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Brenda J. Linert

Trip down memory lane and glance at future

As I wrap up the final week of 2019, like most folks, I’m reflecting on the ups and downs of the past year here and looking forward to what 2020 will bring in the world of news. In keeping with tradition, our newsroom this year has picked what we view as the biggest local news stories of the year. We have been revisiting and updating those big stories and sharing them with our readers as the clock ticks down on 2019. The series of stories began last Sunday and will wrap up New Year’s Eve. In today’s newspaper, we also recap the “stories of the year” in local sports and ...

The strange happenings, history of Dec. 19

I meet weekly with Rick Muccio, the freelance artist who creates local editorial page cartoons for this newspaper. He drops by about once a week to pitch cartoon ideas he has for possible use on these pages. While we don’t always agree on political topics of the day, I enjoy chatting with Rick because he always is well-versed on national politics and news of the day. And he has a much better memory than I do. That was especially evident last week when he produced a cartoon about Donald Trump that he had drawn in late 1999. The cartoon was published Dec. 19, 1999, in the ...

Big money and big egos equally problematic

Presidential candidates spent a combined $2,495,740,931 in the 2016 race to the White House, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit research group that tracks money spent in U.S. politics. It sounds like a ridiculous amount of money, but incredibly, that’s not the highest amount ever. Even when adjusted for inflation, 2016 presidential race spending totals come in third highest, behind the $2,799,728,146 spent in 2008 races and the $2,621,415,792 spent in 2012. In the 2016 race, President Donald Trump spent $66 million of his own money, Fortune ...

Ohio not stellar among ‘smart states’ study

Well, here’s some bad news, fellow Ohioans. A new study has ranked Ohio as the 43rd smartest state in the nation. I think that’s supposed to be a nice way of saying we are the eighth dumbest state. (I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not really that dumb at math. The study included the states PLUS D.C., ranking 1 through 51.) The report, created by Safehome.org, utilized four categories to rank the states, focusing largely on college degrees and higher education entrance exam scores, coupled by high school graduation rates. They say they collected the data from ...

Ohio auditor creates ratings for openness

“Central to the founding principle of self-governance is the ability of the public to participate; to create a partnership among the citizens of a community, some of whom have come forward in elective roles,” Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber started out a bulletin he released in recent weeks. “Transparency in governing makes those who serve more accountable to their fellow citizens and also fosters the exchange of ideas to increase efficiency and effectiveness with public dollars. To that end, Ohio Sunshine Laws ensure all citizens are granted the right to have broad access to ...

Happy holiday from Cranberry to Turkey Town

Several times each year I pass by Cranberry Township, Pa., usually as I’m exiting the Pennsylvania Turnpike heading to Pittsburgh, clad in black and gold, “Terrible Towel” in tow. It’s a silly name for a township, I often have thought. So I chuckled last week at its mention on a media release sent to my newsroom from the U.S. Census Bureau titled, “Fun Facts About Thanksgiving From Turkey, Texas, to Pilgrim, Mich.” Did you know Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pa., has a population of 30,132? And that Pennsylvania is home to not one, but two Cranberry Townships? The ...