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Brenda J. Linert

Keep worshipping, but just do it safely

Today is Palm Sunday, but like many, I won’t be spending an important part of my day in church hearing the reading of the Passion of Christ. And I won’t be collecting my palms and holding them up high for our priest to bless them before the start of the liturgy. Instead, I will participate this afternoon in a “drive-up” procession to collect a bundle of blessed palms through my car window from the latex-gloved hands of church volunteers. As we begin what is considered the holiest week of the year for Christians, I may watch Mass on television, and I’ll make phone calls ...

Letter to our readers on coronavirus pandemic

Dear readers, The last few weeks have been full of uncertainty for all of us when it comes to the COVID-19 health crisis. We take seriously our responsibility and the trust you place in us as your local news source, so we believe it’s important that we update you on how The Vindicator is covering the crisis so you and your loved ones can remain up-to-date and prepared in the coming weeks. Internally, most of our staff is now working from home, with only essential employees at our main offices in downtown Warren. As a news organization, however, most of our reporters remain on the ...

COVID-19 crisis spotlights unlikely leaders

During the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been described as “an unlikely leader,” and has gotten mostly approval from national media for his handling of it. Likewise, DeWine’s counterpart in New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been receiving rave media coverage. The comparison of these two governors is odd and probably could not have been predicted. But like it or not, each has been relentless in his response to the health crisis, and for that, each has increasingly received glowing media attention, growing familiarity among Americans and, ...

Virus can’t affect open public business

National Sunshine Week, intended to showcase the importance of access to meetings involving our public officials and to all sorts of public records, wrapped up Saturday. Typically, during this week I write about why we all should care about this stuff because an open government is key to a strong democracy. I usually write about how we shouldn’t forget that every discussion or decision made by government is everyone’s business, and how you, as a citizen, have a right to know about it. I also often say things like every document (no matter if it’s on paper, in the form of a video ...

Health concerns trigger virtual reactions

This isn’t science fiction, folks, although it sure seems like it. Yellow tents are popping up outside hospital entrances. Retailers are sold out of, well, everything. School is canceled; people are quarantined. And much of the general population that does venture out in public is clad in face masks, as if it’s just the normal thing to do. Having traveled a year or two ago to Asia, I can tell you that is the norm there. The streets of Taipei, for example, are crowded with unimaginable numbers of mask-clad people jammed onto motorized scooters buzzing in and out of ...

Automotive plans bring new excitement

It’s been about five years since I walked inside the sprawling Lordstown auto assembly plant that was, at that time, where General Motors workers built passenger vehicles. I was the Tribune Chronicle business editor at that time, writing stories about production of the then-hot selling Chevy Cruze. Last week, invited by new operators of Lordstown Motors Corp. who are preparing to build an all-electric pickup truck, I walked through again, this time with dozens of area political and business leaders. Thursday, the plant was cold, dark and eerily quiet. As one member of the ...