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Brenda J. Linert

Dayton shooter’s school records should be released

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is siding with media organizations suing for the school records of gunman Connor Betts, who killed nine people Aug. 4 in Dayton before being shot to death by police. News organizations, including The Dayton Daily News, WHIO-TV, The Associated Press, CNN, The New York Times and others, have sued Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local Schools in southwest Ohio to obtain Betts’ school records. The lawsuit was triggered, at least in part, by claims from Betts’ former classmates that Betts had created a hit list and a rape list of students, had other incidents of ...

Worthwhile exhibit showcases local photos

Longtime Tribune Chronicle entertainment writer Andy Gray was humble when I oozed praise on him recently about the amazing art show he curated at Trumbull Art Gallery. “Well, it helps to have talented friends,” he said of the concert photography exhibition showcasing more than a hundred incredible images of superstars and local performers. They were shot by photographers including local photojournalists R. Michael Semple, our co-worker at the Tribune Chronicle, and William D. Lewis of the Vindicator, along with Warren native Bob Jadloski, among others. The exhibit, titled ...

Where do we draw the line on workers’ status?

One of the Mississippi chicken processing plants caught up in last week’s immigration raid now plans to host a job fair Monday. The company, Illinois-based Koch (pronounced Cook) Foods, tells the Associated Press it will be recruiting new workers for its Morton plant at a nearby state job center. My question is simple: why didn’t they do that in the first place — before apparently hiring hundreds of workers who either were in the United States illegally or who weren’t allowed to work in this country? Now, just two days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided ...

Lessons from cross country invaluable

I was amazed the first time I watched my son run at a junior high cross country meet. It was in McDonald’s Woodland Park. He was in seventh grade. Not knowing what to expect, I stood with other parents behind ropes marking the course waiting for the runners who lined up down the hill and out of sight. The echo of the opening shot was followed by an immense pack of middle-schoolers thundering past. As spectators quickly bolted off to get new positions along the course where runners would appear next, I quickly learned this was a sport where fans might get nearly as much exercise as ...

Local journalism’s value touted on Senate floor

Shortly after the recently announced closure of The Vindicator left the Mahoning Valley reeling, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, stood on the U.S. Senate floor to deliver heartfelt words about the importance of community newspapers and local journalism. “When local newspapers close, everyone suffers. Local newspapers know their communities better than anyone,” he said, and continued on about local journalists’ important role of holding public officials accountable and telling stories about things like local impact of federal policies, about General Motors’ reduction in shifts ...

Thrice-flooded Johnstown shows human spirit

It was 42 years ago this week, in the wee morning hours of July 20, 1977, when, perched in pajamas on the basement steps of my family’s small ranch home in rural Cambria County, I watched as water inched up the concrete block walls. Mom and Dad were dressed in an odd combination of sleep clothes and hip waders that Dad usually wore when he spent lazy afternoons fishing for rainbow trout in western Pennsylvania streams. But there was nothing lazy about this night as they, along with Dad’s brother Stanley, worked to clumsily hoist appliances like Mom’s precious electric washer ...