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ORCHID: To Warren Sunshine Homes Director Melissa Phillips, Mayor Doug Franklin, other city officials and the 7 17 Credit Union for recently fulfilling a decades-old lease-to-own promise by turning long-term renters into official and proud home owners. Sunshine, a nonprofit formed in the 1990s that manages nearly 200 single-family houses in Warren and Trumbull County, had promised its original tenants they could buy their homes after a 15-year affordability period. However, complicated legal and funding issues blocked those sales for years. At long last, those roadblocks were removed last week when Theresa Johnson accepted keys and ownership to her still immaculate home on Tod Avenue SW that she had been responsibly renting from Sunshine for 22 years. We expect many more such happy endings from the program in coming days and weeks that will reward conscientious renters with the stability and pride of owning their own abodes.
ORCHID: To the Warren-based Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals for denying depraved killer and rapist Danny Lee Hill yet another opportunity to skirt his eventual date with death by execution. The court last week upheld the sound 2023 decision of a visiting county judge that the vile murderer of 12-year-old Raymond Fife in 1985 does not deserve to have his capital punishment sentence reexamined on the grounds that Hill was intellectually disabled. The decision provides a measure of relief for Raymond's family and loved ones. His mother, Miriam Fife, said she looks forward not to going back to court anymore after 40 years of fruitless and baseless appeals motions. She, however, does look forward to going to his execution. That day cannot come soon enough.
ONION: To the twisted perverts who engage in indecent and illicit sexual activity in parks and other public spaces in the Mahoning Valley. Recently, two men were arrested in Warren's Perkins Park after a caller reported he and his wife saw two men engaged in sexual activity by the side of a car near the park ballfields. Other cases of indecent exposure periodically have been reported in other parks in Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Though criminology and law enforcement officials note the vast majority of public sexual acts or indecent exposures go unreported, we urge continued vigilance and punishment to the fullest extent of the law for those who do get caught. Mill Creek MetroParks officials, for example, are adamant in protecting the public as its rules assert that any form of public indecency, soliciting or disorderly conduct is subject to immediate arrest.
ORCHID: To the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for awarding Weathersfield Township a $500,000 grant to greatly improve the township park on state Route 46. The grant will fund improvements such as a spiffy new pavilion, restrooms, improved parking and more. It is the latest example of how officials in that township along the Trumbull/Mahoning border have wisely and effectively sought out private and public grant funds to lessen the financial burden on their local taxpayers. Just earlier this month, for example, Weathersfield was awarded a $700,000 federal EPA grant to help cover the local share of the Stillwagon Water Improvement project, which will allow 43 properties to receive new waterlines at little to no cost.
ORCHID: To the leaders, parishioners and supporters of Chestnut Ridge Church of God in Hubbard for getting the new school year started on strong -- and fashionable -- footing for more than 400 local children. The church last week sponsored its 16th Annual New Tennis Shoes Ministry at which new athletic shoes and sneakers were provided free of charge to all who took advantage of it. In these days of skyrocketing costs for school supplies and clothing, we're certain the charitable event also pleased the youngsters' parents as well.
ONION: To the newest crop of shameless phone scammers who masquerade as county sheriff's office representatives while attempting to rip off their victims of tens of thousands of dollars. Just last week Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene reported a case in which con artists will terrify their callers with threats of arrest if not paying up immediately. Trumbull Sheriff Mike Wilson earlier this summer reported fraudsters calling families of incarcerated demanding payment for their release. Both sheriffs have urged residents not to fall prey to such schemes. Hang up on unexpected requests, especially those demanding money, and never disclose any personal financial information to such scum artists.
ORCHID: To leaders and school board members of the Trumbull Career & Technical Center for successfully opening an expansive and promising $7 million addition for the start of this new school year. At the TCTC in Champion, the new 15,000-square-foot Industrial Technology, Career Exploration and Resource Center expands the school's already robust career and technical educational opportunities for its growing student body. It will serve as a regional clearinghouse where students, families, job seekers and local businesses can access career exploration opportunities and workforce development resources. It will also house STEAM classrooms and more. This exciting addition strengthens TCCTC's already strong reputation as a viable training ground for in-demand careers in the Mahoning Valley and beyond.