The American Dream is still alive

March 14, 2014

Since I started writing these columns over six months ago, a consistent theme has emerged: Calls to our Mahoning Valley to grow in the virtues of hard work, personal responsibility, collaboration and creativity.After months of writing on these subjects, I finally realized how I became so passionate about them.I married a South Dakotan. Yes it is, indeed, a real state. The curious thing about being from South Dakota, in my perspective, is that no one believes it's actually a state, or that people actually live there, until they meet someone who grew up there. At least, that was the case ...

Teen sues parents for ‘child support’ — What’s next?

March 14, 2014

A teenager in New Jersey is suing her parents for "immediate support, current private school fees, and future college tuition." She claims that her mother and father "tossed her out of their home and cut her off financially."Her parents, meanwhile, say that their daughter, Rachel Canning, 18, moved out willingly after "refusing to abide by their rules."Rachel's father, Sean Canning, is a town administrator and retired policeman. He shared with the Daily Record how much he and his wife love and miss Rachel:"This is terrible. It's killing me and my wifeWe have a child we want homeand now ...

YSU Festival art astounds

March 11, 2014

One of the judges of the Youngstown State University English Festival Art Contest stared at the group of 22 entries from the grades 7-9 division. The Associate Professor of the YSU Art Department had already looked at more than 100 other entries spread out over the long tables in the English Department's Conference Room."Is art being eliminated in middle school?" she mused aloud.She later explained that she was impressed by the imagination and creativity of the young artists. However, her trained view caused her to note that the artists in grades 10-12 displayed signs of formal art ...

Real life and make-believe on screen

March 7, 2014

We've recently become bored with regular television programming. We only have the 63-channel extended basic service, not the uber-deluxe, 2.2 million channels you can get when you sign up for the digital, HD, full, living color version cable.Before our kids brought us into the 21st century with the gift of a lovely, web-based flat-screen TV, we only had about 56 viewable channels that we watched on our 25-year-old, 25-inch box TV. Yes, it was a color picture. No, we could not read the scores on any sporting event. We had to get off the couch and go right up to the set to see those. We ...

Frederick Douglass’ spirit returns

March 4, 2014

Today is 138 years to the day (March 1) since the great black American orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, visited Warren in 1876. He had also made one pre-Civil War visit in 1847.Last Saturday afternoon, my wife and I went to hear Michael Crutcher, a Frederick Douglass impersonator, speak to his audience as if he were gratefully addressing a group of Northern abolitionists in period style and costume.The historical event was held at Trumbull County's stately courthouse number one. Spectators could almost imagine stepping back into history for an hour Below is a slightly edited ...

End blame game, take responsibility

February 28, 2014

One of the most important lessons any child learns is this: We each have responsibility for our own selves.For me, this began at a young age, with being taught to say, "I'm sorry, will you please forgive me?" It continued on through my formative years, aided by faithful teachers, mentors and even friends who refused to let me shirk responsibility for my own actions.But as a person grows up, we all learn that there are certain cases in which it is OK to blame someone or something else for some of the circumstances we find ourselves in. That is to say, while all of us were taught that it ...