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Questionable intentions come with Ohio HB 486

Editorial

It’s tempting to ask what members of the Ohio House of Representatives were thinking last week, but there is evidence they simply were not. They passed House Bill 486, which comes with the heavily coded moniker the “Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act.” It would “permit teachers in public schools and state institutions of higher education to provide instruction on the influence of Judeo-Christian values on history and culture.” Those wondering whether instruction will include lessons on all people and groups who said they were acting in the name of “Judeo-Christian values” ...

My Chernobyl radiology doc

Editorial

A week ago today I completed the last of 33 radiation treatments to my face for basal cell carcinoma. Early in this course of this therapy at the Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville, a staff tech told me my doctor was at Chernobyl. “Doc, they told me you were at Chernobyl,” I said at my weekly meeting with Dr. Kirichenko. “It wasn’t your fault, was it?” He laughed. A good sense of humor is among his many fine personal traits. I told this story to one of my grandsons, then had to explain Chernobyl for it to make sense. “Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in ...

Close local races prove every single vote counts

Local Columns

The adage that every vote counts was quite evident in this recent election. A Sebring charter amendment and a Farmington fire and emergency medical service levy that were winning by a single vote each, according to unofficial totals from the Nov. 4 election, ended up losing by just one vote when provisional ballots were counted. Also, fewer than eight votes separated winners from losers in five races in Trumbull County communities. In one of those races, a candidate won by one vote. “Your vote counts in these races; it sure does,” said Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull ...

Overcoming limitations during the holiday season

Editorial

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published Dec. 12, 2020. Thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and nutrition in recent years, we are living longer than ever before. But this increase in life expectancy also brings an increase in the number of diseases, injuries and impairments that affect older adults. With this in mind, we at the local Visiting Angels office in Salem have created this series of articles to keep our older population and their families informed and to offer some practical advice for meeting the challenges faced by seniors and those who care for ...

Natural gas helping Ohioans stay warm

Letters To The Editor

To the editor: With the cold front coming in and temperatures dropping quickly across the state, Ohioans need reliable and affordable energy to stay warm. Our state’s essential natural gas provides the dependable power for furnaces and heat pumps. With over 63% of Ohio residents relying on it for home heating, natural gas is the most dependable energy source for keeping families safe and warm through the holidays. The state benefits from a reliable supply, thanks to production in the Shale Crescent region. The Shale Crescent region, encompassing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West ...

We must keep our coal miners safe

Editorial

As West Virginians watched for news of the trapped foreman of a mining crew in an Alpha Metallurgical Resources mine in Nicholas County, just days after learning of the death of another miner in an accident at a Mettiki Coal mine in Tucker County, the health and safety of our coal miners was brought back into our collective minds. Worst fears became reailty —as is, sadly, the case in such instances — when workers discovered the deceased foreman after searching for days. For the miners themselves, a renewed fight over their health has been brewing for months, as an Associated Press ...