Politicians converge on Valley

July 2, 2021

One sure sign that the COVID-19 pandemic is practically behind us is the return of statewide politicians to the Mahoning Valley. Except for political fundraisers, the only statewide elected official to have news conferences in the area for about a year was Gov. Mike DeWine, and the topic of conversation was the pandemic. Life in the political world went in a different way. We had a presidential election during it, using Zoom meetings and conference calls to keep abreast of what was happening. But there’s something refreshing about seeing someone face to face and having a ...

Householder vote questions remain

June 25, 2021

After a lengthy delay by Republicans, who control the Ohio House, the legislative body finally expelled former Speaker Larry Householder from its ranks. Months earlier, Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, was asked numerous times why he didn’t move forward with the process. He repeatedly refused to give an explanation. Democrats, who are in the clear minority with only 35 of the 99 House members, pressured Republicans to move ahead with expulsion, and enough in the majority finally agreed. Householder is facing federal felony charges in a bribery scheme to bail out the state’s two ...

Justice race to be fascinating

June 18, 2021

Next year’s election for Ohio Supreme Court chief justice should be among the most interesting judicial races in some time. Three current justices are planning to run for the court’s top spot, coinciding with an expected change in law to now include party affiliation. Jennifer Brunner, whose first term on the court began in January, recently announced she would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for chief justice. That should clear the Democratic field as Brunner is too strong a candidate to face a legitimate challenge from someone in her party. At the same time, ...

Commuter taxes about to change

June 11, 2021

Communities, such as Warren and Youngstown, that depend on commuters paying income tax to fund government are in for a rude awakening. The Ohio House approved a bill two weeks ago that no longer would permit cities and villages to collect those taxes from people who used to work in those communities but now work from their homes. The bill is retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. Those who worked from home in communities without income taxes could seek refunds from the city where they used to work for all of 2021 and then into the future if they don’t return to their places of ...

Breaking up Valley is easy to do

June 4, 2021

Breaking up is hard to do, but the longtime marriage between most of Mahoning and Trumbull counties in one congressional district is nearing its end. When a new congressional map for the state is approved later this year, don’t expect neighboring counties to be in the same congressional district. The new map takes effect Jan. 1, 2023. For decades, nearly all of the two counties were in the same district, along with Columbiana County. When redistricting occurred in 2002, things changed. Primarily because of criminal charges against James A. Traficant Jr., former congressman ...

GOP’s crowded local primary

May 28, 2021

It doesn’t say much good about the state of the U.S. Senate Republican primary that state Rep. Bill Johnson decided to not run largely because of financial considerations. Johnson, R-Marietta, is one of the strongest fundraisers among Ohio members of the U.S. House — made even more impressive that his base is in Appalachia — and the Senate race was too rich for his blood. “Many of (the Republican candidates) have significant money in the bank or can self-fund,” he said, adding raising money “can be exceptionally slow in a contested primary.” It looks like only the ...