Better late than never, as the Ohio Department of Health announced this week it will retire the manual reporting system it had been using to provide what it claimed was a real-time death toll from COVID-19. Readers will recall that system was blamed last month for the undercounting of more than ...

Though much of the rest of the nation might not think of Ohio this way, more than a third of the Buckeye State is part of Appalachia. Those of us living along the Ohio River know quite well the similarities in communities on either side of that boundary. In those communities there are needs ...

As members of Congress putter and bicker over another round of stimulus for Americans, a report out of Ohio last week should give them some sense of urgency. According to an Alignable A1 Revenue Poll, 51 percent of Ohio’s small businesses said revenue expectations will fail to meet their ...

Folks in Greene County have good reason to celebrate as Gov. Mike DeWine announces the state’s 76th park at Oldtown. The park will honor Shawnee military and political leader Tecumseh. “Preserving this site gives us a unique opportunity to connect today’s generation of Ohioans with the ...

Social media can be a force for good, just as much as a vile exchange of the worst words humans can stutter from their fingertips. But a post on Feb. 12 encapsulates the pride, joy and momentum that we all can take a little time to highlight today. “When something needs done, and you have ...

Ever recklessly decide you are going to try something way outside your comfort zone? Last weekend, I caught the delusion that I could attempt snowboarding. I like adventure, I like the outdoors ... I am capable of ignoring my extraordinary clumsiness. So I and a group of people who have ...

To say that we — as an organization that gets so much support from our community — are blessed, is truly an understatement. When dealing with issues of health and safety on such a global scale, many businesses have been forced to make difficult choices. It has been no different for ...

“Hello, Sarah? This is Barney Fife. Get Sheriff Taylor for me.” This greeting sounds familiar on television but not necessarily for today’s communication standards. In the early days however this was as modern as the times allowed. “Central” was the hub of keeping the lines of ...

Marietta is blessed with a well-documented past. For more than a century, photographers have carefully recorded daily life in the area. My favorite photographer of Marietta’s past is Harry Phillip Fischer. He was born in Marietta and opened a studio in 1901. For the next four decades he shot ...

Parents wondering how they can teach their kids to be smart about their financial independence have a tool in Ohio that just got a little bit better. Treasurer Robert Sprague and the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are partnering to expand the Real ...

“This summer is going to be better,” Gov. Mike DeWine said earlier this week. Where have we heard that before? DeWine is in a better position to make such statements now than federal officials were nearly a year ago, however. And he is not making them with the suggestion that we can all ...

It may seem odd now, given all we’ve gone through to prevent the spread of one virus, but early in the COVID-19 pandemic, some medical experts were concerned the U.S. might experience a “twindemic.” There were worries we would be battling both coronavirus and the flu. Though it may be a ...

Some entrepreneurs in Barlow are taking the bull by the horns and doing something important for their community. The folks behind Nonni’s Little Italian Kitchen, Roseland Coffee Bar and Warrior Nutrition have managed, in the midst of a global pandemic, to open new businesses and set their ...

If the COVID-19 pandemic has made you feel as though the virus is the overwhelming challenge for Ohio, you are not alone. Most people have pushed the Buckeye State’s other woes to the backs of their minds. But coronavirus is not the only deadly plague raging through the state, and it is time ...

Ohio veterans should be able to expect the state Department of Veterans Services will fulfill its responsibilities to those who gave up so much for our country. Yet more than 160 veterans are on waiting lists for the state’s two nursing homes for veterans, in Georgetown and Sandusky. Nearly ...

We have entered the time of year when faults in our roads and bridges are more obvious than ever. Ice and salt don’t help matters. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (Ohio Council) the Buckeye State’s infrastructure is only getting worse, with improvement efforts hampered ...

U.S. Census Bureau officials have once more pushed back the delivery date for data that will be used for redrawing congressional, state and local legislative districts. Now they say it will be the end of September before we have answers. “The biggest reason? COVID-19. It’s something ...

We live in an era where most of us carry in our pockets smartphones with many times the computing power of the Apollo Guidance Computer NASA used to get Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface of the moon. We can do nearly everything technology has made possible with just the touch of a ...

In last week’s article I mentioned John and Sarah Leith as neighbors to John Burris. This couple’s story is one which reveals how wild and woolly situations could become on the frontier. Their adventures before finally settling in the Matamoras area are indeed things that develop into ...

First Lady Jill Biden is reviving an idea, hoping a rebuilding of the economy during her husband’s administration will include free access to community college and training programs. She is right, of course, that education and training will be essential both to digging out of the slump ...