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Take time to enjoy a local spring theater production

Editorial

Auditoriums in our area’s schools again are being filled, as our high and middle schools offer their annual spring productions. The presentations offer a great opportunity for relatives, friends and area residents to support our school districts while enjoying the talents of area students. Each of these productions represents the culmination of months and months of hard work from students who learned lines, songs and dance routines. The shows are examples of the patience and hard work of the teachers and directors, and of support staff including students and parents and other ...

Many of DeWine’s budget plans won’t go anywhere

Local Columns

While this was the first State of the State address for Tex Fischer, R-Boardman, and David Thomas, R-Jefferson, as Ohio House members, the two said they knew what to expect from Gov. Mike DeWine. “The governor was going to emphasize education, workforce and career tech and try to sell for his budget plan,” Fischer said. “It’s part of the political process. He’s selling his budget.” But Fischer said he and other Republicans in the Ohio House remain unmoved on DeWine’s budget proposals to increase taxes on sports betting, cigarettes and adult recreational ...

Lives literally depend on fixing internet ‘dead zones’

Editorial

KFF Health News, has published a report called “Dead Zone: Millions in U.S. Live in Places Where Doctors Don’t Practice and Telehealth Doesn’t Reach.” It’s an intriguing look at communities and counties where residents tend to have more health problems, fewer health professionals and insufficient access to broadband internet. Southeast Ohio has a significant number of counties where residents live in such “dead zones.” “Compared with those in other regions, patients across the rural South, Appalachia, and remote West are most often unable to make a video call to their ...

Lawmakers need to balance housing assistance with economic prudence

Editorial

Efforts in Columbus to address the shortage in affordable housing appear to be making a difference, though the momentum must be maintained. According to the 2025 Gap Report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, there is a deficit of 264,083 rental units that are affordable and available to the 438,108 extremely low-income households in the Buckeye State. That’s an improvement over last year, when the shortage was 267,382. “The new housing programs that Ohio created in the last budget bill are having a positive ...

We need to keep workers in Ohio, but it has to be on their terms

Editorial

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke in his annual State of the State address about giving Buckeye State residents “the tools to live up to their full potential,” and “the opportunity to live their version of the American dream.” Though there are plenty of challenges, volatility and uncertainty that make it less clear how those goals will be attained, DeWine was right to focus on jobs and families. His proposed two-year spending plan includes a novel $1,000 child tax credit and access to vision care for young people. After all, literacy efforts are less effective when children have a ...

Residents not benefiting from glowing energy report

Editorial

U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio 6th Dist., can be forgiven for his enthusiasm over a recent report. After all, the good news being proclaimed by the Ohio Natural Energy Institute’s “The Essential Facts on Essential Ohio Energy” are a re-polished version of the shiny proclamations we’ve been hearing for about 15 years now. Rulli was first elected to the state Senate in 2018. But well before that, organizations similar to the Ohio Natural Energy Institute were touting (then the Marcellus and Utica shales) as our region’s savior. “Our region has been blessed with an ...