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Sound off!

As a taxpayer and land owner in southern Mahoning County, I am compelled to alert other taxpayers that Mill Creek MetroParks is using our tax dollars to pay attorneys over $400 an hour to litigate against the poor farmers who are fighting to save their property from the seizure for the bike trail. This is hurting our pocketbooks! Wake up Mahoning County! Our money is being wasted! This issue should be brought to a public vote!

• Salem

Looks like the police chief in Liberty hit the nail on the head. I’ll bet most people don’t know south of Goldie Road is considered high-crime area. Why? Absentee landlords and poor zoning laws with no follow-up on zoning regulations. This is why you see moving vans headed to Cortland and Howland. I remember when people would have given anything to live in Liberty, but not now.

• Liberty

As a retired postal worker, I laugh at politicians’ concern about USPS financial problems. Where were they since 2006 when Congress mandated USPS pay $5 billion per year pre-funding retirees’ health care 75 years in advance, which no other federal or private company does. This mandate has caused most of the USPS debt. Instead of a taxpayer bailout, just give the USPS the money back that they made selling stamps and other services. Remember this $5 billion is not from taxes!

• Hubbard

Soundoffs often regurgitate lies Fox News’ Hannity, Tucker and Ingraham spew. This is not news. It is biased opinion and distortion of facts. Those who watch only Fox News have no idea of facts. An Aug. 22 submission said Biden’s stated goal was to select a black woman. Wrong. He said he would select a woman. Does another submitter really think DeWine lied about his test so he wouldn’t have to meet Trump? Really? God help us all.

• Youngstown

In 2016, 350 psychiatrists and other mental-health professionals signed a petition claiming President Trump’s mental health was a “threat to the safety of our nation.” None examined President Trump. Their diagnosis from a distance is highly unethical, but the national media lapped it up. Today, any casual observer of candidate Joe Biden’s bizarre behavior, convoluted stories, distorted memory, disjointed sentences and gaffes might question his mental health. But not a “peep” from the 350.

• Canfield

Now that Lori Loughlin and hubby are going to jail for their part in the nationwide scandal, that should put an end to those who would use their wealth and privilege. Will this end the investigation? I believe those accepting bribes are worse than those offering bribes. Who were they? Perhaps Youngstown’s history is shaping America. Another belief some hold is that those that pay get to say. Why should paupers and wealthy politicians set the rules for average hardworking taxpayers?

• Columbiana

Discrimination in America will not go away until everyone is treated equally. This must start with television media. They apparently believe they can correct injustices of the past by giving more attention to people of color today. They do this with excessive stories about social injustice, “feel-good” stories and even the number of nonwhite people seen in commercials.

• Mineral Ridge

Since when do you choose your friends by their choice in a political candidate? Maybe we need to go back to the days when we didn’t speak about religion or politics. There is a difference of opinion on both these subjects in my own immediate family! Does that mean I shouldn’t talk to them or write them off? Our world has been turned upside down!

• Youngstown

I watched some of the RNC speeches. Melania Tump gave her speech in the Rose Garden. A crowd of about 50 were seated, and no one wore masks. I turned on CNN, and the fish bit that quickly. They said: Did you see no masks? They won’t tell us if they were all tested. Of course they were. Once again President Trump threw out bait and national media went into the usual feeding frenzy. What a laugh.

• Girard

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Have something you want to get off your chest? Share it here with other readers.

“Sound off!” publishes Saturdays to provide readers with a forum to applaud successes, discuss issues, point out local problems or review events of the day — all in a constructive manner. Preference is given to local issues, but will not include local election issues. Selected “Sound off!” submissions are published. Names are not included, but residential community is.

Limit “Sound off!” comments to 80 words. Submit longer comments as “Letters to the Editor,” a separate forum that publishes Sundays.

Submit via email to soundoff@tribtoday.com; or via the Virtual Newsroom by going to www.vindy.com and clicking “Submit News” and then “Sound off.”

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Sound off!

Letters to the editor are always entertaining but not always factual. Letters published Aug. 9 contained two glaring examples of misinformation. The idea that Columbus set sail across the ocean to convert the natives to Christianity is ludicrous. He was searching for a shorter trade route to Asia. The idea that Art Modell was the original owner of the Cleveland Browns is equally far-fetched. He wasn’t even the second owner. He didn’t buy the team until 1961.

• Youngstown

The Canfield community has many ordinances, but the one most frequently ignored and never enforced is the ban on parking on lawns. Many of our well-maintained neighborhoods look like used car lots with vehicles parked all over the lawn. What’s up with that?

• Canfield

I miss visiting with my kids, grandchildren and friends. I cannot see them in person because I am following the rules set to hopefully get rid of this coronavirus. I miss hugging my kids, grandchildren and friends. Selfishness, disrespect, ignorance and stupidity are keeping the virus alive and booming. It is a slap across the face of the front-line workers and all others trying to help us when people ignore these rules. We need to help each other now.

• Youngstown

What another bummer with the cancellation of OSU fall football. The hits just keep coming that it’s hard to stay positive. They played through wars and the previous pandemic, but not this year. I think the harm to student-athletes and alumni will be immense and probably wasn’t necessary, especially if other leagues and high schools play. Oh-io.

• Boardman

Walter Williams again has written a misleading column. He suggests it is silly to rewrite history by removing statues of Washington, Jefferson and Columbus. I agree these statues should not be removed. He ignores over 1,500 statues and monuments built in the early 1900s with money from Daughters of the Confederacy. They changed the image of traitors, slave owners and the KKK into heroes simply trying to maintain a gentile way of life. These statues, the Confederate flag and lynchings were used and still are by people like Dylann Roof to terrorize people of color and keep them in their place. This rewrite of history needs corrected.

• Campbell

Joe Biden’s stated goal was to select a black woman as a running mate, but wouldn’t a more logical goal have been to select the most qualified person? President Trump selects the most qualified people for his administration. Many are minorities and women. They are not selected because of their race. Biden’s twisted thinking is what has run affirmative action amok and only further divides our country.

• Canfield

Media and politicians are messing with our minds by saying: “mail-in voting” or two different things pushed into one. Absentee ballots are requested by the voter. Sending ballots to all voters leaves the system open to fraud. How many dead people receive mail from the government? How many people not planning to vote would sell their ballot? Represent “mail-in voting” correctly.

• Hubbard

Promises, promises. When Donald Trump was at the Clyde, Ohio, Whirlpool factory recently, he said he would revitalize America. He also promised that GM was not going anywhere. “Don’t move. Don’t sell your house.” Remember that? What is wrong with the religious fanatics who support him? He routinely breaks six of the 10 commandments.

• Youngstown

I am outraged, and every citizen in this country should be, too. The fact that Trump put his millionaire contributor in the position of Postmaster general to sabotage and inhibit mail delivery is criminal. He didn’t drain the swamp; he added to it. All his associates have broken the law in one way or the other. And by the way, Mexico didn’t pay for the wall. We did.

• New Middletown

Gov. DeWine recently said he tested positive for COVID-19. Later that day, he said he was OK. As a RINO (Republican In Name Only), I think he didn’t want to meet President Trump. John Kasich, also a RINO, detested Trump. Both these Ohio governors go to CNN for interviews. That network by far hates Trump more than any other. Republicans should remember this come election time.

Girard

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Have something to say?

Have something you want to get off your chest? Share it here with other readers.

“Sound off!” publishes Saturdays to provide readers with a forum to applaud successes, discuss issues, point out local problems or review events of the day — all in a constructive manner. Preference is given to local issues, but will not include election issues. Selected “Sound off!” submissions are published. Names are not included, but residential community is.

Limit “Sound off!” comments to 80 words. Submit longer comments as “Letters to the Editor,” a separate forum that publishes Sundays.

Submit via email to soundoff@tribtoday.com; or via the Virtual Newsroom by going to www.vindy.com and clicking “Submit News” and then “Sound off.”

Sound off!

Mark Shields on a recent Vindicator opinion page said Joe Biden must give concise, crisp answers and they’re looking for emotional stability and maturity. A crash dummy could beat Biden in a debate. That’s why we will never see one.

• Girard

On Aug. 3, NYC surpassed shootings from 2019 with five months left. Chicago had 573 shootings in July. The riots in Portland have gone on for 70 days. Seattle is still under chaos. They want to cut the police force by 50 percent. The Dems’ answer to surging violence is defund police. Some cities want to eliminate police. I can’t imagine how it would be to live in a city without police. No need to stop for red lights or stop signs. Want a steak? Just go take it. Complete chaos. And Joe Biden is going to agree with all of this if he is elected. Very scary.

• Girard

I have never read a more hateful and disrespectful writer than Robert Reich. I wonder what his personal agenda really is and whether it’s really his. And I wonder about his inclusion in this newspaper.

• Columbiana

“Nation’s rank as most infected in world blamed on bad behavior.” (Vindicator Aug. 5) Behavior trickles down from the top. None of the leaders of the countries that have successfully contained the virus have criticized, impugned, undermined nor contradicted globally respected medical experts’ recommendations like ours has. Real leaders lead by positive example. Don’t expect the general public to behave any differently than the example set by their “leader.”

• Austintown

Since 2019, 33-year veteran Democrat Nancy Pelosi has been Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and queen of the D.C. swamp. She was previously speaker from 2007 to 2011. Pelosi, with a net worth of $120 million, has never refused her government salary; currently $223,500. A diehard partisan, Pelosi shredded State of the Union notes to demonstrate her total disdain for our duly elected President. Sadly, the speaker is second in the presidential line of succession.

• Canfield

Each and every school system in the U.S. has enacted or will soon enact its own policies, protocols, procedures and “learning models” (a cliche invented by college and university professors of “education”) to deal with COVID-19, all completely different from those of all other school systems. It’s also certain that parents with “influence” will insist their spoiled rotten “little darlings” must be exempt from abiding by any and all rules and guidelines.

• Mineral Ridge

It is time for social justice in sports. Running backs should be required to wear shoes with cement in them so that they are no faster than linemen. People on the bench should make the same salary as those playing. There should be race-based quotas. Statues and pictures of all players who participated in the sport prior to these changes also should be burned. It’s time for a fair and just sporting venue. We are better than this America!

• Boardman

I am truly disturbed at the fact that the medicine hydroxycholoquine is being withheld for COVID-19 cases. It has been proven that it has helped individuals when given early. I find this is nothing more than a political issue, and God help our country when decisions of life or death are made on this basis. President Trump has issued a decree that those who have no other hope medically can try medications not yet approved, and yet the FDA says we cannot use a medication that has been around many years. I pray that our Congress will do something to change this insane ruling.

• Youngstown

“Case for Grace for Kids” by Lee Strobel states that on April 17, 1975, Cambodians fled to avoid the Communist-driven killing fields. “They wanted to get rid of anyone who was educated. … schools closed, courts shut down and religious practices were crushed.” We are told history repeats itself. God’s grace is great.

• Boardman

Have something to say?

Have something you want to get off your chest? Share it here with other readers.

“Sound off!” publishes Saturdays to provide readers with a forum to applaud successes, discuss issues, point out local problems or review events of the day — all in a constructive manner. Preference is given to local issues, but will not include election issues. Selected “Sound off!” submissions are published. Names are not included, but residential community is.

Limit “Sound off!” comments to 80 words. Submit longer comments as “Letters to the Editor,” a separate forum that publishes Sundays.

Submit via email to soundoff@tribtoday.com; or via the Virtual Newsroom by going to www.vindy.com and clicking “Submit News” and then “Sound off.”

Sound off!

Blake Shelton, what a tremendous idea for a live drive-in concert nationwide! Too bad for the execution, including charging almost $115 per car. Families are struggling and want some relaxation time that does not break the bank. The costs had to have been minimal on his end for production. He has lost this fan.

• Youngstown

My husband and I own and decorate an empty corner by our home with flowers and milkweed for monarch butterflies. Many have said it makes their day when driving by. Recently, someone took our red wagon full of flowers. The wagon was my children’s when they were small that we use as a planter. Respect is missing today. I wear a mask because I respect you. All lives matter because I respect life. We plant flowers to make people smile, for our neighbor on dialysis, for our son with a disability and for the mother pushing a stroller. I hope you water the flowers twice a day like my husband did. Respect — how hard is it?

• Youngstown

Mill Creek MetroParks does not need to extend its bike trail, especially if it means taking people’s property or tax money. Your online survey showed 33 percent in favor of it. Let them pay for it out of their pockets and give up their land. Or let the head honchos do so. They are pulling down big salaries. People litter on the trail, urinate and let their dogs deficate. I feel sorry for people with property abutting it.

• Lake Milton

Two cities have defunded police, Ferguson and Baltimore. Under Barack Obama and Loretta Lynch, they curtailed their police budgets and imposed extreme limits on force they can use. They stopped policing in black neighborhoods. Are these cities safer? Not by a long-shot — 342 homicides in Baltimore; and Ferguson with 349 in 2019. All they do now is pick up dead bodies. Under Biden you will have misery and hell on earth if elected.

• Niles

Anyone who believes a lab-coated gaggle of random “doctors” on the steps of the Supreme Court claiming they have a Hydroxychloroquine cure for COVID-19, probably wouldn’t notice the wolf under Red Riding Hood’s late grandmother’s night cap. Wear a mask, stay home when possible, vote and survive.

• Canfield

President Trump claims the USA is the envy of the world with his handling of COVID-19. If so, then why are some countries banning or limiting U.S. citizens? We lead the world in cases and deaths. I cannot fathom that anyone wants this virus to continue until after the election. Trump and Putin will continue to send “fake news” when it supports their cause and their base. Please listen: wear masks as often as possible and vote in November.

• Campbell

We lost a great and most courageous American hero, Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon. Donald Trump honored Rep. Lewis by lowering the flag to half staff for half a day. After trying to discredit Dr. Fauci, Trump now says Fauci is part of his team. But he doesn’t know why Fauci’s approval numbers are so high and his are so low. Maybe it’s due to so many dead and COVID raging on.

• Girard

This country’s hostile divided political environment is bringing out the worst in people. Raining hard today when leaving Giant Eagle, a mother with three kids backed her van under the roof at the exit door to load her groceries. I left my loaded buggy there and when she left I backed my car into the spot. In no manner was the exit blocked. A man entered the store by me using the out door. He stopped and said I was inconsiderate, then called me an (expletive) idiot! Really? What is happening to this country?

• Youngstown

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Sound off!

Apparently the Mahoning County Fair has been called the Canfield Fair for so long even the Fair Board doesn’t remember. To justify putting the cupola from Salem at the Mahoning County fairgrounds, we are told that many people from Columbiana County attend or take part in the Mahoning County Fair. That is like saying a piece of history from Canfield should be placed in Firestone Park because many people from Canfield visit Firestone Park.

• New Springfield

Diane Dimond’s last column failed to see what the majority of Americans see and what millions of people all over the world see. The problem is bigger than the death of people like George Floyd. It’s also the thousands of innocent people who experienced choke holds who luckily didn’t die; it’s the millions who were thrown against walls during stop and frisk; it’s being jailed indefinitely for crimes you didn’t commit because you couldn’t pay the bond; it’s being traffic stopped 20 percent more often than the majority; it’s escalation verse de-escalation. This systemic racism tears at the fabric of a community and causes fear, anger and distrust of police.

• Campbell

Law and order. We used to hear the phrase back when common sense was common. Now we have lawyers and judges pushing their versions of the law and the result is no order. Hitler, Amin or Hussein weren’t as bad as our homegrown would-be dictators. Better wake up, America.

• Columbiana

Stay home as much as possible. Wear a mask in public. Vote. If we can do these things and hang on until Jan. 20, we can end the greatest threat to the health of our nation. The plague will be done and gone with the colder weather. We may be rid of COVID-19 by then, too.

— Canfield

President Trump claims the U.S. is the envy of the world when it comes to how he is handling COVID-19. If so, why are some countries banning / limiting U.S. citizens into their countries? We lead the world in cases and deaths. I cannot fathom that anyone wants this virus to continue until after the election. Trump and Putin will continue to send “fake news” when it will support their cause and their “base.” No conspiracy here Mr. President, just facts, truth and common sense. Wear masks as often as possible and vote in November.

• Campbell

Many Democratic and Republican leaders blame each other for chronic U.S. problems. Author Margaret Wheatly asserts where we are as a nation is co-created by both parties. She suggests moving away from blame and jointly working creatively on problems to best serve our nation. Instead, the political class joined together in a different endeavor: to prevent President Trump from disrupting the status quo. How sad that so few people see the positive changes since Trump.

• Canfield

A “300 Black Men’s March,” and they didn’t see that as racist? How about a “300 White Men’s March?” And they demand social change? What a joke. Clean up your own act before you demand change in society. This is the kind of stuff that keeps the race card going.

• Poland

OHSAA’s proposal is full of red flags. How can you keep 50 to 80 kids 6 feet apart on the sideline, in the locker room, on buses? Or 22 kids in full contact on the field? Will they play in front of empty stands? What about the band? California and Washington have moved the season to the spring. Moving baseball to the fall is a better candidate for social distancing, wearing masks with less risk of contact. Give science a chance for a vaccine before the spring.

• Hubbard

The federal prison system finally executed three criminals after years of delays. Now it is long overdue for Gov. DeWine to do the same in Ohio. The first should be Danny Hill.

• Girard

Donald Trump said the reason we have so many COVID-19 cases is because we test too much. He’s already had two rallies where he’s fed his supporters the virus. His only concern is re-election, not people’s lives. Now it looks like he may lose in November, and he’s saying vote by mail is rigged. That’s because his buddy Putin can’t get into our mailboxes. There were 32 million mail-in votes in 2016, and no fraud found. He’s now accusing Obama of being a traitor.

• Girard

Have something to say?

Have something you want to get off your chest? Share it here with other readers.

“Sound off!” publishes Saturdays to provide readers with a forum to applaud successes, discuss issues, point out local problems or review events of the day — all in a constructive manner. Preference is given to local issues, but will not include election issues. Selected “Sound off!” submissions are published. Names are not included, but residential community is.

Limit “Sound off!” comments to 80 words. Submit longer comments as “Letters to the Editor,” a separate forum that publishes Sundays.

Submit via email to soundoff@tribtoday.com or via the Virtual Newsroom by going to www.vindy.com and clicking “Submit News” and then “Sound off.”

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