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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 ...

Looking for a stocking stuffer for an aging friend or family member?

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. Looking for a stocking stuffer for that aging friend or relative? As we grow ...

Cause and effect

In school we learn about cause and effect: What we do at one point will have impact at another point down the line. You can look at this in a negative way – choosing to do something you know has high risks, and you will receive your consequences (aka effects) of your actions. Or you can look at things from a positive point of view: What you have done hasn’t worked so you are willing to change your actions by making better choices and staying focused to get yourself to a better place. This can work for anyone, not just those folks who are in recovery. Or perhaps everyone at some ...

Race is on to replace Johnson in Congress

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s plan to resign his House seat in February or early March to become Youngstown State University president would open a safe Republican seat for which state Sen. Michael Rulli is seen as an early favorite. Rulli, R-Salem, filed a declaration of candidacy and created a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission, which allows him to start raising money for the race. Rulli said Thursday he is scheduling a date and time for an official announcement. Dec. 20 is the deadline for candidates to file for the full two-year position on the March 19, 2024, ...

Beware the risks

We have spoken a number of times about the dangers, the high risks, involved with substances bought off the streets and the dealers that some people trust with their lives. Actually, the dealers don’t care. If they cared they wouldn’t deal to you. A couple of weeks ago, the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC) released a public safety bulletin “alerting Ohioans to an increasing number of illicit drug samples found to contain mixtures of various unpredictable and potentially deadly drugs such as carfentanyl,” which is estimated to be 100 times stronger than fentanyl. ...

YSU President-elect Johnson criticized higher education

While U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson isn’t the first Republican selected as Youngstown State University president, he is a partisan conservative who has served in Congress for 13 years. Johnson, R-Marietta, faced criticism by alumni, students and faculty for his politics including opposing gay marriage, being anti-choice, supporting immigration restrictions, challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election and for his professional background that doesn’t include any higher education experience. Johnson voted 96.8% with former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and only 20.2% ...