ORCHIDS: To Newton Falls eighth-grader Sidney Drake and all of the students who will compete in the annual Challenge 24 math competition at Warren G. Harding High School. Drake has won trophies in each of the last three years.
ORCHIDS: To Rev. Constantine Valantasis of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Deacon Ed Brisbine of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, the Rev. Ken Bachofsky of St. Nicholas and the Rev. Jonathan Cholcher of St. John the Baptist Church for blessing the waters of the Mahoning River as part of the Feat of Theophany.
ONIONS: To Trumbull County Board of Elections Democrats Mark Alberini and Ralph Infante for voting against a resolution that would reduce the number of precincts in Trumbull County. The reduction would save taxpayers about $60,000 per year and help elections run smoother.
ORCHID: To the Mahoning Valley Hope Center, a nonprofit group that opened recently, for packaging and distributing meals to Trumbull County's homeless.
ORCHID: To Brookfield trustees for using the Trumbull County community service program to provide snow shoveling for senior citizens and residents with disabilities. The community service program uses juveniles who are on probation and have community service to fulfill.
ORCHIDS: To Trumbull County commissioners and Liberty trustees for approving a community improvement district that would create tax breaks for companies that locate in the township.
ONION: To Youngstown city officials who support placing traffic cameras in school zones. Now they are considering expanding the practice into the central business district. Police Chief Rod Foley said he is waiting to see how much forfeiture money the department gets before moving on the downtown cameras, proving that the cameras are for generating revenue, not safety.
ORCHID: To Warren Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Pinti for aggressively enforcing the city's massage parlor ordinance by shutting down one of the facilities for 30 days because it was using an unlicensed employee.