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ORCHID: To the Cleveland Foundation for awarding a $100,000 grant to Warren-based BRITE Energy Innovators to support the development of a diverse pipeline of clean energy entrepreneurs in the Cleveland area. The grant will enable BRITE to expand geographically by forging partnerships in the Cleveland metro area. The grant is yet another feather in the feather-filled cap of BRITE, the only energy technology entrepreneur program in Ohio that has served more than 600 companies that have created nearly 1,600 jobs and attracted $230 million in investment.
ONION: To irresponsible motor vehicle drivers who use buggy lanes in Amish communities as passing lanes, threatening the safety of buggy occupants and horses. Middlefield Township trustees last week agreed to ask Ohio State Highway Patrol for signs warning motorists to stay out of buggy lanes. Resident John Kochy addressed trustees about hurried drivers refusing to wait for other motorists to finish turning and, at times, use buggy lanes to pass several vehicles. The patrol should grant trustees' request, and all drivers must give the buggy lanes the no-contact respect they deserve.
ORCHID: To Cortland City Council for unanimously approving first reading recently of a new grant program for businesses in the city to improve their facades. The program would provide grants worth 25 percent of the cost to a business to upgrade or make improvements to exterior walls, lighting, awnings, windows, doors and landscaping. A similar program in Youngstown has resulted in aesthetically pleasing enhancements to many businesses there. We're certain it will have the same effect in Cortland and encourage businesses there to take advantage of the program.
ONION: To politicians who thrust themselves unnecessarily into often tense labor negotiations on behalf of one partisan side. Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, and state Sen. Mike Rulli, R-Salem, met with striking teachers in Youngstown and gave them their full support. Brown also met with UAW Local 1112 members from Ultium Cells in Lordstown this week and gave them and their calls for a more worker-friendly contract his full-throttled endorsement. Given that politicians generally are not privy to inner workings and under-the-radar complexities on both sides of organized labor talks, the most that public officials should do is to urge both sides to work seriously and quickly toward a mutually beneficial resolution -- without taking sides.
ORCHID: To U.S. News and World Report for letting the universe know what we here in the Mahoning Valley have known for decades: our region is among the most affordable places to live in the United States. The news magazine's researchers unveiled its 2023 list of the most inexpensive places to live among the nation's 150 largest metro areas. Greater Youngstown ranked No. 2. Home costs, utilities, food expenses and medical costs all fall well below the national average. We hope development groups in the region use this data as a strong magnets to attract new businesses and vitality to the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Area.
ORCHID: To the Ohio Nurses Association, District 3 chapter for creating a $650,000 endowment for the Youngstown State University Foundation to offer four scholarships for students interested in entering the nursing field. Two scholarships are in the name of Mary Ellen Patton, a trailblazing Youngstown nurse who was a strong advocate for safe, effective and quality patient care. Sadly, the ONA District 3 group is disbanding soon because of the retirement of many of its members. The endowment serves as a most appropriate swan song for the group and its focus on giving and compassionate care.