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Voter support for school levies increases in 2025 primary election

Letters To The Editor

To the editor: Voters across Ohio approved nearly two-thirds of the school tax issues on the May 6 primary election ballot. Voters approved 64 out of 99 school tax issues, yielding a 64% passage rate. This is markedly higher than the 2024 primary election, when voters approved 41 out of 78 school tax issues, a 52% passage rate. Support for new tax issues also grew. Voters approved 19 of 47 new school tax requests, or 40%, up from just 13% (3 of 22 issues) in the 2024 primary. Strong support for renewal school tax proposals continued, with 44 of the 49 issues earning approval, an ...

Medicaid funding cuts would hit Ohioans hard

Editorial

Elected officials across the country are bracing for proposed cuts to Medicaid as the federal government looks to change the way it spends taxpayer dollars. In West Virginia, Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is concerned enough about how such cuts would affect her state that she has emphasized the need to root out fraud, institute a work requirement and include other accountability measures before looking to cuts. But, according to a report by The Commonwealth Fund, Ohio is among the five states that would see the greatest economic losses from cuts to Medicaid funding. ...

To all the good moms: Have a great weekend

Editorial

A very heartfelt happy Mother’s Day weekend along with roses, hugs and smooches for all the good moms out there — from the first-time mothers to elderly moms who realize that being a parent does not end when a child became an adult. Granted, there are many “bad” moms out there. We all know who they are. This tribute isn’t for them. But aren’t we lucky to have oh so many great moms around here? There are no age boundaries. A parent is always a parent. And the good ones realize that and pass it along to their children — with heaps of affection shown throughout the years in ...

America has resources to confront China’s extortion

Local Columns

It is no secret that China has weaponized control of the world’s mineral supply chains. We’ve already seen this when both the Biden and Trump administrations challenged China’s unfair trade practices. Beijing has responded by simply restricting or banning the export of minerals needed for America’s economy and defense industrial base. China’s ever-growing chokehold on mineral supply chains—and U.S. reliance on imports—has been America’s Achilles’ heel for more than a decade. According to recent government analysis, the U.S. is import-reliant for 40 critical minerals, ...

Lawmakers finally act to end a $400K daily burden

Editorial

Ohio lawmakers finally acted in concert to rid Ohioans of a nearly $400,000 a day burden when they voted to end the subsidies for two outdated and unprofitable coal-fired power plants — one of which is in Indiana. The Ohio Valley Electric Corp. plants had been getting bailed out by a “legacy generation rider” in the infamous House Bill 6, back in 2019. For some, subsidies in HB 6 for coal-fired plants were deemed worse than those for nuclear plants, as the 1950s-era coal-fired plants were producing electricity that wasn’t needed, and are significant polluters. “It was an ...

Capito right in urging for jobs loss reversal

Editorial

As efforts from Washington, D.C., to reduce the size of the federal government continue with a sense of urgency that has yielded mixed results, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was right to urge U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse course on a reduction in force effort that has affected the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown. “I believe in the president’s vision to right size our government, but I do not think eliminating the NIOSH coal programs and research will accomplish that goal,” ...