Leaders need passion to unite, words to calm

March 14, 2021

Today, as Americans remain partisan and divided, it’s hard to envision the possibility that words from a leader could actually unite us. Sadly, these days, even inspirational words can serve to divide Americans. Undoubtedly, many might have been inspired by the words spoken Feb. 28 by former President Donald Trump before the Conservative Political Action Conference. Others, may have been moved by the words spoken Thursday evening by President Joe Biden when he addressed America on national TV. Yep, I can already sense eyes rolling and teeth grinding with the mention of each of ...

Journalists take ‘witness’ role seriously

March 7, 2021

“Fake news!” are the cries journalists hear these days more than most prefer to admit. It’s unfortunate and disheartening because in my more than 25 years in this business, I can think of not one journalist that I knew personally who ever intentionally attempted to steer a story in any specific direction. Ironically, it sometimes ends up being the opposite. Undoubtedly, we’re all trained to report in a fair and balanced manner. But we also know well our own opinions, and in all cases, journalists must fight for nothing less than accuracy, fairness and balance. We must ...

Mahoning Valley roads lead to … Mars?

February 28, 2021

“All roads lead to the Mahoning Valley.” You might remember I wrote about that little expression we commonly tout in our newsroom because, well, they just do. Over and over again, it seems that we read national or even international stories on The Associated Press wire only later to find some local connection to them. Well, here we go again. The words began bouncing around the newsroom again last week after our reporter Bob Coupland discovered a local connection to a big story. This time, though, it wasn’t national or even international. It was galactic. A microchip ...

Hiding with speed camera ‘not police work’

February 21, 2021

I had a conversation with a reader recently who called my office to discuss a government issue that’s been bothering him. Readers often call our newsroom to vent, sometimes because they know — based on the position we have taken on our opinion page — that they are in friendly territory because we will agree with their assessment of a situation. And sometimes they call to argue and point out all the reasons we have taken the wrong approach to a political issue. This day, the man who identified himself as a former police officer called to express his frustration at the growing ...

When country music pride turned to shame

February 14, 2021

Pride — in our nation, in our hometown, in our servicemen and servicewomen, or even in our family — has long been the recurring theme in country music. And while love of America and your hometown, not to mention your dog or your pickup truck or your favorite fishing hole, are good and sometimes fun reasons to listen, I can’t say it’s why I tune in each time I slide in behind the steering wheel of my Chevy Malibu. Despite the fact that most country music artists originate in America’s Deep South, areas commonly known for flying Confederate flags and playing “Dixie,” I ...

Superfan goes to Super Bowl and to HOF

February 7, 2021

Who seriously ever gets to go to the Super Bowl? Sure, we all know people who have had really rare and cool sporting event experiences. Court seats at an NBA basketball game. Attendance at a college football championship game. Tickets to Game 7 of the World Series. Heck, the Steelers have hosted so many playoff games, I’ll bet countless readers have been there waving their terrible towels. But a Super Bowl? Really? And during a pandemic, to boot. Well, Ray Prisby of Youngstown, for one. Prisby earned his trip to Super Bowl LV after being selected as a finalist for induction into ...