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Opinion

Vaccines remain a big part of our health care

Editorial

As political chatter raises questions about vaccines and legal requirements for them, some news close to home should remind us of their importance. According to the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, a measles outbreak was confirmed in the county on Aug. 29. Three children from the same family — all unvaccinated. And while those children are reportedly improving at home, the health department’s task now is to work with the family “to identify and follow-up with any exposure and contacts, and help where needed.” The Ohio news made its way into a report by the ...

Ohioans 18-20 will need to take approved driving course

Editorial

Get ready. At the end of this month, Ohio drivers aged 18, 19 and 20 will be required to take an approved driver training course and complete 50 hours of driving practice supervised by a licensed adult to get their driver’s license. This is training that is already in effect for those 16 or 17 years old, but it may come as a surprise to older new drivers unfamiliar with the “Class D” training, which must be completed before a driving test can be scheduled. Gov. Mike DeWine has been working to find ways to improve driver safety in Ohio. “We know that somebody who’s had ...

Senate Bill 64 would put some bite into animal protection laws

Editorial

Twelve years ago, the Mahoning Valley took center stage in a successful statewide movement to significantly strengthen Ohio’s lame animal abuse laws. In the summer of 2013, Gov. John Kasich signed Nitro’s Law, named in memory of a Rottweiler that had been starved and neglected along with many others at a kennel in Youngstown. Notably, it marked the first time in history that Ohio would raise animal abuse and neglect to its rightful place as a serious felonious crime. In the intervening years, however, it has become painfully evident that Nitro’s Law — and several other ...

Tressel leading the way in motivating Ohio’s children

Editorial

Ohio is getting ahead of the game in terms of student fitness with a new plan from the lieutenant governor. The Team Tressel Fitness Challenge for students in grades 4-8 is a program developed by Jim Tressel — who has some experience in keeping students fit and healthy. “If we can add just a little better fitness and health, it will make us that much better,” Tressel said last Monday. His idea is a solid one. Rather than outdated and intimidating goals that might throw a young person off track, the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge would let students pick their own activities and ...

Acton rolling out endorsements with Ryan’s candidacy looming

Local Columns

With Democrat Tim Ryan on a self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline to decide if he’s going to run for governor, Amy Acton, the lone declared Democrat for the position, is rolling out endorsements. The endorsements, including some locally, likely won’t impact Ryan’s decision. But it’s an effort to show Acton has support and isn’t going anywhere, even if the former 20-year congressman, who used to represent the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House, enters the gubernatorial race. It’s no coincidence that the endorsements started coming out right after it was initially reported Aug. 12 ...

Back to the ‘stache

Community News

A couple weeks ago I took a cellphone picture of my face and sent it in a text to my friend Bob Milner with the message, “Twins us?” Bob: “OK.” That was a polite response obliquely asking, what is this about? Me: “I shaved off my goatee, looked in the mirror and said, ‘I’m Bob Milner!’” Me again: “I’ll try to look more pleasant as your doppelganger.” I had kind of a sour look on my face in the picture. Bob: “I thought it was Tom Sellick, someone I don’t think I look like at all but you might want to doppelgang with him rather than me.” Me: ...