Speak up, join fight for equality

June 28, 2020

From hashtags to courtrooms, from community vigils to professional athletes — it is evident something has made an undisputed mark on our nation’s consciousness — the Black Lives Matter movement. BLM has garnered widespread awareness; yet, many still fail to understand its meaning. Questions and debates range from: What is this “movement”? Does it stand for civil rights, or human rights? What are the goals, motivations? I urge everyone to research, learn and understand what has brought us to this point. People may have differing opinions and views; however, what cannot be ...

Who will the public call for help without police?

June 22, 2020

America’s current conversation on race has many voices and some are not very polite. The match that set this off is the shocking killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a Minneapolis police officer while three other policemen stood by and watched. America watched the video of a man being killed by officers sworn to protect and defend. The officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck is white and the three bystanders represent a mix of races. Based on this misconduct alone police reform is required in Minneapolis. Nationally, reform is ongoing in a number of cities including ...

Black or white, let’s be on the same team

May 31, 2020

EDITORS NOTE: “From the editor’s desk” column by Brenda J. Linert will return next Sunday. There are no easy answers to racism. But we know from experience that racist attitudes weaken when white and black people have opportunities to be on the same team. When we’re on the same team, we’re united to win together, even if individual team members happen to vary in race, age, gender, hometown or some other characteristic. In the context of the team’s goals, those individual traits become secondary. Professional sports have been instrumental in bringing together fans of ...

Community learning centers offer hope to Valley schools

May 24, 2020

We’re in a difficult time for public education. Spending at the state level has been cut, and with a slow economy we can expect more funding struggles statewide and locally. At the same time, our students’ academic, emotional and physical needs are greater than ever due to the challenges of remote learning, remote delivery of support services and increased stress, trauma and grief. This is not a new dilemma for Mahoning Valley public schools. When General Motors first announced it would close its Lordstown plant and abandon the communities that built billions of dollars of wealth ...

Development of electric vehicles in Ohio needs jolt

May 17, 2020

Our country’s automotive history is deeply rooted in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley. The Packard Motor Co. built its first car, which ran on a single cylinder engine, in 1899 in Warren. Over six decades later, General Motors brought a sprawling industrial complex to Lordstown that churned out more than 16 million vehicles over its lifetime. Today, we can write the next chapter of our automotive history as we begin to rebuild our economy after the coronavirus pandemic. If Ohio wants to keep leading in American auto manufacturing, we must be geared toward developing, manufacturing and driving ...

Small changes will make Nov. 3 election much easier

May 10, 2020

Ohio completed its primary election April 28 in a way no one envisioned, but that was necessitated by the global pandemic. While it’s obvious no one wanted to change how we run elections in Ohio the day before voting was set to occur, the fact that we responded to the pandemic and did so ...