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Call from NYC hit like a ton of bricks

The calls to the Lisbon office of the three Columbiana County daily newspapers came from all of the country once the East Palestine train derailment took center stage on the national news. In one moment, you’d pick up the receiver and hear the concerned voice from a railman out in Nebraska wanting to explain precision scheduled railroading to whomever would listen. In an another instance, you’d be on the phone with Nashville NPR entertaining a request to get someone who lives in East Palestine to go on at 5 a.m. for a morning show interview. One call in particular, though, really ...

Politics of Trump in the U.S. Senate race

Despite facing four criminal indictments, former President Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president this year. Trump remains very popular in Ohio — which he handily won in 2016 and 2020, taking away its longtime swing-state status in presidential politics. So, it was a huge victory for Cleveland-area businessman Bernie Moreno to get Trump’s endorsement in the three-man Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Trump’s endorsement played the most significant factor in J.D. Vance’s 2022 emergence from a crowded Republican field for the state’s other U.S. Senate ...

America needs more electricity right now

An extraordinary but little noticed economic phenomenon is occurring across the United States today. Electricity demand—which has been relatively stable for more than a decade—is suddenly surging. The U.S. economy is embarking on a literal power trip, and the pace is likely to increase. Consider that California’s major utility, PG&E, expects the state’s electricity demand to jump 70 percent in the next two decades. New York’s electricity demand is on track to double by 2050. And Virginia’s power demand is projected to jump 85 percent in just the next 15 years. Why such ...

About the timing of Johnson’s resignation

The initial plan for U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson was to resign from Congress in February or early March and start March 15 as Youngstown State University president. But ever since Johnson’s controversial hiring Nov. 21 by the YSU board of trustees, Michael Peterson, the board’s president, has made it clear that he and the board wanted the Republican congressman to lead the university sooner than that. Johnson submitted his resignation letters Tuesday to Gov. Mike DeWine and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, stating he would leave Congress Jan. 21. He starts the next day at ...

Second Amendment bill stalls in the Ohio house

Despite opposition from police chiefs and county prosecutors organizations, a bill sponsored by state Rep. Mike Loychik to prohibit local and state law enforcement from enforcing federal firearms laws or regulations looked like it was going to pass the Ohio House this month. That was the consensus a few weeks ago. But things have significantly changed since then, and the bill finds itself in limbo largely because some of Loychik’s fellow Republicans have concerns about it. Called the Second Amendment Preservation Act, the bill was approved Nov. 15 along party lines by the Ohio House ...

Hope found in the season

There are good memories and bad ones near the holidays. Everyone doesn’t welcome the holiday time of year. But maybe it is a good time to evaluate self, to recognize who we are and why we are, and find hope. My mother was an optimist: “Let a smile be your umbrella.” “Every dark cloud has a silver lining.” “Count your blessings instead of your troubles.” “Someday, you will …” Yes, she was an encourager. She inspired hope. One long-ago Christmas the economy was bad. How would we provide Christmas for family? I bought four strings of multi-colored mini-lights and ...