ORCHID: To Howland High School alumnus Frank Shirley, founder and principal of Frank Shirley Architects in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his admission into The College of Fellows at The American Institute of Architects, one of the highest honors awarded in the architectural profession. According to the institute, Shirley’s elevation reflects his efforts and expertise in carrying the legacy of historical buildings whether rehabilitating, adapting or designing anew. He is now proudly among an elite group of architects as fewer than 3% of all institute members hold the esteemed Fellows designation.

ORCHID: To Vienna Township trustees and the Vienna Community Action Committee for working together to make residents’ wishes for a community garden come true. The VCAC recently pitched the idea to trustees, who responded that the group could likely lease a swath of township property for a bargain-basement low rate, such as $1 per year. The group said a survey of township residents’ wants showed a community garden ranked very high. In addition to providing residents with a plot of land to nurture, the garden also could benefit other groups such as the Vienna Food Pantry and the Mustangs Care weekly food distribution program. The partnership proves that local governments can work directly and successfully with residents to meet needs the community wants most.

ONION: To those Ohio legislators who continue to work to thwart the will of state voters by tinkering with the legalized marijuana statutes approved by voters in November 2023. After the state Senate adopted new rules that alter revenue distribution, cannabis potency and other elements of the law last month, state House members have now responded with their own attempt to reinvent what a majority of voters wanted. State Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) this month introduced House Bill 160, which is slightly less intrusive than the Senate version, but it still reduces local communities’ taxation share and it limits local collections to five years. Niles City Council has formally adopted a resolution of opposition to the measure. Other local governments — with or without dispensaries within their boundaries — should do likewise in the name of fairness to the Ohio electorate.

ORCHID: To Trumbull County Children Services, First Step Recovery, Parkman Recovery Center, and the OneOhio Recovery Foundation for joining forces to renovate and open a home for mothers undergoing addiction recovery treatment. The residential program Brighter Beginnings, funded by an $850,000 grant from Ohio’s opioid settlement funds, will house up to three mothers and their children at a time and offer a stable environment for families navigating addiction recovery. The home fills a gaping hole in such treatment services as it now enables mothers who need treatment to receive it without losing contact with their children. Marilyn Pape, Trumbull County Children Services executive director, said, “We’ve needed this for years, a place where women with a strong foundation in recovery can focus on reuniting with their kids while tackling barriers like housing or education.” As such, we hope this home is just the first of many in Warren and throughout the Mahoning Valley, a region long plagued by excessively high rates of drug overdoses and fatalities.

ORCHID: To the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant program for awarding Brightspeed, the nation’s third-largest fiber broadband builder, $1.5 million to expand high-speed internet services to an additional 2,400 locations in Trumbull County. The funding, derived from the American Rescue Plan, will end years of poor or no reliable and convenient internet service for those customers. What’s more, the updated and enhanced broadband service will make the county a much more attractive place for would-be job-producing companies to locate.

ONION: To Steffen Baldwin for his insensitive and cruel deception of scores of animal lovers in the Mahoning Valley, elsewhere in Ohio and in California that ultimately led to the death of at least 36 dogs. Baldwin falsely portrayed himself as a professional dog trainer and nonprofit operator, with prospective TV deals from big-name studios. Baldwin also impersonated a police officer when it suited his needs. In reality, he selfishly pocketed the funds from duped pet owners and injected abuse and death on those dogs. Thanks to the exhaustive investigative work over many years of Campbell Patrolman Jim Conroy into the death of a dog from his hometown, Baldwin at last was exposed. The only somewhat happy ending to this story is that Baldwin recently was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his fraud and abuse, the longest incarceration term for animal cruelty in the history of Ohio.