Young, MetroParks have the press in their pockets

Young, MetroParks have the press in their pockets

You could not be far- ther from the truth when it comes to your July 9 editorial regarding Aaron Young, executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks.

First off, the public does not support him, and they still want him to resign or for the board to fire him.

Second, the board always has supported Mr. Young so the point about the board supporting him is moot.

Third, the evaluations the board did on Aaron Young are a total joke. Look at them, and you will see that board member John Ragan did not even do one and Germaine Bennett did not sign or date hers and said Young would give himself a 9. That is not a proper review.

Your whole editorial was written as if Young himself or the park wrote it. One quick look at Facebook would tell you that people hate Young and want him gone now more then ever. It is clear he and the park have the media on their side.

You should ask people what they really think instead of assuming that the public has forgiven Young.

Chance Metz, Austintown

Many made golf tourney at Mill Creek a big success

Thank you to the Mahoning Valley for its support during this year’s American Junior Golf Association’s Mill Creek Park Foundation Junior All-Star Tournament

Mill Creek MetroParks staff would like to thank the people for their support of the national AJGA Tournament held June 19 – 22 at Mill Creek Golf Course. History was made at this year’s event with the AJGA’s first ever back-to-back tournament champion – Maxwell Moldovan of Ohio in the boys division. The girl’s division welcomed an international winner from Canada – Taylor Kehoe

It has generated over $500,000 in financial impact over the past two years because of the generosity and financial support of the Mill Creek Park Foundation, Mahoning Valley Hospital Foundation, Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau and all who participated in the Junior-Amateur fundraiser event. In addition to the financial impact in the Valley, the tournament has generated more than $20,000 toward charity.

We would like to thank our Hole Partners: Wells Fargo, Astro Shapes, Richard Lucarell, Jack Cramb, Lake Erie Golf Carts, Superior Beverage, Independent Insurance Agents, Howard Hanna, True North, Commercial Truck & Trailer, Youngstown Pipe & Supply, The PGA Dogs Group, Jill & Jerry McGee, Stifel, Jack Colonna, Sigma Club and Mike McGee & Annika Sorenstam.

We also thank the 100-plus volunteers who donated their time and to the area golfers in the assistance of housing interns.

Many thanks to Jerry McGee, our honorary tournament host, four-time PGA Tour winner and 1977 Ryder Cup team member. We thank him for his dedication and continued service in the Valley and with this year’s tournament.

Aaron Young and Brian Tolnar, Youngstown

Aaron Young is executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks. Brian Tolnar is PGA director of Mill Creek MetroParks.

Americans should wean themselves off legal drugs

The use of illicit drugs – marijuana, opioids, psychedelics, amphetamines or everyday pharmaceuticals misused is a burdensome problem. I want to expand the parameters of the debate with the unsettling position that the problem of drug usage is fundamentally misunderstood. Maybe we have a problem not because certain drugs we disapprove of are used, but because we use drugs generally, including pharmaceutical, too often and too much. The use and abuse of illegal drugs may just be a symptom of a culture too dependent on medication generally, over-the-counter and prescriptive.

I propose a cultural sea-change, that all of us independently and privately decrease our personal use of medications, starting with something as basic as aspirin. If we as a society decrease the amount of medication we use, there will be a corresponding decrease in the use of illegal drugs.

Let me explain. The use of medication to cure ills is a relatively recent cultural phenomenon. Our grandparents and great-grandparents did not often use drugs. Medications either did not exist or were unavailable. Our ancestors did recover from their ailments without much if any medication. Our entire history, it can be reasoned, is populated by individuals getting sick and recovering without much medication. Our marvelously integrated bodies can still often deliver this self-healing – if allowed.

Further, doctors, hospitals, and clinics over-prescribe medication in the opinion of many commentators. Drugstore operators and drug-makers over-advertise the benefits of medication. Drug-makers stroke public overuse by giving free drugs and rebates for prescriptions to doctors.

This modern protocol, healing through medication, is foisted on us, not by science, but by Big Pharma. Medication in America is about money, and the amount necessary to produce the product. Virtually every battery of television commercials includes a Big Pharma commercial.

All this despite the fact that medical experts advise that we use too much medication. A solution can be our personal efforts to step away from the Big Pharma drug bandwagon and decrease our individual usage of pharmaceuticals. I imagine that will give us a healthier society, will reduce the drug abuse problem and will lower our society’s health bill.

Jim Villani, Youngstown

Those who try to weaken free press are the enemies

President Donald J. Trump tells us the press is our real enemy. According to him, they praise the left while vilifying the right. If you look at Bill Clinton’s time in office, that’s clearly a lie. The press was all over the Whitewater investigation and Clinton’s affair.

The First Amendment to the Constitution is freedom of the press. If a president tries to take that away, he is your enemy, not the press. If your First Amendment is ever taken, your Second will follow very closely with martial law confiscating all weapons. You then have a dictatorship. That’s how Putin did it in Russia. Trump seems to admire Putin.

If someone from another country visiting America were caught stealing a poster for a souvenir, he or she might get a small fine or reprimand. A young American visiting North Korea recently tried that in their country. He paid for it with his life.

We just celebrated the 4th of July. Our forefathers fought for their freedom under the Constitution. They knew the importance of what the words in it meant. Especially the first two amendments. Let no one ever take that away from us.

Robert McKay, Grove City, Pa.

Charge abusers for Narcan

Why is it that senior citizens cannot afford their needed medications, but drug addicts can receive unlimited doses of Narcan?

Narcan, an antidote for heroin overdoses, should be limited to two doses, and those who receive them should be charged.

Instead of wasting millions of taxpayer (your) dollars on treatment centers, use that money to prosecute and jail the drug dealers and traffickers.

Cut the head off the serpent.

George R. Holko Sr., Youngstown

What a lift from WRTA

As a senior citizen who no longer drives and is in need of transportation often, I cannot praise enough the service the Western Reserve Transit Authority bus company offers its older members of our community.

Along with the bargain price for transportation, there is the comfort of riding with safe, skilled, pleasant and helpful drivers. I refer to them as “Road Wheeling Champs.”

Mary Lou Jurina, Youngstown