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Roses&Thorns

Roses for the Salem Community Hospital. It is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The facility is among the largest employers in Columbiana County. Think of the tax base. It supports a number of related businesses in our town.?It is community-driven. Most important, it is a state-of-the-art medical center that will get even better next year with the completion of the bed tower project. Residents should feel fortunate to have access to such a fine hospital located in a community the size of ours.

Roses for Salem Giant Eagle. The store is enjoying an expansion of multiple departments. Giant Eagle is an important part of our community as an employer of 130 workers and a provider of quality goods. Congratulations on your most recent project.

Roses for the renovation done at Reilly Stadium. Yeah, it is a streamlined and modified version of the original plans. They were a bit over ambitious but the intent was well-placed. The new wall work and entrance look great. Compliments for all involved. Great job. The Quakers open their football season at home Aug. 30 under second-year head coach Ron Johnson. An organized feeder system is now in place for youth football under his direction. The youngsters will get instruction from people who know football and know how to coach kids. This will produce dividends in the coming years.

Thorns, just because, for retail outlets which already have Halloween-related items out already. Dang, it’s only early August. When will the Christmas stuff get broken out? Labor Day? Which means the Easter bunny soon will be hopping along through store aisles.

Roses for area churches and other organizations who conduct back-to-school giveaways for needy families. A child, any child, should feel good about going to school that first day in new duds and shoes while wearing a backpack brimming with supplies. Young kids should never feel embarrassed about what they are wearing. There are hand me downs and then there are hand me downs. You know what we mean. Shame on anyone who passes judgement on less fortunate children. This includes idiot adults who do it. Thorns to students who bully other students. This past spring we spoke with an autistic student about her experiences in the Salem school district. She said her teachers were wonderful and encouraging. But some fellow students brutalized her. A parent of another student in the district related the same tale to us. What a shame. That is not an isolated incident. Bullying goes on in every school district in this country.

Roses for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They will not only break .500 for the first time since 1992 but they could end up with the best record in baseball. Barring a complete collapse the Bucs will be in the playoffs. Cleveland fans would be feeling the same way if Detroit didn’t happen to be in the same division as the Indians. Cleveland is simply not at the level of the Tigers. Tribe fans should live with it and get over it . Then watching the Indians won’t be so agonizing.

Roses for what will be an interesting race this fall for Perry Township seats. The two incumbents, Don Rudibaugh and Don Kendrick, are running. Challengers include current Salem Council president Mickey Cope Weaver, current council member Dave Nestic and former Salem mayor and township trustee Jerry Wolford. There aren’t any big volume volatile issues going on right now such as, oh say, an annexation or a fire district controversy. But five into two won’t go. The race for the township seats will surely be the spiciest of the election.

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