The congressional website hosted by recently departed humanitarian and civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis remains active. Near the top of the site is a press release dated July 17, the same day he died, in which the Democratic congressman from Georgia explains a letter that he and fellow ...
My youngest son has been training since January for his senior cross country season that should be starting in coming weeks. Thanks to COVID-19, he already sacrificed his junior baseball season, even missing out on the high school team’s planned spring break trip to Myrtle Beach for a ...
The loyalty of Cleveland Indians fans soon could be tested again, this time as they face the possibility of not only the removal of their beloved Chief Wahoo mascot, but also now the team nickname. Via social media, the team on July 3 announced it was considering changing the 105-year-old ...
Several women recently came forward to relay testimonials about sexual harassment and assault in local community theater. They shared these stories bravely, without hiding behind anonymity, demonstrating great courage and strength. Certainly, they had to know going into this that there was ...
The San Francisco Police Department announced last week it will stop releasing mug shots of people arrested unless those people pose a threat to the public. The decision comes in an effort to stop perpetuating racial stereotypes, police Chief Bill Scott announced. He said the department no ...
“It’s a murder hornet,” the headline in Monday’s Tribune Chronicle warned. Sure, that might sound frightening, but “only if you’re a bee,” it continued. The story detailed the recent arrival of native Asian “murder hornets” to America’s northern pacific coast and what it ...
The thought that kept flashing through my mind Monday was, “And I thought things were tough here.” I was reading a shocking Associated Press story about award-winning journalist Maria Ressa who apparently had been critical of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and who ...
In Ohio, like most states, residents may easily access a public database of disciplinary records involving any educator licensed to teach our youth in the state of Ohio. Same goes for medical doctors, psychologists, dentists and even lawyers who practice here. Easy public access to this ...
By now, we’ve all seen the hard-to-watch video depicting former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin calmly kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed George Floyd. Chauvin remains in the position for several minutes, appearing undaunted by Floyd’s pleas and even when Floyd falls ...
Little did we know when my eldest son, a senior at Youngstown State University, headed off in March to Fort Lauderdale for a last hurrah during spring break with his college friends that it REALLY would be a last hurrah for college. I recall my mother asking in the early days of the ...
Scotch-taped to the computer monitor in my very messy newsroom office are a few things critical to my daily routine that I have collected through the years. There’s a list of the telephone extension numbers for members of my staff. There is a photocopy of the AP Stylebook page delineating ...
For as long as I can remember, we’ve had a light-hearted saying in our newsroom: “All roads lead to the Mahoning Valley.” It originated because reporters and editors here always have marveled at how every big national news story seems to have some amazing connection to our Valley. ...
I noticed on Facebook last week a longtime friend’s post linking to a national news story discussing censorship in America. According to the Fox News report and host Tucker Carlson, YouTube, a worldwide online video sharing site owned by Google, recently removed a video posted by two ...
Undoubtedly, the most used buzzword today is “social distancing.” Until about two months ago, I can’t say that I ever had heard the term. And if I had heard it mentioned out of context, I might have assumed it referred to people like my mom who has never once engaged in any form of ...
Family members of loved ones who live in Ohio nursing homes and assisted living facilities absolutely have a right to know the extent of COVID-19’s effects on the nursing home, particularly these days of strict limitations on access and visitation. At this point in my life, I have no ...
Each April, gardens of hundreds of twirling blue pinwheels are planted in different areas of the Mahoning Valley. They aren’t there as a source of entertainment or to mark the onset of spring. Rather, they exist to draw attention to a dark truth that many of us don’t regularly think ...
Today is Palm Sunday, but like many, I won’t be spending an important part of my day in church hearing the reading of the Passion of Christ. And I won’t be collecting my palms and holding them up high for our priest to bless them before the start of the liturgy. Instead, I will ...
During the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been described as “an unlikely leader,” and has gotten mostly approval from national media for his handling of it. Likewise, DeWine’s counterpart in New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been receiving rave ...
National Sunshine Week, intended to showcase the importance of access to meetings involving our public officials and to all sorts of public records, wrapped up Saturday. Typically during this week, I write about why we all should care about this stuff because an open government is key to a ...
This isn’t science fiction, folks, although it sure seems like it. Yellow tents are popping up outside hospital entrances. Retailers are sold out of, well, everything. School is canceled; people are quarantined. And much of the general population that does venture out in public is ...