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Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To students and staff at Austintown Intermediate School for carrying on their noble tradition called “Hoops for Hope.” The annual hoops game between school staff and fifth-grade basketball team members took place again last week as a major fundraiser for fourth grade AIS teacher Chelsea Kachelries and her family. Kachelries has been battling a series of cancer diagnoses over the past year and the Hoops for Hope event raised significant funds to help her defray expenses. The benefit not only assists the highly respected teacher, it also reaps rewards for students who gain a ...

Put bill to rein in animal abusers on the fast track

Advocates of tougher penalties for companion animal owners who willingly and negligently allow their pets to viciously attack others have had reason to cheer this month. As of March 20, Avery’s Law became the law of the land in the Buckeye State after sailing through both chambers of the state Legislature with rapid-fire speed. It did so with good reason as its primary provisions drew bipartisan support and unanimous votes in both the state House and Senate. In essence, the law imposes much more severe criminal penalties against negligent owners, authorizes immediate dog seizures ...

Trump’s policies have us headed to the poor house

DEAR EDITOR: On the March 19 opinion page, Star Parker warns against complaining about the price of gas. On the opposite page is the headline “US national debt surges past $39 trillion just weeks into war.” On the front page, school workers need more money and Page 3 laments Trumbull County seeking funds to replace a bridge! Trump’s leadership is putting us all in the poor house! Did I mention the cost of groceries or housing? STEVE SOLAK Youngstown

Sending in the clowns

Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of economics should know that if you tax a business or individual beyond their level of tolerance they will pack up and leave the state for one with lower or no state income tax. Unfortunately, one can’t escape the long arm of federal taxes. Proof of this axiom comes from the IRS and its publication of the latest (2023) migration numbers. Unleash Prosperity, which touts its mission to “educate policy makers and the public about government policies that have been proven, in practice, to maximize economic growth and equitable prosperity ...

The art of taxing fairly is messy

“The rich should pay their fair share of taxes.” Who can argue with that? But then we must decide who is rich and what is meant by fair. Neither political party has distinguished itself in making such distinctions. But Republicans play an especially outrageous game in portraying the Internal Revenue Service as the working stiff’s enemy. For salaried workers, taxes come straight out of paychecks, meaning most are already paying what they owe. Owners of small businesses have more deductions at their disposal, but the neighborhood bakery that tries to follow the rules doesn’t ...

Free speech for me but not for thee

Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the same reasons. This followed by one day a verbal attack on CNN by the Secretary of Defense who made known his bitter unhappiness with CNN's coverage of the Iran war. Yet, CNN is not regulated by the FCC, which only regulates broadcast media — not cable or streaming; and newspapers, ...