ORCHID: To trustees in Howland and Warren townships and to city council members in Warren for acting expeditiously to approve a Joint Economic Development District on behalf of the Kimberly-Clark Corp. The major American household and personal product manufacturer has begun construction on an $800 million campus on Pine Avenue that touches all three communities and will reap hundreds of new jobs. The 50-year JEDD establishes mutually agreeable income tax sharing plans and other issues between the company and the three communities. Such intercommunity cooperation and public-private partnerships toward substantial regional growth should be applauded and repeated many times over.

ONION: To Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder for her incessant whining over perceived shortfalls in funding her office from the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners. Last week, Yoder once again cried wolf in telling commissioners she will have to lay off her entire staff two months from now if they do not increase her operating budget by nearly $200,000 for this year. Considering commissioners increased her office’s funding from an original $3 million to $3.4 million for the year, we must question Yoder’s financial management skills and urge her to make the same sacrifices other county officeholders have endured to make the most of a tight budget year — without resorting to such Chicken Little “sky-is-falling” scare tactics.

ORCHID: To Megan Sullivan, an American history teacher at Howland Junior High School, for being one of only 30 middle and high school educators from throughout the country to win acceptance into C-SPAN’s Summer Educators’ Conference last week. Participants were evaluated and selected by C-SPAN based on their commitment to learning about new educational resources, applying them in a classroom environment and sharing their professional development experiences in their academic communities. Clearly, Sullivan rose to the top. We’re confident Sullivan’s fortunate students will be beneficiaries of strategies she acquired at the conference.

ORCHID: To the Ohio Department of Development’s Wonderful Waterfront Initiative within the Appalachian Community Grant program for providing the city of Niles with a $3.5 million grant that enabled groundbreaking last weekend for the new Niles Public Square downtown and the nearby Riverside Park kayak and boat launch. The new town square will feature a stage for performances and concerts, with a mix of both permanent and temporary seating; parking spaces and electrical connections for food trucks; and a letter sculpture of the city’s name. The launch area for the Mahoning River also will include an outdoor educational pavilion. Let this promising project scheduled for completion next year be just the start of an exciting new era of renaissance and revitalization for downtown Niles.

ORCHID: To the Girard Historical Society for reaching its milestone 50th anniversary. Society members organized a frolicking “Cheers to 50 Years” celebration in the city last weekend that featured bands, vendors and many enlightening historical displays. It all began in 1975 when a group of concerned residents redeveloped the historic Barnhisel House on State Street, which became the headquarters of the society. We congratulate the GHS for its success in preserving the city’s past, in educating the public on key moments in the city’s development and in fostering a stronger sense of community identity.

ORCHID: To Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber Director of Community Impact Brenda Linert and Nico Morgione, the chamber’s director of government affairs, for leading a presentation recently to Warren city officials about an exciting new state program to encourage quality housing development. The Residential Economic Development District Grant Program is designed to support workforce housing development in areas that are within 20 miles of major economic projects — such as the $800 million Kimberly-Clark campus in Warren and Howland townships. The program will provide $25 million in grants to spur housing development required to easily house hundreds of new employees. This is certainly one program Warren and other communities near the development site will want to take advantage of. Thank you to Linert and Morgione for spreading the good news!