Support the symphony and all Valley assets

January 31, 2026

DEAR EDITOR: Last evening my wife and I attended the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra concert, Fantastique. It was played at the Stambaugh Auditorium, and it was magnificent! If you weren’t there, you missed an event that was entertaining and warmed a very cold winter’s night. It was the welcoming concert for our symphony’s new music director, Erik Ochsner. He is vibrant, warm and very dynamic. You can sense how much he loves working with music, how much he appreciates our Mahoning Valley area and the terrific musicians that make up our very own YSO. Look at our wonderful area ...

‘Useful idiots’ aid in the demise of America

January 31, 2026

DEAR EDITOR: Watched, “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” during a recent winter night. Collapse didn’t come from outside, but was due to corruption from within. When I consider how our Constitution has been redefined, manipulatively reinterpreted, and totally corrupted, even to the point that many in our government want to give it up and establish a, “living Constitution,” that evolves with the times, science, and modernity, I despair. Our Constitution is the nearest thing to perfection of government that has ever existed, but is all but totally ignored in our public education ...

When will Congress do something?

January 31, 2026

DEAR EDITOR: Every day, some senator or representative voices “concern, worry, or disappointment” regarding the behavior of a chronic liar, felon, bully and bag of waste, fraud and abuse who uses brute force policies to trample our Constitution with impunity. When will Congress get off its comfortably padded seats and do something? Must we wait until the bullies, newly masked and lawless by dint of the current clown train administration, demand to be quartered in our homes? Must we wait for an American kristallnacht or maybe for universities to have “work will make you ...

Kent State then and Minneapolis now

January 31, 2026

DEAR EDITOR: Around here, the memory of the Kent State tragedy is etched in our collective memories. Every spring, our local news outlets mark the date, May 4, 1970, with somber remembrances: the voices return, the photos resurface, and the terrible story is told again. We are reminded of an American tragedy that happened right here in Northeast Ohio, practically on our doorstep. That day, four young people were gunned down on the campus of Kent State University by Ohio National Guard troops. Nine others were wounded, some permanently. Now, almost 56 years later, we are watching a ...

Sherrod Brown could have done more

January 31, 2026

DEAR EDITOR: My contribution to the 1-23-2026 article on Sherrod Brown, Page A6 top headline — that I did not entirely read — is that I felt that then-Sen. Brown could have done a little bit more and fought a little bit harder for me when I contacted his office about my difficulties with the EEOC. Therefore, his talk with business leaders on tariffs should really resonate with middle-class voters who have or have had problems with a federal government agency. JOHN S. LUCHANSKY Boardman

Sound off!

January 31, 2026

As a global-warming activist, this weather has taken me by storm. How do I reconcile my beliefs during this Armageddon with subzero-zilla bearing down on our once-roasting planet? Am I in denial? Yes, the once-legion global-warming followers are jumping ship nowadays, but it’s heart-warming knowing that I have (very little nowadays) company. As Mister Rogers would say: “Won’t you be my friend?” — Hubbard Thank you President Trump for making America great again! Keep up the good work! — Struthers Donny “I dodged the draft” T. has done it again. In a recent speech he ...