. Its dog wing is in dire need of roofing and other infrastructure repairs. To support the worthy cause and to double your impact, visit angelsforanimals.org. Do not dally. The $50,000 match for dog wing renovations ends with the start of the new year.
ORCHID: To outgoing Poland Township Trustee Joanne Wollet for her 12 years of dedicated service to the community’s residents. Fellow trustees and other township leaders heaped praise upon praise on Wollet, citing her responsiveness to community needs, her passion for strong safety services and her penchant for keeping the community clean, bright and welcoming to residents and visitors. Her successor, Frank DeMain, clearly will have some mighty big shoes to fill.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To newly appointed Youngstown police Chief Sharon Cole and to newly appointed Youngstown fire Chief Courtney Kelly for their well deserved promotions that further shatter the glass ceiling for women reaching the top in safety-service leadership roles in the Mahoning Valley. Cole has distinguished herself for having 25 years on the force, including the past four years as the first woman on the department’s critical Internal Affairs Division. Likewise, Kelly’s resume is outstanding; she has served as a firefighter and paramedic 26 years with a self-described commitment to delivering safety services with a commitment to “integrity and accountability.” We’re confident these two new leaders will continue the city’s recent praiseworthy trends of fewer serious crimes and more rapid response times to fires and other emergencies.
ORCHID: To Aqua Ohio for its generous collaboration with ABC Stormwater District that will result in an end to longstanding water quality and contaminated well problems in a section of Boardman Boulevard in Boardman. About 1,000 feet of waterline there was never connected to the main waterline, creating the problems. Mahoning County commissioners have provided $200,000 toward connecting it, but its total cost is estimated at upwards of $500,000. Enter Aqua Ohio, which ABC officials said is willing to make up the difference and complete the project. Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree hit the nail on the head when remarking that this project represents a great example of productive collaboration between the public and private sectors.
ONION: To Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for signing a contentious cannabis regulation bill that thwarts the will of the Ohio electorate. Ohio lawmakers inserted changes to the marijuana legalization initiative approved by voters into a legitimate bill to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products except in cannabis dispensaries. Those changes include reductions in the potency of extracts and flowers, outlawing use of marijuana in public spaces requiring marijuana be stored in trunks and eliminating several legal protections for adult consumers. All told, the recriminalization bill, as state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, put it, “spits in the face of voters.”
ORCHID: To Mercy Health-Youngstown and its partner, Tennessee-based Lifepoint Behavioral Health, for opening their new behavioral hospital in Liberty last week. With 72 beds and nearly 62,000 square feet of space, the $44 million Mercy Health Behavioral Hospital on Belmont Avenue will treat a wide variety of psychiatric issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, personality disorders and mental health concerns combined with substance abuse. The facility represents the first free-standing mental health hospital in the Valley since the closing of Woodside Receiving Hospital in Youngstown in 1996. As such, it thankfully will fill a gaping void in health care in our region.
ORCHID: To the Daughters of the American Revolution Mahoning Chapter for its recent well targeted donation of $10,000 to Axess Family Services Veterans Haven Project. That generous gift will provide shelter and food for countless homeless veterans in the Mahoning Valley. The service organization also has set up a veterans fund at the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley homeless shelter. To emulate the good works of the patriotic women of the DAR, donations to the Veterans Haven project can be made at
axessfamilyservices.org/services/veteran-services.
ONION: To careless drivers who have been risking life and limb to themselves and others by carelessly traveling too fast on slick, icy and snowy roads during the region’s early bout with feisty Old Man Winter this month. By mid-December, for example, irresponsible motorists had crashed into 11 Ohio Department of Transportation snowplows treating roads. Last December there were zero such crashes. Those and thousands of other major and minor crashes in the state demand that motorists follow the sage advice of ODOT: Slow down, increase following distance , avoid cruise control and prepare your vehicle/emergency kit (blankets, shovel, sand / kitty litter, flashlight).
ORCHID: To the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force for its continuing aggressive efforts to stem the tide of that vicious and dehumanizing crime in our region. In its most recent string of apprehensions, the force netted 13 arrests of men on charges of engaging in prostitution and other related crimes. That hit list included a doctor, a former attorney and a man who was in the United States illegally. Clearly, the task force merits public commendation. As Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said of the task force, “We should all be thankful for their work to reduce the demand that results in human trafficking.”
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Louis A. Zona, executive director of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, for his 44 years of dedicated service and exceptional leadership at the internationally acclaimed art gallery. The Butler Board of Trustees announced last week it was appointing Larry W. Jones as interim director and would begin an international search for a permanent replacement for the retiring Zona. Since his appointment in 1981, the art aficionado has overseen massive growth in the museum’s permanent collection and in the museum itself. He spearheaded five major expansion projects to the structure and acquired the neighboring church, now known as Butler North. Clearly, Jones will have some mighty big shoes to fill. As board President Ryan Martino put it, “If we find somebody for the Butler that does half of what Dr. Zona did in the next 10 years, we’re going to be in great shape.”
ORCHID: To Vallourec, a global producer of seamless tubular products with a 1,000-employee operation in Youngstown and Girard, for receiving a noteworthy upgrade recently in its credit rating from Moody’s and S&P Global, the two largest and most reputable credit-rating agencies in the world. S&P Global had particularly high praise for the France-based industrial giant’s progress: “The improvement in Vallourec’s margins is sustainable and, as a result, its business is more resilient.” Coming on the heels of the recent announcement of a $48 million upgrade and expansion to its Mahoning Valley plants, the future vitality of Vallourec locally and globally looks most promising.
ORCHID: To Austintown Township trustees for their support of a new electricity aggregator plan that promises to reduce residents’ monthly electric bills. Trustees are expected soon to have Austintown join as the 250th community member of the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council. Once a member, the locked-in rate will drop next April 24 from the current $0.93 per kw/h to $0.89 per kw/h, according to Ross McDonald, NOPEC’s director of community expansion. At a time when rates for all varieties of utility services continue to soar out of control, such a drop in consumers’ electricity costs would be welcome news indeed. That’s why township trustees should act swiftly to seal the deal.
ONION: To David Ferro, CEO of Sobe Thermal Energy Systems LLC, for delivering a check in the amount of $400,000 to Alcon Mechanical Piping Inc. that bounced, according to the Niles company. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney recently awarded Alcon a $424,458 default judgment against SOBE, the beleaguered downtown Youngstown steam heat provider that is now under the control of a court-appointed receiver. Alcon Mechanical deserved the compensation for installing new piping at two of SOBE’s 28 downtown properties. It is but the latest evidence of the poor management and financial oversight of SOBE. The sooner that receiver Reg Martin can ensure customers — some of whom still report heating and other problems — with a reputable and reliable source of utility services, the better.
ORCHID: To members of the Youngstown Fire Department and two unidentified Good Samaritans responsible for saving the life of a 13-year-old girl who had accidentally fallen into the Mahoning River amid harsh, cold, snowy and icy conditions last week. The young teen slipped and fell into the river in a desperate attempt to retrieve her hat that had blown off her head while crossing the Mr. Peanut Bridge. City police and firefighters credit two bystanders near the bridge for providing immediate assistance to the girl by pulling her to shore. Within minutes, firefighters arrived to provide additional assistance before an ambulance arrived to transport her to a nearby hospital. Capt. Jason Simon of the YPD aptly praised the safety crews and the Good Samaritans: The rescue served as ” a powerful reminder of the courage and commitment our first responders bring to the City of Youngstown every day. … This coordinated effort helped reunite this young girl with her family and reflects the very best of the people of Youngstown.”
ORCHID: To Canfield City Council for declaring Dec. 3 “Canfield Girls 12U Softball State Champions Day” in the city. Team members attended the council meeting that night, and each was awarded a copy of the official proclamation. The recognition, of course, was well deserved as the squad won district and state championships this year before making an appearance in the national playoffs. Therefore we will renew our July 26 orchid to the team and its coaches for a job well done and shout out best wishes for a similar stellar season in 2026.
ORCHID: To the U.S. Department of Agriculture for awarding the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation a $483,000 grant to enable the purchase of tons upon tons of fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful foods to the Glenwood Fresh Market on the South Side. The success of the food market shows in its numbers: Since opening in 2022, it has provided healthy food to more than 3,400 people. It also provides one valuable oasis from the notorious food desert and its resulting food insecurity that so defines the city of Youngstown.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To the Youngstown Business Incubator and its many community and corporate benefactors for successful completion of a stunning $900,000 makeover of its main West Federal Street building. The major renovations were unveiled at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony. The building now looks like it’s moved into the modern era with an open and brightly lit workspace, upgrades to its technology infrastructure and new offices and work areas designed to strengthen YBI’s support for entrepreneurs, startups and advanced manufacturers. The eight-month project makes the internationally acclaimed incubator primed for even more growth and success, particularly with the new Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace and Defense moving into its building on West Front Street that for decades had served as the headquarters of The Vindicator.
ONION: To students who bully their classmates and to school officials who do not take sufficient and concrete actions to rein in such verbal and physical harassment. In the Lowellville Local School District, a group of parents recently confronted the board of education about the seriousness of the problem there and the need for it to be addressed. Parent Sarah Page said she had to hospitalize her child after a bullying episode and that “nothing changed” when she reported the repeated badgering to principals. We urge school officials there and in districts throughout the Valley to implement and sternly enforce stringent anti-bullying policies. The physical, emotional and physical harm bullying inflicts on its victims demands nothing less.
ORCHID: To Norfolk Southern Railway for committing $20 million to Youngstown State University for design and construction of a first responder training center in East Palestine. It will operate as part of the university’s Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences and Forensic Science and will include space for fire, police and emergency medical services first responders to train on emergency scenarios. This public-private partnership among the university, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Norfolk Southern and the village of East Palestine also will rise as an institution committed to avoiding disasters or lessening their impact in the aftermath of the tragic February 2023 NS derailment that forever scarred the Columbiana County village.
ORCHID: To the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Program for awarding nearly $2.5 million to the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to accelerate a variety of housing initiatives in the city and throughout the Mahoning Valley. The funds largely will be used to help finance home repairs for 84 units of owner-occupied housing in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. They will also provide down payment assistance of up to $10,500 per unit to 75 home buyers in the Valley. With strong additional local support for these programs from Farmers National Bank, Huntington Bank and CareSource Reinsurance, momentum is bound to only grow for YNDC’s noble mission to expand and improve our region’s housing stock.
ORCHID: To Youngstown State University public art students and other visual artists in the Valley for creating mural paintings that have been accepted in the Ohio Arts Council’s Murals Across Ohio program in conjunction with the state’s observance of the nation’s 250th birthday next year. Students of instructor Dragana Crnja created the colorful and colossal murals on Andrews Avenue, Mahoning Avenue and near the entrance to the Vallourec Star mill in Youngstown. The Vallourec mural also has been selected for inclusion in the America 250-Ohio 2026 wall calendar. Other murals in Mahoning and Trumbull counties included in the statewide program are those at Dave Grohl Alley in Warren and Risi Pizza in Canfield.
ONION: To drivers of all-terrain vehicles who have been inflicting mayhem and safety hazards in some Mahoning Valley communities by riding them noisily on public properties at all hours of the day and night. City officials in Girard are to be commended for fighting back. They have placed barricades, guardrails and signage at a park to curtail an onslaught of ATV nuisances and serious safety hazards. Over five recent years, ATVs were the type of vehicle involved in 92 percent of off-highway vehicle injuries in the state, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. It also notes more than 800 deaths and an estimated 100,000 emergency department-treated injuries involving OHVs are reported annually in the U.S. Such evidence makes a strong case to slam the brakes on out-of-control ATV antics in communities large and small across the Valley.
ORCHID: To the football teams of Cardinal Mooney and McDonald high schools for their superior play all season that catapulted them to the semifinal games for state championships last weekend. Though both the Cardinals and the Blue Devils fell in heartbreaking defeats, they have nothing to feel sorry for. Their strong talents and strategic play have brought glory to themselves, their teams, their schools and their communities.