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Editorial

Good luck to all fall sports participants

Ready or not, here it comes. Another school year has arrived. Yes, already! Classrooms are open or are poised to open soon. Fall sports have already begun. Doesn't it seem many of the non-football fall sports begin earlier and earlier each year? Our area teams kick the 2024 season off this week. Remember when all schools did not start activities until after Labor Day? All sports are special — especially for the student-athletes involved — but it seems fall sports come with so much anticipation and eagerness. It is all part and parcel with a new school year and all the excitement ...

Schools offering more behavioral health care

While not every student looks forward to the start of another academic year, for some students the return to school means a return to better access to everything from food to behavioral health care. Regarding the latter, Ohio public schools are improving, as a report by the Statehouse News Bureau’s Ohio Newsroom says there has been a 20% increase in the number of schools offering behavioral health services over the past year. That is good news, as a 2022 survey showed approximately one-third of students say they have challenges with anxiety, and more than 100,000 high school-aged ...

Awareness raised for rural firefighters need

For many Ohioans, particularly those living in rural communities, a call to 911 for a structure fire or wildfire is answered by the men and women of a volunteer fire department. They stretch to their limits to protect those living outside the service area of larger, professional departments. They make up nearly 70% of the departments in the state. Those limits are being stretched thinner by the day, as shortages across the state make it harder for volunteer departments to do their jobs. But last week, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a new awareness campaign to address that shortage and ...

Invasive jumping earthworms are here

They are highly destructive, invasive earthworms, and they are here, now, in East Liverpool. This is not a joke. You may already have them on your property, introduced in commercial mulch, potted plants, seed flats, tree or bush transplants, or even by picking up their eggs on your shoes. You need to learn how to identify them, differentiating them from common European earthworms, which are beneficial. If you find them, learn how to eradicate them. I recently received a call from a woman who owns a home off St. Clair Avenue. She called me because I have fretted in print about ...

EP and area residents should have been told

Those who have been keeping an eye on the aftermath of last year’s Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine will know there is still enormous concern over what short- and long-term health consequences will result from the release of chemicals into the air, water and soil. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials revealed relatively quickly that some of their workers going door-to-door after the event got sick. But we are just learning they were not the only out-of-town workers to experience symptoms, and we are learning it because the Associated Press was able to get ...

House Bill would benefit tip earners

Ohio Rep. Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, is working on a piece of legislation that would let hard-working Ohio residents keep even more of the money they earn, though the details are still hazy. According to a report by WCMH, Edwards is sponsoring House Bill 643, which, for now, is meant to “Express intent to exempt tips and gratuities from income tax.” All that is certain, then, is that the General Assembly intends to take a look at the matter. “These aren’t people getting rich. These aren’t millionaires. These are blue collar people that are trying to get by,” Edwards told ...