Why is Warren JFK not welcome at Mollenkopf?

DEAR EDITOR:

I am an alumnus of JFK Catholic High School, as is our whole family. I am at a loss to understand why Kennedy has not been able to play home games at Mollenkopf Stadium for many years now. I’ve heard some people’s thoughts on the matter and several rumors, but nothing from a credible source.

Decades ago Warren had three high school football teams playing home games at Mollenkopf. There were some years when, due to scheduling conflicts, Kennedy had to go to nearby public schools to play a home game when Harding and Reserve played a Friday night and a Saturday night game. There were even rare occasions when JFK would play a home game on a Sunday afternoon.

Administrators always found a way to work things out for the sake of the kids who were proud to play in one of Ohio’s renowned high school football stadiums.

A great facility that is not being shared makes no sense to me. If there’s a good reason, please say so.

RICK MUCCIO

Niles

Trumbull County Republicans are RINOs

DEAR EDITOR:

We have a Democratic Party and a RINO party. The Republicans never stick together unless it helps them. We got rid of one Trumbull County commissioner, and now he heads the Republican Party. We did not want him as a commissioner because he voted for some stupid causes with the Dems.

It appears in Ohio now you must run as a Dem to get elected then you could vote for Democratic ideas like keep the illegals here, vote socialist, beat up your girlfriends and let nothing happen to you. This is the Dems’ way of life and now we have the Republican Party in Trumbull County that will honor the same thing.

The whole Republican Committee needs to be replaced. They are not Republican, but they are RINOs for voting in someone that the Republican voters kicked out of office. Republican Committee members made their bed; now they can lie in it. They gave away Trumbull County.

LARRY PAUL

Warren

Paxton and Platner: The best we’ve got?

DEAR EDITOR:

“There you go again” you Democrat and Republican parties … skimming the Maine and Texas political dredges to find candidates that you hope can win!

Graham Platner and Ken Paxton are tumultuous political twins.

If your candidates win, their short-term electoral victories in the Senate will translate to long-term democratic setbacks for the nation.

Graham Platner (Maine) and Ken Paxton (Texas) are political overachievers in their encyclopedic accumulation of alleged bad decisions and reported misconduct.

Graham has been accused of having an SS tattoo on his chest, texting women with sexually suggestive content, calling rural Americans “racist” and “stupid,” and calling cops “bastards.”

Ken Paxton could be a mentor to Platner … he has had the benefit of decades of alleged misconduct … not to take anything away from Platner.

Paxton has been involved with security fraud indictments, ethics complaints, allegations of using his office for political gain, and having an extramarital affair.

As far as electable candidates go, is that all you got?

Candidly, the current occupants of the Senate and House of Representatives are not boy scouts or girl scouts, but why add two more toxins to the Congressional soup? Why add the Platner/Paxton pathogens to an already noxious federal “melting pot?”

George Washington never did approve of political parties in America and both parties are proving his point:

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”

The Democratic and Republican parties are playing with despotism, if candidates as flawed as Platner and Paxton are the best they have to offer.

SHELDON FIREM

Chardon

United States is to blame for crisis in Cuba

DEAR EDITOR:

I would like to draw people’s attention to a humanitarian crisis unfolding just off the southern coast of the United States. I’m talking about Cuba. This crisis can easily be mitigated, because the crisis itself is caused by U.S. policy.

In public statements, President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have blamed Cuba’s government for the crisis, which has included electricity blackouts lasting most of the day and shortages in food, fuel and medicine, among other hardships. However, it’s hard to call Cuba a failed state, as Trump and Rubio have, when the U.S. has done everything in its power to make sure Cuba does not succeed, including a 60-plus-year economic embargo and, since January of this year, what amounts to a total blockade, enforced by punitive tariffs, on any fuel entering the country. Not allowing a country to trade freely or receive aid from other countries is not a diplomatic strategy: it’s economic siege warfare.

Rubio claimed in a recent U.S. Senate hearing that he wants the people of Cuba “to be able to live in a normal country.” If this were true, the U.S. could end the embargo and blockade on Cuba today and allow the country to rebuild on its own terms, as any sovereign nation has the right to do. Trump, meanwhile, is more honest: this is not about helping the Cuban people, but about domination and subjugation. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office back in March, the president said, using the language of a rapist, that he would have “the honor of taking Cuba,” saying “I can do anything I want with it.” It’s remarkable that Trump has the time to begin yet another illegal regime-change war while he is still losing the war on Iran as well as backing Israel’s endless wars, or calling citizens and the press traitors for stating the obvious, as I just did, but the appetite of tyrants for power is ever insatiable.

We still live in a democracy, however, despite Trump’s best efforts to restrict voting and speech, which is why I urge readers to oppose U.S. intervention in Cuba and tell Congress: Hands off Cuba and end the blockade.

WILLIAM R. HARNED

Niles

SCASD grant is good news for YNG Airport

DEAR EDITOR:

The Vindicator reported April 30 that the Western Reserve Port Authority (WRPA) will be applying for a Small Community Air Service Development program (SCASD) grant.

We had one of these SCASD grants in 2005, which enabled us to attract Allegiant Air to fly from the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport (YNG) to the Orlando / Sanford International Airport in Florida.

Within the air passenger flight business, profit margins are tight and risky. Communities must compete to attract airlines, with benefits to subsidize and incentivize their flights.

My role in YNG’s efforts was to research the entire airline industry, looking for airlines that would be a good fit for YNG.

In the competition for potential airlines, there were a few finalists, but Allegiant Air was my favorite prospect because it fit our profile exactly.

They were flying from several airports into the Sanford Airport in Orlando, Florida, for which we already had extensive data.

YNG had flight data from a low-cost budget airline that had been flying to Orlando, Florida, from YNG, profitably filling its aircraft. That budget airline’s problem was that it leased, instead of owning, its aircraft. Eventually the company it was leasing from suddenly repossessed its aircraft, leaving a planeload of travelers from YNG stranded in Florida!

The data that YNG had accumulated from that airline proved that we had a market full of people who wanted to fly to Orlando, Florida. That is what we sold to Allegiant Air, successfully.

Allegiant Air was on a solid growth trajectory, expanding from west to east. Its next logical market acquisition was obviously going to be in our Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh region.

Attracting Allegiant Air required detailed strategic preparation, because airlines that were growing their service areas were rare during the aftermath of the deadly airline hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001.

YNG’s location was significant, being in the center of a 7 million person “catchment” market area. Within a two-hour drive, we could reach people from the Cleveland metropolis, including Akron and Canton, as well as Pittsburgh and Erie, Pa.

Because of YNG’s fixed base operator, Winner Aviation, handling their local operations (including ticket sales, boarding and baggage handling), Allegiant Air was able to capture our market without the expense of locating any personnel here.

Allegiant Air flew from YNG for about two decades before relocating its YNG operations to Cleveland. The “load factors” on its YNG flights were consistently in the high-90% range, which was enviable.

Now our WRPA is looking for our Valley’s next YNG Airport success story.

JAMES J. PIRKO

Youngstown

MAGA and MILC or ‘(Economic) Death to America’

DEAR EDITOR:

The Iran war is a brave, bold and necessary action. Think back 90 years ago to the ’30s. If FDR, England and Europe had made war against Hitler when he broke treaties, 80 million lives might have been saved. A nuclear Iran could kill 1 billion people.

MAGA and MILC will get it done.

Three actions will make a path to a long-term solution: One, MILC — Make Iran Like Cuba. Unload every Iranian vessel, use or sell the contents to pay for this war, and move the empty vessels to a neutral port for long term storage. Then destroy every vessel on the 1,500-mile Iranian shoreline. Iran will be like Cuba with no boats. No vessels will be permitted to enter or exit Iran.

Two, escort friendly ships through the strait. Don’t accept the statement that this can’t be done. With a $900B defense budget and 2.8M personnel, plus contractors and friendly nations, find an operational leader who can make it happen.

Three, continue the destruction in Iran, starting from the shoreline and moving inward. War Department personnel can get ongoing live ammo training, including drone use, instead of practicing in U.S. bases.

Keep this up until the strait is safe, the nuclear dust is removed and there are no terrorist actions from Iran or any of their proxies anywhere in the world. Forget about any ceasefires. This regime will never cave.

“Deal, we don’t need no stinking deal (badges)” now. When they have had enough, it might happen, but history has shown that they won’t honor it anyhow. The only thing that counts for the world economy right now is that the strait is open.

There are no tolls and no reparations. They can use oil money to rebuild instead of supporting international terrorism.

Who is the smartest player in this tragedy? Smarts don’t have anything to do with it. The regime in Iran has no concern for its people and they want to kill everyone else in the world who is not Shia. They will delay and take any destruction as long as they stay in power.

Message to DJT and Defense Secretary Hegseth — focus and act the way General George S. Patton would. Our futures are at stake!

If the Strait of Hormuz is not open by Labor Day, the Don will be impeached before Christmas and Iran’s problem is solved. If you don’t believe this, ask Nancy, Hakeem or Chuck.

THOMAS F. BUTRYN

Columbiana