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Winter months can have negative mental, physical effects on older adults

Local Columns

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published Dec. 17, 2022. 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. ...

Homelessness remains a growing problem in the US

Editorials

“No American should face homelessness,” reads the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s news release accompanying the January 2024 Point-In-Time Count Report. Yes, the data is a year old, but each year’s snapshot give us a better understanding of how many in our communities are facing just that. During the look at the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered settings, researchers found more than 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on that one night in January. That was an 18% increase from the same point-in-time in 2023. HUD ...

Annual New Year’s don’t drink and drive message

Editorials

The message is one we feel obliged to repeat this time each year. There are some people across our country, across our state and across our own area who will awaken today with a brand new year in the offing helped along with a drink or more. There will be so much promise and anticipation for 2025. These folks will celebrate and share good times tonight with family and friends as midnight beckons the fleeting hands of 2024’s clock. They will sing —or slur — along to “Auld Lang Syne.” Even if they don’t know all of the words. Which, actually, most of us couldn’t recite while ...

Lawmakers have no sense of urgency on property tax issue

Editorials

It is not just federal elected officials who have dropped the ball for their constituents as they got tired of pretending to work on our behalf before their holiday break. In Columbus, necessary change was avoided when Senate Bill 271 and House Bill 263 failed to advance, stalling the effort to reform property taxes. Nearly everyone agrees something must be done to protect taxpayers. But that knowledge has not translated into any sense of urgency. “I’ve talked to so many of our seniors, and sometimes crying over the phone, regarding this property tax issue,” state Sen. Hearcel ...

Ex-Rep Ryan still hears the siren call of politics

Local Columns

By his own account, Tim Ryan, a Democrat who represented the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House for 20 years, has achieved his ideal professional-personal life balance. “I am so happy right now,” Ryan told me. “This is the happiest I’ve been personally and professionally in a long time so it’s hard to kind of change course.” Yet he still hears the siren call of politics. Ryan is making more money than he ever did as a lobbyist and working for a technology firm, gets to go on national television and write opinion pieces for Newsweek about his thoughts on politics. He has ...

A thanks to the dedicated public defenders

Editorials

To the editor: A thank you to the attorneys who serve Columbiana County as public defenders. They are professionals who help to keep our local courts running smoothly. Without experienced and competent defense lawyers, our justice system suffers. Cases may be delayed and court dockets can become backlogged arguably resulting in a waste of scarce public resources. Public defenders not only contribute to efficiency, they aid in remedying situations leading to court involvement. Defense attorneys often are the ones who facilitate counseling or substance abuse treatment for ...