Loan program not going away

February 14, 2020

A number of Democratic officials were in an uproar over President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to eliminate a loan program that Lordstown Motors Corp. might use to seek $200 million for its local electric truck facility. But there’s only a tiny chance — if even that much — that the loan program will be eliminated. When Trump, a Republican, released his proposed budget earlier this week, it included the elimination of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. His administration referred to ATVM and two other Department of Energy loan programs as “costly, ...

Rep. Ryan lags in fundraising

February 7, 2020

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan saw his fundraising numbers improve in the fourth quarter, but they were far from great. Ryan, D-Howland, raised $137,882 and spent $80,590 during the final three months of 2019, so he didn’t net much money. It was an uptick for Ryan who raised $30,255 and $42,883 in the second and third quarters of 2019, respectively. He spent $58,114 in the second quarter and $41,167 in the third. Compare him to U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, who raised $410,447 in the fourth quarter or U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, who collected $250,111 in those three ...

Article prompted corruption probe

January 31, 2020

The pretrial hearing of ex-Youngstown Finance Director David Bozanich, downtown property developer Dominic Marchionda and 10 of the latter’s affiliated companies, has consumed much of my time lately. But in reality, I’ve been following the issues for more than a decade — and that became evident during the first day of the hearing last week. Ralph E. Cascarilla, Bozanich’s attorney, asked T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s economic development director, about a 2009 city council finance committee meeting. During his line of questioning, he asked her if I specifically attended ...

Ryan boasts of endorsement

January 24, 2020

The day after the Trumbull County Democratic Party’s central and executive committees endorsed candidates in the March 17 primary, the campaign of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan sent an email saying the congressman was “pleased and grateful” to receive the support. “I’ve been fortunate to work closely with one of the strongest and most determined county parties in the state and country, and their support is critical to our success,” said Ryan, D-Howland. There were two things that immediately stood out when I read this. The first was Ryan is running unopposed in the Democratic ...

GOP Reps. facing easy primaries

January 17, 2020

While U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan doesn’t face a primary election opponent, the two other House members who represent portions of the Mahoning Valley do. Without a challenger, Ryan, D-Howland, is assured of winning his party’s primary. It’s safe to say U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, and Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, shouldn’t have problems winning their party’s nominations. Johnson is seeking his sixth two-year term representing the 18-county 6th Congressional District, which includes the southern portion of Mahoning and all of Columbiana. Joyce is running for his fifth two-year ...

Write-in deadline goes from ho-hum to hmm

January 10, 2020

Primary election write-in deadlines during even years are typically ho-hum. Many of those who file as write-ins challenge incumbents whose names will be on the ballot - and they almost always lose by a lot. Then there are those who use a little strategy. They run because no one filed by the deadline to get their names on the ballot. In both Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Republicans failed to field candidates in several races. It's particularly noticeable in Trumbull where Republicans failed to get anyone to run for county engineer, sheriff, clerk of courts, recorder, ...