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Supporting our parks would come with a very small price

Editorials

We get the part that many of you have already voted. But if not, certainly give consideration to supporting Columbiana County’s gem of a parks system. On the Nov. 5 ballot is a new .10 mill, five-year levy asking voters to help maintain park properties which includes the vastly popular Greenway Trail. If approved, the levy would generate about $258,000 annually — costing the owner of a $100,000 home a total of $3.50 per year. That’s not a typo: $3.50 per year or a bit over 29 cents per month. Columbiana County has so much to offer. We are blessed with thousands of good, ...

Portage County voters will not be intimidated

Editorials

Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski behaved so badly via social media that the U.S. Department of Justice is planning to send in election monitors to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day. Remember last month Zuchowski felt comfortable suggesting on social media that households with political signs in their yards supporting Kamala Harris should have their addresses written down. He suggested that, should a Democrat win the presidency, illegal immigrants should be sent to live in those households, and he called those immigrants ...

Vote to support Columbiana County Parks

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: The Greenway Trail is an asset for Columbiana County as it provides a great outdoor venue for hiking, jogging and bicycling. It draws thousands of visitors (and their dollars) each year, boosting the local economy. But the trail is in danger and it needs our help. Parts of the trail are more than 20 years old and are deteriorating. Tree roots are pushing up in the trail in parts, and adjacent culverts need cleaning. On November 5, the Columbiana County Park District will seek voter approval of a 0.10 mill levy that would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 ...

Issue 1 more than about signs

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: By now everyone has seen the Vote No on Issue 1 signs. But this requires more explanation than a battle to put out the most signs. In gerrymandering, districts are drawn primarily to favor one party over the other. In 2015 and 2018 Ohio voters went to the polls to amend the constitution to put in place several anti-gerrymandering provisions to make sure that communities, counties, villages, and cities couldn’t needlessly be split. Issue 1 says that every single district in the state of Ohio must be drawn to either be a Republican district or a Democratic district. ...

Law enforcement agencies continue to fight trafficking

Editorials

“We have to attack this scourge by curbing the demand,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday, referring to those who seek to buy sex in the our state. He was announcing the arrests of 132 people as part of a statewide human-trafficking operation that involved more than 100 law enforcement agencies, with major activities in Akron, Columbus, Cleveland, Marietta, Portsmouth, Toledo and the Mahoning Valley. Operation END-OHHT, named after the state’s human trafficking hotline, had three purposes: round up as many suspects as possible, help those victimized by human trafficking ...

Animal tranquilizer emerges as a new drug abuse danger

Editorials

Just as Ohio is beginning to see signs the tide is weakening (though not quite turning) in the substance abuse epidemic, a new danger rears its head. Xylazine-related overdose deaths are on the rise. Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer — not for use by humans — that is becoming popular. Speaking to WTOL about his observations in other cities, Matt Bell, the chief executive officer and founder of Team Recovery, said the drug is frightening. “These folks in Philadelphia, their drug of choice is Xylazine,” Bell said. “And in fact, if they know that someone has fentanyl, and ...