Youngtown joins other cities and counties contemplating dire steps to deal with high unemployment, rising demand for social services and flagging state and federal support.
It was lonely and chaotic, a terrible step down from normal-town life, and the roosters were its demonic outgrowths somehow, channeling its direst energies.
But the fear of being sent back to countries with dire prospects for asylum seekers has lead to some of them taking desperate steps to avoid being registered.
Randi Weingarten, who is president of the teachers' union and chairwoman of the city's Municipal Labor Committee, put out a statement that read: "If the city thinks the budget situation is growing more dire, there are steps it could take immediately to provide budget relief, such as a retirement incentive or a halt to the hiring of six-figure administrators in the Department of Education".
One could get whiplash at seeing the excess of wealth and privilege juxtaposed with the dire circumstances just steps outside Twitter headquarters on Market Street.
It has been five years and people have still not realized the importance of the ideas we, as immigrants, bring to a country in dire need of a step forward.
Only use these steps in dire emergencies if you can possibly make it to the nearest toilet without wetting yourself then do so.
But if King William wants to forestall that dire eventuality, a good first step would be to issue a Royal proclamation (with Parliament's approval, of course) designating "Jerusalem" as the official British national anthem.
They told me that the charity's financial situation was so dire that they had to step in, and if I was kept on, the charity would go bankrupt within months.
The language, while dire-sounding, is actually a step down from North Korea's earlier stance that the agreement had been "nullified".
