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Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To the Youngstown Board of Education for finding a viable and fiscally responsible solution to its ongoing transportation issues. The board last week agreed to outsource its busing needs to Petermann Bus Co., an Ohio-based private company with experience in school transportation. According to Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor, no current drivers or bus aides will lose their jobs. The contract also will reportedly save the financially-strapped district about $3 million per year while providing service to all students, including high schoolers who had been excluded from district ...

Artificial intelligence: A modern Tower of Babel?

Editorials

On May 25, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” This pastoral letter has been much anticipated by the Catholic Church, and immediate news headlines expressed intrigue that the pope addressed the moral dilemma of AI and compared it to the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis. He also discussed Nehemiah, the cupbearer to Persian King Artaxerxes I during the 5th century B.C. In a detailed breakdown of the pope’s central points in “Magnifica Humanitas,” Our Sunday Visitor ...

Partisan loyalty trumps ethics in Maine Senate race

Editorials

The Democratic Party’s approach to Maine’s Senate race has sparked a debate that extends well beyond the state’s borders. At the center of the controversy is Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, whose campaign has been dogged by a series of damaging allegations and personal scandals. Reports have highlighted Platner’s past online activity, including the presence of a tattoo some have characterized as Nazi-related, inflammatory comments on public forums, sexually explicit social media posts and allegations involving inappropriate online communications. More recently, ...

Tressel reflects on enormity, complexity of his state post

David Skolnick

Gov. Mike DeWine surprised many people when he announced Feb. 10, 2025, that he was nominating Jim Tressel, the retired Youngstown State University president and a former football coach at YSU and Ohio State University, to be lieutenant governor. While a longtime Republican like DeWine, Tressel had never held or run for elected office before the selection. During Tressel’s time as lieutenant governor, DeWine repeatedly said he had the utmost confidence that he would do a great job and if something happened to the governor, he was certain Tressel could run the state. A couple of days ...

State’s OhioSEE program coming clearly into focus

Editorials

At the end of the school year, Gov. Mike DeWine attended an event at Dublin City Schools elementary school, during which he did a countdown that ended with several young students putting on their prescription glasses for the first time. It was the lead-in for DeWine to talk about the expansion of the OhioSEE program. And, for those of you who remember what it was like to put on glasses and see clearly for the first time, likely quite an effective one. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, OhioSEE has so far administered approximately 1,900 eye exams, with nearly 1,200 ...

Caregivers in need of assistance

Editorials

Millions of Ohioans are caregivers for family members or neighbors in Ohio. As Ohio AARP Executive Director Jenny Carlson put it, “That’s 1 in 4 adults … holding up our health care system.” As public officials demand greater scrutiny over how Medicaid funds are used for at-home caregiving, AARP has conducted a study that shows many of the adults who are caring for aging parents and other family members are struggling financially — and nearing burnout. “Right now, it’s reaching a breaking point,” Carlson said in an interview with Statehouse News Bureau. “We have an ...