YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—When the press stops rolling at The Vindicator this month, a lingering question will once again taunt the residents of the Mahoning Valley: How much collapse can one region take? The family-owned newspaper announced in June—just days after celebrating its 150th anniversary—that it is permanently ceasing production on Aug. 31. Started in 1869 just
Last week, one month before she was set to give birth to her second child, Lara Trump came to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania to kick off the 2020 Women for Trump coalition, planting a flag, or at least an olive branch, in some of the least Trump-friendly terrain in the Keystone State: suburban
Peter Meijer's decision to run for Congress in Western Michigan was a surprise to no one who knows the 31-year-old Grand Rapids native. He is the great-grandson of Hendrik Meijer, who opened a tiny thrift store attached to his barbershop during the Great Depression, which has since grown into a chain of groceries,
WADESBORO, North Carolina—By the end of the summer, towns such as this will be flooded with national reporters covering the special election for the 9th Congressional District. In normal times, reporters would ask voters how they think Republican Dan Bishop or Democrat Dan McCready would represent their local concerns in Washington. But these
It is often said our nation's capital is filled with wealthy college-educated elites operating in a company town where everything is transactional. They are a clubby set of folks who can "fail up" in their profession and rarely interact meaningfully with anyone who isn't part of their peerage. They have lost touch with
Richard Trumka needed to come home. Walking into the union hall at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers building along the Monongahela River, the AFL-CIO president shed the twisted expression on his face as he shook hands with his rank-and-file organizers. With the older union hands, there were no handshakes but instead familiar hugs.
FACTORYVILLE, Pa.—Joe Biden has always gotten away with being Joe Biden. This was true when he was President Barack Obama's vice president, and it was true for his decades in the Senate. "That's just Joe being Joe," reporters, politicians and commentators would say with a chuckle whenever Biden said something outrageous or awkward,
DICKERSON, Md.—Everything happens for a reason. At least that's what people tell you when your plans go south. Driving from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., recently, I did as I nearly always do: I clicked the "avoid highways" option on Google Maps and chose a route I'd never taken before. You'd be amazed by
