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Logic wasn’t a passenger in presidential motorcade

Covering national political figures — including presidents and presidential candidates — when they’re in the Mahoning Valley is not one of the more pleasant parts of my job. That’s because what shouldn’t be a terribly complicated event often becomes incredibly time consuming and challenging because of reasons I still don’t understand nearly 25 years after covering my first presidential visit. The reason I don’t understand is simple: there is no logical explanation. When President Joe Biden visited East Palestine last week, I had to first drive to Pittsburgh — and right ...

Self-funding during an election is a big benefit

Being able to self-fund in a political election — particularly in a partisan primary when the timeline is condensed — is a huge benefit. So when I reported that state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus had given $250,000 out of his own pocket to his campaign for the Republican nomination for the open 6th Congressional District seat it raised a lot of eyebrows. Stoltzfus of Paris Township is one of three Republican candidates seeking the party’s nomination in the March 19 primary. The others are state Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem and Rick Tsai of East Palestine. The primary is earlier than ...

Are there any benefits to Biden’s planned visit?

President Joe Biden certainly took his time to finally announce a visit to East Palestine, the site of a massive train derailment a year ago that garnered international attention. Biden, a Democrat, said a month after the derailment that he eventually would visit the Columbiana County community. He and his press secretary repeated the contention he eventually would show up. Finally, the White House announced Wednesday that Biden will come to East Palestine sometime in February. No date was given. If a date couldn’t be finalized it probably would have been better to wait until ...

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 ...