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Communities suffer damage caused by undervaluing news

For too many years people undervalued having a local newspaper, local radio station and local journalists who they knew by name and trusted. People eagerly turned to social media as an alternative to subscribing to their local paper or tuning in their local radio or tv station. We saw early signs of trouble as more and more people started sharing unsubstantiated rumors with their friend groups as news or facts. We saw the dangers of this during the Covid pandemic and 2020 election. We continue to see that no topic is immune. Springfield has dealt with viral social media posts causing ...

Republicans gain edge in Ohio Supreme Court races

Before the 2022 election, Ohio Supreme Court justice candidates ran in partisan primaries and then had their party affiliation removed for the general election. Of course, the parties backed their candidates, spending money building them up and sometimes attacking their opponents. But without affiliation on the general election ballot, numerous people weren’t aware of who was a Republican and who was a Democrat. We can talk about judicial philosophy, but voters largely decide who to support in these races based on party affiliation and name recognition. Republicans, who control ...

Trump, Vance advance lies about Springfield

Springfield is similar to Youngstown and Warren. They’re Rust Belt cities in Ohio that have experienced major declines in population over the last 60 years as the industries and businesses that once helped them thrive left. Despite best efforts and some improvements — such as focusing on rebuilding downtowns and seeking to attract new businesses — the cities still struggle. Springfield saw its population start to increase in 2017 when Haitian immigrants began legally relocating there to get a fresh start and employment after the city attracted some new businesses in need of ...

Harris could help Valley Dems on November 5

Before Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the presidential nominee, Mahoning Valley Democrats were rightfully concerned that the incumbent at the top of the ticket would drag down the rest of the party’s candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot. Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate performance left Democrats, who were unenthusiastic about him before that, in a position where they knew if he remained the presidential candidate that he would definitely hurt other candidates by his mere presence. Harris has infused energy into the party that it never would have experienced had Biden remained the ...

China weaponizing minerals monopoly

For more than a decade, Washington has talked a big game about breaking China’s grip on the world’s mineral supplies. And both presidents Trump and Biden have labeled America’s mineral vulnerability—along with China’s mineral dominance—an unacceptable and urgent risk. The alarming reality is this: China’s grip on the world’s mineral supply chains is growing tighter. And America’s reliance on Chinese minerals is growing deeper. This is a crisis that demands to be an important election issue. Now, China is all but goading candidates Trump and Harris to make it one. ...

Ballot drop boxes are targeted once again

After a federal judge ruled a state law violated the voting rights of those with disabilities, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose again went after ballot drop boxes outside county boards of elections. LaRose, a Republican, issued a directive to county boards of elections requiring them to get signatures on attestations from those dropping off ballots for others in response to the federal decision that the state violated the Voting Rights Act by restricting who could return absentee ballots for those with disabilities. That means that a person who under state law is permitted to put a ...