Opinion

Vote responsibly on local issues in our Valley

Leaders of local governments and public school districts in the Mahoning Valley are to be applauded for accurately reading the room of their 2026 electorate. That keen perception is clearly evident in the relative dearth of additional tax levies those leaders have deigned to place on this fall’s general election ballots. Of nearly 40 issues up for a vote this cycle in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, only six seek new money from taxpayers. The electorate in Mahoning County will face a meager four additional operating levies, while only two such issues are on Trumbull ballots. Of those ...

Those who shout ‘genocide’ loudest are hypocrites

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas killers slaughtered 1,200 people, more than two-thirds of them civilians, inside Israel. For the ensuing three weeks, they refused Israel’s demands to turn over the 251 hostages and to surrender the architects of the massacre. No matter — within a day of the attacks, when Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli troops on Israeli soil, the American Left was already screaming “Genocide!” What was most surreal about the charges of “genocide” against Israel was that they so often came from elite first- and second-generation Middle Eastern immigrants to ...

Sound off!

Fact: Vivek Ramaswamy gave up on Ohio by moving his business to Texas and took $1.7B in assets to Texas He didn’t think Ohio was good enough for his business. Is this who you want as governor? Then you have Jon Husted who voted for the war, the Big Beautiful Bill, which cut Medicare and Medicaid. He voted not to release the Epstein files and took money from Epstein’s advisers as well as FirstEnergy. How is he going to help you? Vote Brown and Acton. — Youngstown Amy Acton will not agree to debate Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio governor This implies that she is unprepared to serve ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To the National Park Service for awarding Austintown Township a $130,000 grant to revitalize the historic Austin Log House on South Raccoon Road in the community. The grant funds will enable improvements to windows, drainage and various aesthetic enhancements to one of the Mahoning Valley’s oldest historical sites. The cabin was constructed in 1814 by Calvin Austin, founder of Austintown Township who served as the first justice of the peace of the expansive Connecticut Western Reserve, from which Ohio was carved. The funding is aptly timed amid the nation’s celebration of its ...

What happened to initiative?

Two years after voters tossed Democrats from power in Washington, polls show they are ready to switch sides again. Does it make sense to welcome back a party and its ideas that were so recently rejected? The reason so many voters are frustrated by both parties is that they have been putting too much faith in government and too little faith in themselves. It's called initiative and the lack of it has contributed not only to dysfunctional government but also to a loss of the things that built and sustained America through challenges greater than high gas prices and "unaffordable" ...

Friday editorial cartoon