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Ex-Rep Ryan still hears the siren call of politics

By his own account, Tim Ryan, a Democrat who represented the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House for 20 years, has achieved his ideal professional-personal life balance. “I am so happy right now,” Ryan told me. “This is the happiest I’ve been personally and professionally in a long time so it’s hard to kind of change course.” Yet he still hears the siren call of politics. Ryan is making more money than he ever did as a lobbyist and working for a technology firm, gets to go on national television and write opinion pieces for Newsweek about his thoughts on politics. He has ...

Kripchak, Rulli offer blunt responses during interviews

As we started doing candidate endorsement interviews last week, one thing struck me: Those I spoke with were blunt. They were so blunt that it probably didn’t help them though it was refreshing after about three decades of talking to candidates who primarily said what they thought we wanted to hear or what they believed would get them elected. While I participated in only a few endorsement interviews this time around, the conversations were much more interesting than they have been in the past. While I ask a lot of questions during these interviews, I don’t vote on who gets the ...

Kripchak, Rulli offer blunt responses during interviews

As we started doing candidate endorsement interviews last week, one thing struck me: Those I spoke with were blunt. They were so blunt that it probably didn’t help them though it was refreshing after about three decades of talking to candidates who primarily said what they thought we wanted to hear or what they believed would get them elected. While I participated in only a few endorsement interviews this time around, the conversations were much more interesting than they have been in the past. While I ask a lot of questions during these interviews, I don’t vote on who gets the ...

Diet can help some forms of arthritis

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published Jan. 2, 2021. Thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and nutrition in recent years, we are living longer than ever before. But this increase in life expectancy also brings an increase in the number of diseases, injuries and impairments that affect older adults. With this in mind, we at the local Visiting Angels office in Salem have created this series of articles to keep our older population and their families informed and to offer some practical advice for meeting the challenges faced by seniors and those who care for ...

Elderspeak can be detrimental to mental health

The following column was originally published Oct. 9, 2021. Thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and nutrition in recent years, we are living longer than ever before. But this increase in life expectancy also brings an increase in the number of diseases, injuries and impairments that affect older adults. With this in mind, we at the local Visiting Angels office in Salem have created this series of articles to keep our older population and their families informed and to offer some practical advice for meeting the challenges faced by seniors and those who care for them. ——— When ...

Ohio’s redistricting map issue remains contentious

The existing redistricting system — approved by voters in 2015 and 2018 — isn’t very effective and needs changes. That’s the opinion of Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican and member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, as well as plenty of Democrats. The commission drew state legislative and congressional maps that have met with criticism. A group, Citizens Not Politicians, collected more than enough signatures to get a redistricting reform constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot that would put the power of drawing maps in the hands of a 15-member panel of five Republicans, ...