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The cost of cowardice at City Hall

Editorials

The tragedy of Youngstown is not that its problems are unsolvable. The tragedy is that those entrusted with solving them have become experts at managing decline while pretending to fight it. For years, residents have been subjected to a continuous performance of political theater — press conferences, photo opportunities, studies, committees, strategic plans, and carefully crafted talking points. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a city still burdened by poverty, unemployment, abandoned neighborhoods, population loss and growing despair. The mayor’s recent virtual town hall was no ...

Is this a republic or is it turning into an empire?

Editorials

The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, embraces two value sets. The first is natural rights, and the second is limited government. After 250 years, neither value has survived, and the opposite of each currently prevails in America. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration in three days while staying at a rooming house in Philadelphia. He had been greatly influenced by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke is the godfather of the theory of natural rights, which he extrapolated from the natural law teachings of Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) ...

How Trump is handling 4 messes he created

Editorials

Referring to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz commented on X: “Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went. The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.” (Walz could have added: “blamed others for his failure, conjured up a conspiracy, then prosecuted them.”) One remarkable aspect of Trump’s horrendous reign is how many crises and problems he’s brought on himself — created them out of thin air. Then he brags about how well ...

Letters to the editor

Letters to the Editor

Remember the origin of Schwebel Bread DEAR EDITOR: With the announcement of Schwebel’s closing, I realized I am probably the only living person in the world who can provide details preceding its birth in 1906. It was probably in the summer of 1905 that Dora Schwebel, a 17-year-old newlywed, had the idea to bake bread for her neighborhood on Haseltine Avenue in East Youngstown, later called Campbell. She realized her stove was too small to meet her needs. She then decided to take a horse-drawn streetcar downtown to East Federal Street in Youngstown. There was a store at 27 E. ...

State board must deny parole for Valley cop killer

Editorials

If all goes the way of one Fred E. Joseph Jr., that violent, psychopathic, unrepentant and incorrigible killer of a respected Niles police officer could be free to menace Mahoning Valley streets again as early as Sept. 1. That frightening scenario must never be allowed to play out. That’s why the Ohio Adult Parole Authority must unanimously and unequivocally deny parole for Joseph at his upcoming July hearing. As many older Valley residents will readily recall, Joseph, then 17, and his accomplice Randy Fellows, 18, arranged an undercover meeting on local drug activity with Niles ...

Sound off!

Letters to the Editor

It is so fitting that JJ Cafaro has been unmasked as the mastermind behind the reflecting pool fiasco. Chalk it up to a rather long list of problematic ventures, another one at the expense of the taxpayer. Is this two-time convicted felon heading for third. Pardon me, or just pardon. I am sure his family is proud of the legacy this stain has left on the Mahoning Valley. Rumor has it that Commissioner Hernandez is looking for a new partner in the spa hospitality business! — Warren I feel by mailing the papers via USPS was really stupid on your part. We had a perfectly good delivery ...