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Save Sparkle, but not with city funding

For more than six decades, Sparkle Markets have stood as a formidable presence on the retail landscape of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. At its height, more than a dozen of the full-service grocery stores, emblazoned with the perky “Save With Sparky” mascot, kept hundreds of thousands in our region well-stocked with food and household supplies. Sadly, however, time and circumstances have taken their toll on the once-thriving iconic regional grocery store chain. Nearly all of them in the Valley have shuttered or rebranded, such as the last remaining two in Trumbull County ...

Another sham deal with Iran comes undone

An early period of World War II was known as “the phony war.” What we may be witnessing now in the U.S.-Iran war is the end of a “phony peace.” The nearly five-month-long conflict has featured a couple of sham ceasefires, each marked by supposed Iranian pledges to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that came to nothing. With the Iranians firing on shipping in the Strait again, Trump has declared the so-called memorandum of understanding signed a month ago to be dead. After lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, Trump reinstituted both. ...

Former Ohio judges protest politicization of judicial seats

If one takes a step back and looks at the matter logically, Ohio’s requirement that candidates in state supreme court races bear partisan labels is ridiculous. Add to that the decision that allowed judges to endorse political candidates and the situation is laughable. But three former state supreme court justices weren’t laughing last week when they took part in a nationwide effort to protest the politicization of judge’s seats and threats to the independence of the judiciary. Yvette McGee Brown, Michael P. Donnelly and former Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor were part of ...

Lindsey Graham, your fellow citizen

This week, we mourned the loss of Lindsey Graham, who had represented his state of South Carolina in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and in the Senate from 2003 until he unexpectedly passed away at the age of 71 after a “brief and sudden illness.” And by “we,” I obviously mean anyone with the smallest shred of dignity or honor or respect for their fellow American citizens. “Good riddance,” wrote Ana Kasparian, as did white supremacist and part-time hobbit Nick Fuentes. Not to be outdone, Cenk Uyghur responded by saying that Graham had “moved on to the ...

Political views from the heartland

MADISON, Wis. — This is my hometown, where it’s consoling to be in a sane state in high summer. Since Maine Democrats fell for the oysterman hook, line and sinker, they deserve what they get in November. Choosing Graham Platner’s rocky record over a seasoned woman governor, Janet Mills — who could have defeated Sen. Susan Collins in a cakewalk — shows that we still have a long way to go, baby. Platner looked like MAGA lite to me — as a survivor of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. No friend to women, clearly, from his secret life. And a Nazi tattoo! An Aesop’s ...

Federal policy takes ‘affordable’ out of the ACA

If it wasn’t obvious before that the famous bill passed to make healthcare more affordable has done anything but, it should be now: Individual plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are projected to spike by about 14%in 2027, according to recent insurer filings. The ACA imposed a wide array of mandates on health insurance. Those mandates are expensive. To make up for the increase in costs, the ACA distributes subsidies so consumers don’t feel the impact of the increase. Many of these subsidies are “advance” subsidies that go directly from the federal government to ...