Breaking News

Local Columns

Is your pension being used to fund China’s military?

Americans are understandably worried about China right now. There’s the recent spy balloon that floated across the continental United States, plus tensions over Taiwan. But there’s also America’s heavy dependence on essential goods and medicines from China. And if that’s not bad enough, China is also continuing to use slave labor in some of its factories. Americans are deeply troubled by all of this. And yet some of their own investments and pensions are actually helping to prop up China’s authoritarian regime. How is this possible? Because China keeps using America’s ...

Ohioans likely to face abortion, pot issues

As long as enough valid signatures are on petitions, Ohio voters will have two statewide issues — abortion rights and legalization of recreational marijuana — to consider on the Nov. 8 ballot. The signature validity part of the equation is often quite a task. That’s because if people who sign do so in the wrong county, aren’t registered to vote or print their names, among other conditions, those signatures are invalidated or questioned. The timing of reviewing the signatures by county boards of elections for the two issues is challenging because deadline to certify the validity ...

Federal redistricting case will affect Ohio

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding a North Carolina congressional redistricting case will have repercussions in Ohio, but we still may end up with the same map the state Supreme Court ruled last year was unconstitutionally gerrymandered. That’s because just like in North Carolina, the judicial philosophy of the new state Supreme Court in Ohio has changed to align with Republican legislators. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday in Moore v. Harper against North Carolina Republicans who used what is called the “independent state legislative theory.” The theory gives ...

Consider the consequences

Compassion. Do you know what it is? Do you have it? Have you experienced it? Merriam-Webster defines it as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” You care about the troubles others are struggling with. You care enough that you want to help in ways that you can. Author Brene Brown writes, “One of the greatest (and least discussed) barriers to compassion practice is the fear of setting boundaries and holding people accountable. I know it sounds strange, but I believe that understanding the connection between boundaries, ...

Managing the aches and pains of arthritis

Arthritis is a condition that can affect people of all ages, though many people associate it with older adults. Several types of arthritis are more common in seniors, but it is not specifically a disease of aging. What is Arthritis? Arthritis is a disease that causes inflammation and stiffness in the joints. It can make bending the joints painful and reduce range of motion. Symptoms can come and go and vary in severity from one person to the next. Because there are more than 100 different types of arthritis, it can be challenging to predict who will be affected. Managing Arthritis ...

Opponents of Ohio Issue 1 score a win

Opponents of a proposal to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments scored a partial victory when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that some language in the proposal was misleading. The Ohio Ballot Board, which has a Republican majority, wrote the language for state Issue 1 on the special Aug. 8 ballot knowing it was wrong, but refused to change it despite opponents pointing out the problems. Instead, it took a court order to make simple changes. The language incorrectly stated the percentage of electors required for a constitutional amendment, effective Jan. 1, 2024, was 5 ...