4th should serve as time of calm centering

July 4, 2014

Happy Fourth of July to you and yoursI was tempted to start this column with a cheeky, "I'm back!," but decided the holiday greeting was more appropriate given the circumstances. It's my sincere pleasure to return for a second year as a community columnist, and I hope that our next year together will be even better than the last.Today is Independence Day. Many readers will be with their friends and families eating hamburgers and hot dogs, gorging themselves on potato salad and good pie. Some will head down to Packard Park for one of our community's best events - the fireworks.Today, ...

Memories of Sid and my dad

July 1, 2014

I had dropped out of college for the spring quarter of my freshman year, 1954, and was feeling a bit useless. I began visiting my friend Sid who was a paraplegic.He had been severely injured in a diving accident the summer before. He was busily studying work given him by tutors from Youngstown State University (then Youngstown College) and was trying to teach me chess, somewhat futilely it turned out. In spite of these activities he was very unhappy and quite candidly told me so. He wanted to get out and about.My friend up the street from Sid's house had made a little gasoline-powered ...

Free speech and ‘onions’…

June 27, 2014

First.Unbelievably, it's already been a year since four of us started alternating for the second time, writing a local opinion column in this spot on Tuesdays and Fridays. We all chose subjects that had meaning for us and hopefully, at least some of the time, it had meaning for you, too.Up to a point, you were free to make comments online; then that went away, possibly after someone noted that they thought I needed mental help. I didn't go back to look after that maybe someone said something even worse. I don't know. All's I know is that suddenly 'comments' were gone, ending the ...

Heartfelt goodbye to Mickey’s Army-Navy

June 24, 2014

From perception to reality what's left at Mickey's is now 30 to 50 percent off. Shoppers keep asking longtime owner/operator Marty Cohen to neatly sum up why his family's 66-year successful business at 239 Main St is closing, but apparently for years the store's Facebook status has been approaching "it's complicated."Cohen explained, "There's a multitude of reasons why we're closing. But more importantly, for Warren's remaining businesses, we all need to come together to change this perception that downtown Warren is not safe."Chief among reasons has been a steady decline in black ink as ...

Of rats and men

June 20, 2014

Do rats have "regrets?"I was taken aback that anyone would even propose such a question, but they have. Some now believe that rats are capable of "feeling regret about their own actions," an "emotion" previously attributed only to humans.Researchers have set up a test called "Restaurant Row," in which rats had to choose how long they would wait for food."It's like waiting in line at the restaurant," said Professor David Redish, of Minnesota University. "If the line is too long at the Chinese restaurant, then you give up and go to the Indian restaurant across the street."Some rats ...

Giving out a few well-deserved orchids

June 19, 2014

Since this is my last column for the Tribune Chronicle as a community columnist, I would like to make a trio of nominations for editorial orchids.The first orchid should go to Gary and Kathy Salvner.Gary, aka Dr. Gary Salvner, is a professor emeritus at Youngstown State University, where he was chair of the English Department and is still co-chair of the YSU English Festival. Nearly 40 years ago, Gary was one of the ''founders of the feast'' celebrating reading and writing.Several years ago, Gary and his wife, Kathy, found a way to transform a family tragedy into a creative legacy and ...