Breaking News

Brenda J. Linert

Opioid community conversations begin tonight

Today a group of local media that includes the Tribune Chronicle continues our effort to find solutions to help combat — or at least slow — the heroin and opioid crisis sweeping through our area, our state and our nation. Our journey of solutions-oriented journalism has included coverage of this crisis that has taken more than 700 lives in Trumbull and Mahoning counties since 2010. Stories have focused on mind-boggling numbers of overdoses, revivals and deaths. It has analyzed the effects on families, local law enforcement and first responders. It has included stories that ...

Onset of fall brings thoughts of Thanksgiving

The focus of the very first presidential proclamation ever issued in this nation was about giving thanks. It was President George Washington, in fact, who first proclaimed our national day of thanks. Now, we all know we don’t need a proclamation penned some 228 years ago to tell us we should give thanks for the wonderful gifts we have here in America. We know those gifts are plentiful — and while the tangible and physical possessions help bring pleasure, I’m not speaking specifically about those items. Rather, I believe it’s the relationships, the love, emotions and the simple ...

Big events can trigger spread of ‘fake news’

We all read and watched in horror as news of the grisly massacre in Las Vegas unfolded last week. Firing from a 32nd-floor hotel suite one week ago, mass murderer Stephen Paddock killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others. Paddock had multiple fully automatic weapons, and he was firing into a dense crowd of about 22,000 people gathered on the Las Vegas strip to enjoy a country music concert where Jason Aldean was performing. The developing news story had Americans’ emotions running high, varying from anger, fear and heartbreak, with most of us focusing on one question: Why? ...

Trib turns attention to two health crises

As it is the first day of October, readers likely will notice that — as in past years — the Tribune Chronicle logo has gone “pink” today in honor of breast cancer awareness month. We also have devoted the main story on our front page today — along with a six-page special section inside — to covering facts and statistics about this devastating disease that will affect 252,710 U.S. women this year. Stories today also will focus on the amazing emotional and physical strength exhibited by area survivors. Did you know there are more than 6 million breast cancer survivors around ...

Railroad crossing safety always important

The railroad crossing arm drops and waiting motorists can feel the rumble of the approaching locomotive that hasn’t yet come into sight. Impatient drivers inch closer, peering in both directions as if they are approaching a four-way stop sign. Then the driver of the first vehicle in line whips around the crossing arm and zooms hurriedly through the intersection before the train rolls through. Sometimes other drivers follow suit, at times even alternating the narrow route in both directions. The motorists complete the passage safely. But that’s on a good day. Did you ever wonder ...

Rain adds death and suffering to India

In recent weeks, I studied with interest stories and photos moving on The Associated Press wire depicting destruction on the other side of the world. Certainly Mother Nature brought about an equal amount of despair to the United States and poor Caribbean islands in the last few weeks. But misery in the massively overpopulated city of Mumbai, India, and in that country’s rural farmlands comes from regular, cataclysmic flooding throughout August and September. There, it’s an accepted usual occurrence, so painfully common that residents barely flinch when the torrential rains ...