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Time to rethink propriety of gender transition for children

Within the past few weeks, two major medical groups — the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Medical Association — have issued statements recommending against gender-affirming surgeries on minors. This is a break from the past few years, when all the relevant medical societies endorsed these treatments. It comes on the heels of the first verdict in favor of a detransitioned woman who underwent a double mastectomy at age 16. As with nearly everything in modern life, this issue has been tainted by politics. The Trump administration, with its characteristic ...

Orchids & onions March 7-8

ORCHID: To the Youngstown Skatepark Association for its grit and determination to build a state-of-the-art skate park in the city. It most recently demonstrated that commitment by hosting a “Pop-Up” portable skate park in the expansive Penguin City Brewing Co. in downtown Youngstown. Clearly, the association proved its point for the need as more than 150 riders and 300 spectators turned up for the somewhat impromptu event last weekend. Additional pop-ups are now planned through the fall. We hope YSA and its association with the Youngstown Parks and Recreation Department can finalize ...

Support 2026 Harvest for Hunger drive

One accurate barometer of a community’s economic health and vitality can be measured in the scope of assistance sought for essential daily needs among its members. Using that gauge, 2025 clearly remained a year of hardship, poverty and frustration for far too many in the Mahoning Valley as free food distributions by the Second Harvest Food Bank reached a near-record high of nearly 10 million pounds. That figure, while down slightly from 2024 levels, still paints a very real picture of unacceptably high levels of food insecurity in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Much of ...

Trump fulfills his promise

If you wanted to look at it this way, President Trump is keeping his promise to end wars by taking out an Iranian regime that has made war on us and underwritten terrorism throughout the Middle East and the world since its 1979 revolution. In killing Iran’s top leadership, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and 40 others, President Trump has done what no other American president would do. People with Iranian heritage took to the streets across America to celebrate and praise U.S. and Israeli forces. Isn’t it nice to see pro-American demonstrators for a change? The usual suspects, ...

If you want to be ‘seen,’ try seeing others

I recently came across a curious headline: “The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering.” Very few people leaving the workplace have prepared for losing a big part of their identity, according to the Wall Street Journal article. They long to “feel seen” in the next chapter of life. Much has been written about the desire to “be seen” or “feel valued” or “to matter.” And not only for retirees. Much social research centers on the “visibility” problems faced by so-called marginalized people. And YouTube is awash in “style after 50” videos for women ...

The price of perfect nihilism

When President Donald Trump first announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to attack fishing boats and speedboats on the high seas which he said carried dangerous drugs destined for willing buyers in the United States, many of us who monitor the government for its indifference to the Constitution perceived it as truly criminal and utterly scandalous. The military commits murder when it intentionally kills a civilian non-combatant who poses no immediate threat to the U.S. or to military personnel. The crime is committed by all personnel in the chain of command who knowingly ...