Ryan gaining momentum

April 9, 2021

With Amy Acton opting to not run for U.S. Senate, Rep. Tim Ryan essentially has a clear path to the Democratic Party’s nomination for the position next year. There is still time for other Democrats to get into the race — Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, a former state treasurer, still are considering it. But Ryan, D-Howland, has momentum and a nice haul of $1.2 million during the first quarter, even though he won’t officially declare his candidacy until later this month. Avoiding a competitive primary that will ...

Gov. Mike DeWine losing GOP support

April 2, 2021

Even though he’s a Republican, the GOP-controlled state Legislature is very tired of Gov. Mike DeWine’s health orders and states of emergency from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite last-ditch efforts by DeWine to strike a compromise, the General Assembly last week overrode his veto of a bill giving authority to limit public health orders. The Senate voted 23-10 to overturn it. That was quickly followed by a 62-35 vote in the House. Only two Republican senators joined all Democrats in rejecting the veto override, while only one Republican voted with all Democrats in the House not ...

Locals sponsor LGBTQ, abortion bills

March 26, 2021

The two state senators who represent the Mahoning Valley are sponsoring a number of bills in the General Assembly, including two that are particularly interesting. State Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who represents Mahoning and Columbiana counties, already had a couple of bills pass in the Senate this year while Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Knox, whose district includes Trumbull County, had one approved by the Senate after serving there for less than three months. It was a week ago that the Senate approved separate bills by the two related to $765 million in federal COVID-19 relief ...

Proposed Trump State Park proves divisive

March 19, 2021

Mosquito Lake State Park isn’t the most inviting name for the 7,000-acre area that is one of my favorite places in the Mahoning Valley. But for numerous people, a proposal from state Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, to rename it Donald J. Trump State Park is even worse. Loychik hasn’t served even three months in the Ohio House but is looking to make a name for himself. Loychik’s first bill as a legislator was to make Ohio a Second Amendment sanctuary state. If approved, it would affirm the power of states’ rights in case the federal government — not subtle code for ...

Award upsets ex-GM Lordstown workers

March 12, 2021

The Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber will give its Spirit of the Valley Award to General Motors at its annual meeting Wednesday — a decision upsetting a number of those who lost their jobs or relocated when the company closed its Lordstown plant. The timing of the award is bad — a little more than two years to the day, March 6, 2019 — that the last Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the production line at the assembly plant. The closure was a devastating blow to the region with about 1,500 jobs lost that day. The plant had employed about three times that amount about five years ...

Some judge-race labels sought

March 5, 2021

It’s the time of the year when members of the Ohio Legislature introduce bills — lots of bills. My email recently has been bombarded by legislators about proposals they’re submitting hopeful they become law. One bill, in particular, has attracted my attention. Two Republicans from each the House and Senate introduced companion bills to change the structure of how the state handles political party affiliations for some judicial candidates. Currently, all judicial candidates run in partisan primaries and then party labels are removed in the general election. That means a ...