Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To Austintown public safety dispatchers Kerri Humphreys and Christie Zimmer-Rozzi for their honor received last week as Mahoning County Dispatchers of the Year for 2025. The two received the award from county commissioners for their quick-thinking, detailed and well coordinated response to last October’s fatal explosion at the Phoenix House high-rise in Austintown that uprooted about 140 residents there. The two put into place a massive emergency response protocol that no doubt lessened dangers and likely saved lives. “None of this could have been accomplished without the diligent work of these two dispatchers and the entire network that they have, and ultimately they ended up, instead of their 8-hour day, working a 16-plus-hour day,” county Emergency Planning and E911 Administrator Connor O’Halloran said. Too often, the critical work of police and public safety dispatchers goes underplayed and undervalued. We’re pleased this award raises the public profile of their premiere role in emergency responses.
ORCHID: To Larry Moliterno, president and CEO of Meridian HealthCare, for being named among the Notable Leaders in Healthcare throughout Ohio this month by Crain’s Cleveland Business. Moliterno, at the helm of the company for more than 20 years, has overseen substantial growth and positive outcomes throughout his tenure in Meridian’s mission to integrate primary and behavioral health services. Its list of honors and accreditations is long and impressive. In addition, recent surveys have shown a 95% patient satisfaction rate there. Clearly, Moliterno, who’s also served his Boardman community faithfully for nearly 20 years as a township trustee, is richly deserving of this latest high honor.
ONION: To irreputable hacksters who masquerade as employees of companies or local governments by filing bogus and self-serving direct deposit changes online to payroll systems. That shady scheme snatches the rightfully earned dollars from the actual worker and transfers them to the fraudster. Just such a case recently was uncovered for a Liberty Township employee. To their credit, the Liberty Township Trustees toughened payroll policies to require any changes to an employee’s bank or banking information to be handled in person. Other communities without such protections should follow suit.
ORCHID: To the Ohio History Connection, formerly known as the Ohio Historical Society, for awarding a network of local entities a $17,574 grant for use in mounting a massive exhibition with a strong Mahoning Valley focus to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this year. Those entities — Youngstown State University, the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, the Mahoning County Historical Society and the Trumbull County Historical Society — will produce a multi-faceted exhibition featuring Indigenous history, the Underground Railroad, immigration, innovation in manufacturing and amusement/recreation over the years. The exhibit will open July 1 at YSU’s McDonough Museum of Art and will be available online at ysu250.org. The funding and the lavish and educational exhibition it will help create will ensure the Valley gets its proper and significant place amid the nation’s supersized semiquincentennial observances.
ONION: To overzealous daredevil drivers who equate warmer spring weather with a hard slam onto their gas pedal. Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Jeff Allen recently reported to the Canfield Township Trustees that speeding violations have been increasing recently with the onset of warmer sunny days. To their credit, Canfield trustees have budgeted for extra spring and summer police patrols to help put the kibosh on speeding in that community. Other communities should do likewise. The dangers of speeding cannot be overstated. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traveling above posted speed limits is responsible for 11,000 traffic fatalities or about one-third of all such deaths in the U.S. annually.
ORCHID: To the Western Reserve Port Authority for its successes in ensuring the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna remains a strong asset to the Mahoning Valley. In a joint meeting with commissioners from Mahoning and Trumbull counties last week, WRPA leaders reported several uplifting facts about the airport over 2025. For example, last year the facility obtained a 98.5% hangar occupancy rate, handled approximately 28,000 plane landings, received $12.6 million in grant funds for runway and other improvements and generated about $300,000 in revenue. That data should silence the doubting Thomases out there who falsely bemoan nothing takes place there these days. During the coming year, we look for continued progress at YWRA and hope efforts continue aggressively and successfully to restore commercial air passenger service there.
ORCHID: To Girard City Council for last week overriding Mayor Mark Zuppo’s veto of a municipal law it recently passed that requires city council approval for all expenditures over $20,000. While the mayor argues that threshold is way too low, we agree with council members’ united front that lowering that threshold will encourage city leaders to become more fiscally responsible in their decisions on discretionary spending of taxpayer dollars. At a time when local governments throughout the Mahoning Valley and Ohio are challenged with rising costs and shrinking revenue bases, such enhanced oversight of the public purse is to be commended.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To incoming Boardman Township Administrator Mark Ragozine for besting more than 115 other applicants for his new position where he will play a critical role in guiding the Mahoning Valley’s second largest community into a prosperous future. Ragozine, formerly safety service director for the city of Girard, brings a wealth of public administration experience to the position and has earned high praise from Girard and Boardman leaders alike. As Boardman Trustee Steve Yacovone put it, “I think Mark exemplified all the qualities to help Boardman succeed in the future.” We wish him well in filling the mighty big shoes and replicating the long and productive record of his predecessor in the job, Jason Loree.
ORCHID: To Mark Lamoncha, president and CEO of Humtown of Boardman and Columbiana, for bringing honor to himself and his business as Ohio’s Small Business Person of the Year for 2026. The U.S. Small Business Administration, a Cabinet-level federal agency, recently selected Lamoncha as the Buckeye State’s award winner. Clearly, his background and commitment to business are outstanding as he has served as president of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, a board member of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and a member of the Youngstown State University STEM Board. To boot, his additive manufacturing business remains in a vibrant growth mode. As such, we wish him the best toward becoming this entire nation’s Small Business Person of the Year in May.
ONION: To the hooligans and troublemakers who have been using the Western Reserve Transit Authority station In downtown Youngstown as prime turf for violent and disruptive outbursts. For the past two years, police report disturbances have repeatedly cropped up at the station where many city high school students arrive for bus travel to their homes. In one such episode earlier this month, police had to use pepper spray to disburse a crowd of young people fighting in the street and backing up traffic. We hope officials from the city schools and the transit authority can work together cooperatively to end the mayhem. Meanwhile, if and when they do reoccur, police should use all available resources to restore peace and order and punish guilty parties to the fullest extent of the law.
ORCHID: To administrators and faculty members in Youngstown State University’s respiratory care program for gaining international recognition and prestige by recently being awarded the 2025 Distinguished Registered Respiratory Therapy Credentialing Success Award from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care. “This recognition is a testament to the dedication, credibility and integrity of our faculty,” said Kelly L. Colwell, associate professor of health professions and program director of respiratory care at YSU. Programs selected for the honor must meet rigorous criteria, including sustained outcomes data, high credentialing success rates of 90% or above, strong student retention and full accreditation. YSU boasts a 98% pass rate on the national registry. At a time when chronic lung conditions are on the upswing in our nation, the need for a highly regarded training ground for competent therapists close to home cannot be greater.
ONION: To the seemingly growing ranks of public utility users who routinely fail to pay bills for such essential services as water supply. In Hubbard, for example, the problem has grown into a near crisis. City Treasurer Marsha Ruha reported recently that as of February, delinquencies in that city of 7,500 people, total a whopping $416,000. Because such revenue is critical to maintaining viable utility services, these deadbeats need to pay up. Hubbard officials are to be commended for moving in the right “get-tougher” direction by considering hiring a collection agency to recoup losses and increasing penalties for late payments from the incredibly low rate in place now.
ORCHID: To Mary Anne Russo, recently retired Hubbard Public Library children’s librarian, for being one of 10 recipients nationwide this year of the “I Love My Librarian Award” from the American Library Association. In her 42 years of library service, Russo has left a positive and indelible mark on the Hubbard facility. She instituted many positive changes and enhancements to the children’s area, including brighter lighting, an indoor gazebo, a dedicated room for children’s programs and an outdoor sensory garden. As such, we’re pleased and proud that ALA singled her out from more than 1,300 nominees for this year’s award.
ORCHID: To McDonald High School senior Ava Kuntz for her recent honorable recognition from the Ohio Commission on Service and Volunteerism as a 2026 ServeOhio Award recipient. ServeOhio honors outstanding people, groups, and initiatives who make great contributions to their local communities and the state through service and volunteerism. Ava, daughter of Curt and Jackie Kuntz, fits that mold superlatively. Her list of volunteer activities for school and community betterment is dizzyingly long and includes such good works as strengthening Woodland Park’s Non‑Food Pantry, organizing major toy and school- supply drives and raising nearly $12,000 for the American Heart Association in nine weeks — to name but a few. As Julie Weagraff, commissioner with Serve Ohio, put it, “Ava’s contributions year-round are meaningful, far reaching and deeply impactful. Your dedication shows us what service looks like at its best.” The award brings honor to herself, her family, her school and her community.
ORCHID: To the Kimberly-Clark Corp. for recently receiving the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies designation from Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the gold standard in ethical business practices. “Being named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the eighth consecutive year is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our teams around the world to lead with integrity,” said Jeff Melucci, chief of strategy, business development and administrative officer at Kimberly-Clark. The award also reinforces our positive view of the Fortune 500 company and its $800 million investment in a massive plant under construction in Trumbull County.
Orchids & onions
ORCHID: To the Oak Hill Collaborative under the leadership of Patrick Kerrigan and to Charter Communications Inc., doing business as Spectrum, for their successful efforts in narrowing the digital divide in the Mahoning Valley, particularly in Youngstown. For its part, Oak Hill over the past year has given away more than 500 computers and taught nearly 950 classes on navigating the internet. For its part, Spectrum recently donated $20,000 to the collaborative to add momentum to its noble and highly needed mission. How needed is it? Sadly, the city of Youngstown ranks as the second least digitally connected city — just behind No. 1 East Cleveland — in the entire Buckeye State.
ORCHID: To Scott Schulick for his longstanding gusto and results-oriented commitment to improving the city of Youngstown in a wide variety of domains. Most recently, Schulick was honored with the prestigious Sweet Grass Roots Award from Youngstown CityScape. The senior vice president for investments at Stifel has served as a CityScape board member for years and also used to lead the nonprofit as president. He’s also a fully charged engine powering dozens of other Youngstown and Mahoning Valley organizations and civic causes. Current CityScape Executive Director Sharon Letson rightly praised him for having “strengthened the very streets he walks on.” Residents can best show their appreciation for Schulick’s innumerable good works by taking part in CityScape’s planting day in and around downtown 9 a.m. to noon May 30 to ensure it goes down as the biggest and best one ever.
ORCHID: To Jackson-Milton Elementary School first grade teacher Corrine Tomaino and her 20 students for their spectacular results in a compassionate fundraising campaign for the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley. As part of their Kindness Month activities throughout March, the students collected 2,565 snacks to be distributed to children and others staying at the Youngstown homeless shelter. Such an exercise in kindness brings a double whammy of benefits. Clearly, it benefits residents of the Mission who otherwise would not enjoy a special treat. But it also benefits the Jackson-Milton pupils in providing them a real-life lesson in kindness and caring for others in need. With so much going for it, Tomaino and other teachers throughout the Valley may want to consider proclaiming Kindness Month every month.
ONION: To perpetrators of so-called “grandchild-in-jail scams” for bilking scores of senior citizens out of their desperately needed savings. Just last week, an alert daughter prevented her parents from handing over $8,500 to deviant schemers who had called them, alleging their grandson was jailed on an OVI charge and needed the cash for bail. Sadly, this fraud is not unusual and often succeeds. U.S. Justice Department officials said last year they had charged 25 Canadian nationals in Vermont for carrying out a grandchild-in-jail scam that stole more than $21 million from residents in more than 40 states nationwide.
ORCHID: To Youngstown City Council for listening to the impassioned appeals of 7th Ward residents seeking funding for a new fence surrounding the recently renovated and updated Pemberton Park ballfield. Council last week unanimously approved spending $122,259 on a decorative black chain-linked fence to surround the venue. We’re hopeful the improvements will pay for themselves — and then some — by ushering in new contracts for using the field. Already, 103 games have been scheduled there for the coming season. Among those most enamored by the action must be 10-year-old standout baseball player Carmine Mullins who thanked council members and park board leaders for the improvements and encouraged support for the new fencing.
ONION: To the vandal or vandals who have been inexplicably and peculiarly targeting and damaging car-wash vacuum cleaners at ModWash businesses in the Mahoning Valley recently. As they were not coin-operated, no financial gain was in store for the hoodlum or hoodlums involved in such vandalism at the chain car wash in Liberty and Boardman, though more than $12,000 in damage was reported. Clearly, the destruction of business property was purely malicious. As such, we urge nothing short of a clean sweep for the guilty party or parties: swift arrest, speedy conviction and maximum punishment.
ORCHID: To building and construction seniors at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center for their expert workmanship in constructing a new 16-foot-by-36-foot outdoor stage for the Quaker Steak & Lube in Austintown. It replaces an aging and much smaller stage for use this summer for music, community events, and fundraisers in the restaurant’s expansive outdoor yard. Kudos also go to their instructor Ryan Benchwick, as well as Gervelis Law Firm for coordinating the project and Home Depot Austintown for donating all materials for the new stage. The project will reap communitywide benefits for years to come. As JoEllen Mrofchak, operations manager for The Gervelis Law Firm, put it, “The stage is something the whole community can enjoy — it’s a place where people can gather, celebrate and experience everything our area has to offer.”
ONION: To the not-so-sweet criminals who made off with a whopping 413,793 Kit Kat candy bars recently in Italy. According to manufacturer Nestle, the 12 tons of chocolate were stolen after leaving a production site last week. “Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes,” KitKat said in a statement. The problem is not isolated to our neighbors across the ocean. Cargo theft in the U.S. and Canada increased by over 25% in 2024, with some tracking data showing a 93% increase in theft volume between 2022 and 2024, according to the American Trucking Association. Such data makes a strong case for Congress to pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which includes establishment of a badly needed national cargo theft database.