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ORCHID: To the digital journalism students of teacher Abbey Chieffo at Niles McKinley High School for winning the Hope 360 Foundation's inaugural Fentanyl Awareness Contest. Their two-minute video was inspired by a classmate whose sibling died of a fentanyl overdose. The stark video, eerily but appropriately set in a cemetery, took students one month to produce and edit. The video starkly drives home the important message that fentanyl kills with a potency 100 times that of morphine and 50 times that of heroin.
ORCHID: To the 11th District Court of Appeals for rightly denying a request from Jason LaRosa for relief from his murder conviction in the grisly killing of 94-year-old Marie LaCastro of Niles in 2015. Trial evidence showed LaRosa, a teenager at the time, struck the woman several times in the head with a heavy flashlight before dragging her body to a bedroom of her home, where he tried to rape her. We're pleased that his complaints of ineffective counsel and lack of change of venue for his case fell on deaf ears and that his appropriate life-in-prison sentence remains intact.
ORCHID: To ONE Health Ohio and Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley for launching their Food is Medicine project. The project provides patients with food boxes prescribed by ONE Health Ohio and purchased by Second Harvest. The boxes contain boxed milk, cereal, whole grain pasta, beans, canned tuna, canned fruits and vegetables and peanut butter. We're pleased the program is much more than a food giveaway; it also educates recipients on healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime. Orchid, too, to Ohio first lady Fran DeWine who visited the Valley this week to promote the program.
ONION: To the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for dragging its feet in cleanup and recovery work in East Palestine and its environs more than six months after the disastrous Norfolk Southern train derailment. We echo the sentiments of U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Cincinnati, who visited the community this week. "It's taking way too long to clean up this town," Vance told residents. Even though the EPA has conceded that its plans to remediate local waterways have moved slowly, the longer the inaction, the longer the suffering endures for residents and visitors of the community.
Also, ONION: To leadership in the U.S. House and Senate for moving at a snail's pace on the Railway Safety Act of 2023, sponsored by Vance and senior Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland. The Railway Safety Act would toughen safety standards on major railroads, give regulators more authority, increase fines and offer more funds for first responders. The Senate bill has been ready for a floor vote since May. Worse, the House bill has been stalled in committee since March. These basic safety protections should not be fodder for bipartisan sniping. The sooner the legislation is adopted, the sooner East Palestine residents and others can breathe easier knowing risks of catastrophic derailments have been reduced.
ORCHID: To rocker Paul Stanley of KISS for selecting the Butler Institute of American Art for his first major museum exhibition. "Paul Stanley: The Other Side" opened Sunday and will be on display here through Oct. 8. The exhibition features a range of work, from self-portraits in KISS Starchild makeup and paintings of other icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jimi Hendrix to still lifes and more abstract work. Guests at a $1,000-per-couple preview opening last weekend were wowed by the variety and splash of the rocker's artwork. We're certain the celebrity exhibition will draw many first-time visitors to the Butler who no doubt quickly will recognize what a grossly undervalued gem the art museum is in our community.
ORCHID: To The Gelbman Foundation for pledging a $1.5 million gift to Youngstown State University's Zoldan Family Student Center campaign to rebuild and revitalize the campus student center. The foundation honors the late Dr. Frank and Pearl Gelbman of Youngstown, powerhouses in civic philanthropy whose foundation continues to help worthy causes. The gift to YSU will appropriately honor the couple and keep their legacy alive for decades as the large multipurpose room in the center, to be modeled after the Chestnut Room in Kilcawley Center, will be named The Frank and Pearl Gelbman Room.