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Orchids and Onions

l ORCHID: To Bristol Township trustees for committing to look for other creative ways to balance the fire department budget before requesting a levy from taxpayers. Trustees this week rescinded a previous motion to seek a 1-mill fire levy in November.

l ORCHID: To the group of 30 young adults riding their bikes across the country who stopped this week to help rehab an Austintown home with Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning Valley.

l ONION: To former Vernon volunteer firefighter Michael Reeher who pleaded guilty recently to felony theft after a credit card designated for the fire department’s fundraising arm was inappropriately used for $4,354 in personal purchases. It’s always bad when the public trust is violated, and particularly shakes the confidence of those who donate to good causes.

l ORCHID: To organizers of the July 2 Walk Against Heroin set for the Newton Falls Municipal Building. The event will serve as a memorial for those who have died from heroin overdoses and raise awareness to help prevent future tragedies.

l ORCHID: To Trumbull County Educational Service Center and Lordstown, who this week announced they too were joining the online checkbook system, making their spending open and easily accessed by the public. Several other Trumbull County communities also have joined the system.

editorial@tribtoday.com

Orchids and Onions

ORCHID: To the Federal Aviation Administration and all the local leaders fighting to keep the air traffic control tower at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The FAA and a study group recently recommended the tower should stay. It’s just one more argument to keep the Youngstown Air Reserve Station here and to help land future commercial flights at the airport.

ORCHID: Also to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station for opening its doors today for a free public open house. This rare glimpse will showcase the C-130H aircraft and the services the air station’s men and women provide to this area and to American citizens.

ONION: To Liberty trustees for being the latest local community to jump on the speed-camera band wagon. While we disagree with the use of these devices, at least police Chief Richard Tisone had enough decency to admit that a big part of approving the cameras is to help generate money – something most other communities seem afraid to admit.

ORCHID: To the Trumbull County Board of Elections for a plan to purchase 180 electronic poll books for voting. Use of the electronic tablets will speed up check-in for voting significantly. The county will pay $64,000, and the state will pay the rest of the approximately $300,000 cost.

ORCHID: And welcome to Matalco, which made good on promises of a $100 million investment for a high-tech aluminum billet manufacturing center in Trumbull County. The new Lordstown plant, which hosted an official ribbon cutting this week, is humming along with 50 workers and plans to hire up to 50 more in the future.

editorial@tribtoday.com

Orchids and Onions

ORCHID: To the some 160 couples from Trumbull and Mahoning counties who celebrated their wedding anniversaries during a special Mass on Sunday at St. Columba Cathedral. The anniversaries ranged between 25 and 71 years. One husband summed up his decades-long marriage in a word – love.

ORCHID: To Don Constantini, founder of Falcon Transport and Comprehensive Logistics in Youngstown, for donating $1 million to build a multimedia center at Youngstown State University. Constantini, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from YSU in 1966, is right when he called the university a gem of the Mahoning Valley. His contribution will add a bit more shine to the sparkling gem.

ORCHID: To the U.S. Senate, particularly U.S. Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, for amending a spending bill that calls on the U.S. Air Force to prioritize aircraft upgrades at bases with special missions, like the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, and for their continued advocacy to replace the station’s fleet of C-130 Hercules aircraft with new C-130J planes.

ONION: To Vienna officials, who are planning to ask taxpayers for more money for the police department. This time, it’s a 1-mill five-year levy, rather than the 1.5-mill five-year request voters rejected at least two times already. The voters have spoken; listen to them.

ORCHID: To Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Robert Eckenrod and corrections officers Paul Burley and Matt Abbott, and to the inmates in the Trumbull County Jail who came to the rescue of a fellow inmate who tried to commit suicide recently. Their efforts saved the man from dying.

editorial@tribtoday.com

Orchids and Onions

n ORCHID: To Newton Falls police Sgt. Brian Foor, who last week entered a burning house to save the life of a wheelchair-bound man. Foor was the first to arrive at the Ophelia Street house fire. He realized the gravity of the situation and went in on his hands and knees to pull the elderly man to safety.

n ONION: To motorists who have taken advantage of the recently resurfaced Donley Road in Bloomfield by turning it into a speedway. We all complain about damaged roadways in need of repair, but driving at reckless speeds is the wrong way to enjoy newly resurfaced roads.

n ORCHID: To Warren seniors Seth Brugler, Noah Lepola and Lexi Meade, and junior Eddie Sanfrey, members of the Harding quiz bowl team coached by Kim Hunter, who participated last week in the National Academic Quiz Bowl High School Championship Tournament in Dallas. The team was one of 17 Ohio teams advancing to nationals and placing 196th out of 280 teams nationwide.

n ONION: To all those who have criticized the Cincinnati Zoo for killing a gorilla dragging a child who had entered his enclosure. Taking the gorilla’s life was unfortunate, but let’s not forget this was an unpredictable, wild animal. The swift, definitive response by zoo officials deserves praise, not criticism, for likely saving the child’s life.

n ORCHID: To Boy Scout Josh Lang, a junior at McDonald High School, whose Eagle Scout project provided the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission with a needed proper repository for collecting damaged and old flags for proper disposal.

editorial@tribtoday.com

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