ORCHID: To Bazetta residents Don and Grace Murphy for their 75th wedding anniversary earlier this month and for their lifetime of active and continuing community service. The Murphys, both 93, enjoyed a recent diamond anniversary celebration on their behalf at Bazetta Christian Church put on by friends, family and community members who have grown to love them by their nicknames, “mom” and “dad.” And what’s not to love? Don was a former Bazetta fire chief and township trustee, as well as a deacon, elder and trustee at the church. Grace was a four-year Lakeview school board member and a 50-year Sunday school teacher at the church. Both have volunteered extensively for Boy Scouts, hospice and other worthy endeavors. We wish them many more years of community volunteerism and, of course, wedded bliss.

ORCHID: To the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals for recently affirming the conviction and prison sentence of convicted murderer Dominic Michael Harvey. Harvey, many will recall, was the triggerman who opened fire three years ago with a stolen AR-15 on another vehicle near the front of The Hot Dog Shoppe in Warren, killing the driver and severely wounding a passenger. From our perspective, Harvey already received a fair deal when the state took the death penalty for him off the table when he pleaded guilty to the cold-blooded murder in exchange for his guilty pleas to murder, aggravated murder and a host of other criminal charges.

ORCHID: To the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 606 for its proud legacy of serving the needs of veterans wounded in combat. The veterans organization recently hosted a final get-together in Howland before disbanding due to declining membership from the sharp decline in the number of wounded veterans. To its credit, the good works of the MOPH will live on and even expand via a new organization it founded, the Cover Down Fund. That fund will assist not only veterans, but worthy individuals and causes throughout the community. The expansion bodes well for growth and success of Cover Down and its public image as it illustrates that a veterans service organization can extend its good works beyond the scope of military heroes.

ONION: To careless drivers who have been risking life and limb to themselves and others by carelessly traveling too fast on slick, icy and snowy roads during the region’s early bout with feisty Old Man Winter this month. By mid-December, for example, irresponsible motorists had crashed into 11 Ohio Department of Transportation snowplows treating roads. Last December there were zero such crashes. Those and thousands of other major and minor crashes in the state demand that motorists follow the sage advice of ODOT: Slow down, increase following distance, avoid cruise control and prepare your vehicle/emergency kit (blankets, shovel, sand / kitty litter, flashlight).

ORCHID: To members of the Girard FIRST Robotics Robocats Aptiv Team for getting revved up for their 2026 season by revving up more than 60 lawn mowers in the area. The team, known for its skillful play and countless awards, spent a day earlier this month raising funds for their upcoming robotics season by winterizing lawn mowers for the public. Their hands-on work included sharpening blades, cleaning the inside, pressure washing and putting in oil, stabilizer and gasoline. Their supervised toil no doubt will avoid the pesky frustrations of stalled-out grass cutters next spring for all who wisely chose to invest in the service and in the continued vitality of Girard’s championship robotics squad.

ORCHID: To Mercy Health-Youngstown and its partner, Tennessee-based Lifepoint Behavioral Health, for opening their new behavioral hospital in Liberty last week. With 72 beds and nearly 62,000 square feet of space, the $44 million Mercy Health Behavioral Hospital on Belmont Avenue will treat a wide variety of psychiatric issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, personality disorders and mental health concerns combined with substance abuse. The facility represents the first free-standing mental health hospital in the Valley since the closing of Woodside Receiving Hospital in Youngstown in 1996. As such, it thankfully will fill a gaping void in health care in our region.

ONION: To Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for signing a contentious cannabis regulation bill that thwarts the will of the Ohio electorate. Ohio lawmakers sneakily inserted changes to the marijuana legalization initiative approved by voters into a legitimate bill to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products except in cannabis dispensaries. Those changes include reductions in the potency of extracts and flowers, outlawing use of marijuana in public spaces, requiring marijuana be stored in trunks and eliminating several legal protections for adult consumers. All told, the recriminalization bill, as state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, put it, “spits in the face of voters.”