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Remove dangerous dams for conservation, public safety

I stood on the riverbank in Milltown, Indiana, with Allen Pursell of the Sam Shine Foundation. We watched young people fishing on either side of the low-head dam on Blue River. May 31 was National Dam Safety Awareness Day, and I wanted to learn why the Sam Shine Foundation was committed to dam removal. Milltown’s dam is not one that will come out anytime soon, but it is the first one Allen and his colleague Cassie Hauswald considered. It all started about 10 years ago when the Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit, received an unrestricted gift for freshwater ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To the patriotic residents along Butler Road, Foster Drive, Halsey Drive, Crescent Drive, Woodland Street, Fairway Drive, Overlook Drive and Golf Drive Northeast in Warren for lining their streets with some 100 large new American flags on all light poles. The tight-knit and highly regimented neighborhood posse also sprung into action by adding fresh paint to fire hydrants and restoring stone street markers. The all-volunteer effort proudly celebrates the 250th birthday of the United States. This patriotic community face-lift also serves as a proud reminder of the unity, freedom ...

End massive tax breaks for data centers in Ohio

The explosive growth of data centers in Ohio in recent years has been matched only by an equally explosive growth in heated opposition to the high-tech facilities for housing, storing, processing and distributing massive amounts of critical data and digital applications. A plethora of communities in the Mahoning Valley and throughout the state understandably have enacted moratoriums on their construction. A statewide referendum campaign has gained steam toward banning construction of most new, large-scale hyperscale data centers altogether. Environmental and consumer advocates decry ...

Hey, America: Stop complaining

Whatever the outcome of the “deal, or no deal” scenario with Iran, the public attitude toward the war has been disturbing. Despite President Trump’s constant admonition that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon, a majority of those polled oppose the intervention. A side effect of the war has been complaints about higher gas prices. That grumbling caused me to do some reminiscing about a different America and different Americans. Over Memorial Day weekend we again heard about “The Greatest Generation,” but do we take the time to consider what made them great? While ...

Children are running our big cities

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani earned national attention in a not-good way when he recorded himself in front of Ken Griffin’s Manhattan home revealing the billionaire’s address. He tapped the lens in a threatening manner and said guys like Griffin are going to pay more taxes. Griffin is the founder and CEO of Citadel, a giant hedge fund. The wisdom of raising taxes on expensive second homes can be debated, but doxxing Griffin in that nasty, personal way was flat stupid. Griffin accurately described Mamdani’s stunt as “creepy and weird,” in addition to showing a ...

Churches aid young adults

We are nearing the end of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, and one of the main focuses this year has been urging people to seek help when needed, as more efforts are being made to reduce the stigma around struggling with emotional wellness. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “(M)ore than 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness (59.3 million in 2022; 23.1% of the U.S. adult population).” The NIMH classifies mental health conditions into two categories: Any Mental Illness and Serious Mental Illness. AMI includes “mental, behavioral, or emotional ...