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Saved by the boys of summer: baseball to the rescue — again

At my age, I shouldn’t care so much whether the Boston Red Sox win or lose, let alone permit my daily mood to rise or fall accordingly. It’s only a game. It’s supposed to be a pastime (according to AI, something that “helps make the hours pass pleasantly when you are not working”), not an obsession. There are 162 games a year and letting your emotional state hinge on whether your favorite team scores more runs than the other team is obviously senseless. And yet. Generations of Americans have been swept up by the game. Children never forget their first trip to the ...

Is it any wonder why Americans have soured on college?

Even colleges can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Just 38% of Americans have high confidence in higher education, according to a Gallup poll. That’s down from 57% in 2015. Gallup found three main reasons for this lack of confidence are political agenda, cost and not preparing students for a future career. This is a stunning — and much-needed — fall from grace. Many schools and politicians spent decades pushing ever more kids into college. Sen. Bernie Sanders even sponsored the “College for All Act.” It was endorsed by numerous left-wing groups, including ...

Erica Schwartz’s impossible task in leading CDC

Erica Schwartz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was asked last Wednesday whether she supports the Trump administration’s cancellation of mRNA vaccine research. “This is the first time I’m actually hearing about this,” she said. “As a private citizen, I certainly was not following that.” Really? Schwartz said several times that she believes mRNA vaccines are safe and effective, but her professed ignorance of a decision that sent shock waves through the public health field highlights how much she’ll struggle to be effective if ...

McDowell ‘town hall’ shields mayor from accountability

When public officials promise a “town hall,” they invoke a sacred American tradition of open dialogue, direct accountability and unvarnished truth. They promise to face their constituents, look them in the eye and answer the hard questions. But Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell’s ...

2 crime families don’t make 1 honest town

In tribal politics, we are not supposed to raise this. Someone should, and the truth does not care about your feelings. Republicans built a decadelong movement on two promises: drain the swamp and expose the Biden Crime Family. That investigation established Biden relatives took more than $10 million from foreign sources but never tied a payment to an official act. Set that standard against this administration’s own disclosures. The men who promised to drain the swamp are cashing in. Start with crypto. President Donald Trump’s 2026 disclosure put his income above $2 billion last ...

Watchdog over county water loses its bite

When launched 15 months ago in the immediate aftermath of substantial rate increases for some water customers, the Trumbull County Water Advisory Board had great potential to rise as a vigilant, forward-thinking consumer watchdog. Sadly, that promising watchdog has lost any semblance of bite. Its members — mostly township trustees — were charged by the Board of Trumbull County Commissioners with overseeing from local governments’ and users’ perspectives the operations of the county’s Sanitary Engineer’s Department, the lead agency overseeing water distribution in the ...