It’s time our children get back to school

January 17, 2021

I don’t always agree with our governor, but on at least one very important issue, I do. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and I are in complete agreement that kids need to get back to school. I say this just as my son, a senior in high school, is pressing me and my husband to allow him to change his education plan from in-class learning to remote learning, but it’s not because of health concerns. Rather, I suspect it’s so he can sleep later. Like any parent, we know our son’s personality and habits well, and we believe strongly he’ll learn better in the school building — ...

Riot in DC reaches way beyond just politics

January 10, 2021

Five people have now died after pro-Trump protests in Washington turned violent Wednesday and hundreds, perhaps thousands, poured unbridled into the U.S. Capitol building, overpowering the thin police line. By now, we’ve all seen the shocking video footage and photographs. Since then, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the latest casualty from the melee, Capitol police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42. The officer died Thursday night from injuries sustained after he was struck in the head by a fire extinguisher apparently hurled by a ...

Court ruling stresses government openness

January 3, 2021

While America and individual states have varying levels of laws guiding openness of government, laws that have changed through the years reflective of high court rulings and legislation, most government officials understand the critical importance of public access to the workings of government. Acting on behalf of all residents, news media often seeks information that government holds or, in some cases, holds back. And when media requests for access are declined, journalists think hard about the value of pursuing those requests and whether added pressure is warranted – including the ...

We’d like to forget, but COVID-19 is part of history

December 27, 2020

I saw an editorial cartoon last week that was set in the year 2120. A child seated in a floating desk chair in history class asks his teacher why all the textbooks skip the year 2020. The boy’s robot teacher responded, “Historians are still trying to sort that one out, dear.” Yep, that’s how we feel about 2020. Wiping it from memory might be the desire, but in journalism, where we record history every day, that’s just not an option. As always this time of year, the newsroom staff has been busy suggesting big stories and voting on what we saw as the top stories of the ...

Baseball fans must adapt to changes, good or bad

December 20, 2020

It was just a few short months ago when I used this newspaper space to question how loyal Cleveland baseball fans would remain if and when the major league baseball team’s owner dropped the team’s name, the “Indians.” We’re about to find out. Owner Paul Dolan announced Monday the team would drop the name that has existed in Cleveland for 105 years. While it’s been debated for years, the review process “officially” began in July, only hours after the NFL’s Washington team dropped its controversial name. Last week’s announcement did not sit well with some fans. ...

Legislators accomplish little with support of suit

December 13, 2020

I’m not sure what Republicans in Ohio’s state Legislature were thinking when they urged Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost to get involved in a Texas lawsuit challenging election results in four states that President Trump lost. Ohio wasn’t among those states. Trump, of course, won Ohio in the Nov. 3 election. In a rare turn to red, Trump also won both Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Perhaps that’s why state Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, felt empowered by his Mahoning Valley constituency to jump on board with more than 40 Republican members of the Ohio House in signing a ...