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McDowell ‘town hall’ shields Youngstown mayor from accountability

Editorials

When public officials promise a “town hall,” they invoke a sacred American tradition of open dialogue, direct accountability and unvarnished truth. They promise to face their constituents, look them in the eye and answer the hard questions. But Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell’s recent virtual town hall was not a town hall. It was a tightly managed infomercial. It was a masterclass in modern political theater, carefully staged to project the illusion of transparency while aggressively shutting out the public. From start to finish, the event was engineered to shield the mayor ...

Erica Schwartz’s impossible task in leading CDC

Editorials

Erica Schwartz, the nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was asked last Wednesday whether she supports the Trump administration’s cancellation of mRNA vaccine research. “This is the first time I’m actually hearing about this,” she said. “As a private citizen, I certainly was not following that.” Really? Schwartz said several times that she believes mRNA vaccines are safe and effective, but her professed ignorance of a decision that sent shock waves through the public health field highlights how much she’ll struggle to be effective if ...

Watchdog over county water loses its bite

Editorials

When launched 15 months ago in the immediate aftermath of substantial rate increases for some water customers, the Trumbull County Water Advisory Board had great potential to rise as a vigilant, forward-thinking consumer watchdog. Sadly, that promising watchdog has lost any semblance of bite. Its members — mostly township trustees — were charged by the Board of Trumbull County Commissioners with overseeing from local governments’ and users’ perspectives the operations of the county’s Sanitary Engineer’s Department, the lead agency overseeing water distribution in the ...

Lesson for Americans from World Cup

Editorials

The World Cup showed why you shouldn’t be ashamed of America’s heroes and heritage. While only Argentina and Spain made the World Cup final, citizens of many countries enthusiastically cheered on their teams. Norwegian fans became an internet phenomenon for their “Viking Row” cheer. Sitting like they were in a longboat, fans moved their bodies backwards and forwards in unison while pretending to row. To complete the cheer, they chanted, “Ro!” They rowed in stadiums and Times Square. The Norwegian soccer team rowed after defeating Senegal. Norway’s soccer team embraced ...

Beware of flamboyant candidates

Editorials

Four New Yorkers were killed by Legionella bacteria last week, tragedies that were preventable if the city had performed its core, lifesaving duty to monitor and inspect air conditioning cooling towers. But New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is focused on creating a socialist utopia instead of keeping the city running. The current outbreak is in the three ZIP codes. City officials claim the worst is probably over. But the truth is, all signs point to more Legionella outbreaks — and a city unprepared to stop them. Short of staying inside, there’s little you can do to avoid ...

Letters to the editor

Letters to the Editor

Chief actuary study best medicine for U.S. healthcare DEAR EDITOR: Professor Victor Davis Hanson’s “New socialists are elite, ungrateful and toxic” is worth reading, but his thought that the new Jacobins are talking wildly about Medicare for all deserves a quick reply. Medicare for all and variations of that phrase at state levels are place mat rhetoric for virtue-signaling politicians who want to demonstrate their hearts are in the right place. That’s all. The phrase has only bumper-sticker value, and the clunky accompanying legislation is always dead on arrival. The ...