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Brenda J. Linert

‘Bug’ soon to be gone, but never forgotten

My older brother and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The engine in that hump-shaped, tiny white car was not under the hood like any normal car. No, much to our glee, this noisy little creature that Dad surprised us with contained an engine in the trunk! I recall for a very short span of my youth, our little family of four traveling far and wide around Windber, Pa., probably looking ridiculous in the crazy, cramped little Beetle that we all affectionately called — what else? — “Herbie.” Dad and Mom would flip up the seats of our beloved two-door Volkswagen Beetle so ...

Join discussion today on making area vibrant

We published on our front page last Sunday a story about the continuing decline in the number of jobs and middle class income — locally and statewide. Certainly, people who live and work here might not have seen that story as a huge revelation. But putting the numbers on paper, comparing them in a broad and detailed spread sheet with all 88 Ohio counties, for me, helped define the magnitude. Since a 1997 peak of 99,265 jobs, the number of jobs reported in Trumbull County has fallen almost every year until it hit 66,926 in 2017. Many Ohio counties saw service sector jobs grow to ...

Saturday Trib about to get bigger, better

Every Saturday for more than 30 years, the Tribune Chronicle has been published in a tabloid format rather than the broadsheet format we use the other six days of the week. I’ve been told the decision was made back then because many daily newspapers were doing it in an attempt to make the paper more unique and user friendly — particularly to accommodate the community news photos and submissions that generally publish that day. Now, that may have been the case back then, but throughout the years, the smaller format has presented challenges and limitations in our desire to bring ...

Trump’s help needed now in Valley

The General Motors manufacturing complex has been a critical part of our local economy for more than 50 years. Whether United Auto Workers there were manufacturing the Chevrolet Impala in the late 1960s, the GMC G-series van in the 1980s, the extremely popular Chevy Cruze today or even that problematic little Vega in the 1970s, the Lordstown GM plant has employed tens of thousands of workers and supported an equal number of families since opening in 1966. Now, however, the future of the sprawling plant is in question. Thousands of workers have been laid off, shifts have been ...

Transparency needed for church’s next 75 years

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas pointed out a few weeks ago in the Tribune Chronicle that sexual scandals and inappropriate behavior are as old as the Bible. True, but these days, it’s just the last 70 years on which all eyes are focused. That’s the time frame included in the scathing grand jury report released last month by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on sexual abuse within Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic Church. The report outlines evidence that bishops and other church leaders covered up child sex abuse by more than 300 priests dating back to 1947. The report ...

Farewell to true patriot and American hero

To read the complete text of Sen. McCain’s farewell letter, click here As an American, I always have admired the great strength and immense patriotism of Sen. John McCain. As a journalist, I found new respect when he spoke clearly on the importance of our free press. “We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital,” said McCain in 2008 when he sought the presidency. “If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press.” Without it, he said, “we would lose so much of our individual liberties over ...