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Consider being part of Ohio's polling place team

Editorials

As Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office prepares for a $1 million initiative to recruit and train another 40,000 poll workers before November, the folks at the local level understand this isn’t about volume as much as it is about preparedness. LaRose says the effort updates requirements and resources to ensure poll workers are prepared to serve voters professionally, efficiently and in accordance with Ohio law. And Mandy Amos, director of the Washington County Board of Elections says that’s got a lot to do with the anticipation ahead of hotly contested races for governor ...

First place ranking should only inspire harder work

Editorials

Even as there is plenty of room for improvement, Ohio is making an impression, as CNBC has named it the country’s top state for business in 2026. It’s the first time the Buckeye State has topped the list. Back in March, Gov. Mike DeWine used his State of the State address to talk about the efforts being made in Columbus: “We’ve been strategically focused on making Ohio literally the go-to state for business,” he said. Ohioans living in some regions can be forgiven for wondering what in the world is going on in other states, but according to CNBC, Ohio has not only low ...

State-mandated civic centers could have opposite effect

Editorials

One wonders whether Ohio Senate Finance Chairman Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, sees the irony in railing against an alleged liberal agenda and bias in education while simultaneously proclaiming “We have to change people’s minds and hearts,” with state-mandated “intellectual diversity” civics centers teaching his version of American history and political science on state college campuses. Required by 2025’s state Senate Bill 1, the centers are paired with a ban on public universities in Ohio having diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; and “bias” in classrooms. The ...

Cracking the Code: Impressions of Scotland

Local Columns

It is 10:15 p.m. in Dornoch, Scotland. The sun is just setting. Temperature is a cool 58 degrees. Today’s high was in the 70s, with no rain for the first time since Lynnda and I arrived in Scotland. This is a pleasure trip, of golf and sightseeing with our daughter, Dannielle, and her husband. They both play golf and have been to Scotland several times. Scotland is the birthplace of golf, back in the 1500s. (The Pilgrims came to America in 1620.) Dannielle asked last year if we wanted to come. After some thought, we agreed. We have experienced the people, culture and beautiful ...

Life in the early 1800s through the lens of newspaper notices

Local Columns

Newspapers were THE media in the early America. Advertisements and notices offer a fascinating glimpse of life at the time. Here are a few such items from local papers in the early 1800s, compiled by Debbie Noland Nitsche from Andrews' History of Marietta and Washington County. Your author's notes are in parentheses. From the OHIO GAZETTE and VIRGINIA HERALD October 24, 1803: --List of letters uncalled for by Griffin Greene, Postmaster, for persons living at "Belleprie, Little Kenhawa, Kenhaway, Gallipolis, Guiandot and Big Sandy." --John Cline and Enos Atwater will apply "for a right ...