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Federal funding halted without a clear reason

Editorials

Ohio’s elected representatives in Washington, D.C., are doing their best to understand and overcome a bizarre federal decision to suspend the state’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership award. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, along with U.S. Reps. Max Miller, Michael Turner, Robert Latta, David Joyce, Mike Carey, Michael Rulli and David Taylor, all R-Ohio, sent a letter earlier this week to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, asking him to restore the flow of funds to the Buckeye State program. This is in addition to a letter Husted sent to Lutnick on Dec. 11 asking for ...

Public should have time to weigh in

Editorials

A group of Ohio lawmakers believes public bodies within the state should be required to allow public comment before decisions are made. It may come as a surprise to you that is not already the case, but state law requires only that the public be allowed to attend and/or listen to meetings. House Bill 609 would address that barrier to civic engagement with a revision “to require a public body to allow for public commentary and testimony before taking formal action on any item.” State Reps. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, and Meredith Craig, R-Smithville, are leading the bipartisan ...

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Editorials

As the rush to Christmas day nears its end, families across the Mid-Ohio Valley are settling into their traditions and regaining their grasp on the reason for our celebration. Many will find themselves in candlelit sanctuaries singing “Silent Night” together as we remember the birth of an infant holy, tender and mild. Born in the humblest of circumstances to overwhelmed parents in a land that was not their own, but that of their ancestors, this child came with tidings of “peace,” and “good will toward men.” While we celebrate with strings of twinkling lights rather than a ...

The Science of Reading

Editorials

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been focused for years on improving literacy in the state; and in 2023, a law was passed to require teaching colleges and universities to align with the Science of Reading in its curricula for those who hope to become teachers. But a recent state audit shows that while most (33) have complied, five are in partial alignment and 10 are not in alignment. Among those 10 are Ohio State University and Ohio University. DeWine says the state has made “great strides” in implementing the Science of Reading in its K-12 classrooms, but that all 10 of the colleges ...

Effort paying off for fishers

Editorials

Ohioans got an early Christmas gift this year, as the state Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife announced this week it can confirm the sighting of a fisher — the weasel-like animal, not a person standing in hip waders — caught on a wildlife camera in Cuyahoga County. Fishers have not been seen in Ohio since about the mid-1800s, according to the ODNR, until recently. They were run out because of unregulated harvest and loss of habitat. But this latest sighting joins 40 others in Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison, ...

Billionaire war on democracy

Letters to the Editor

The escalating assault on democratic institutions by technology billionaires is neither accidental nor misguided. It is a calculated defense of extreme wealth. These individuals understand that democracy, when it functions, places limits on their power. Through taxation, regulation, labor protections, and antitrust enforcement, democratic systems give ordinary people leverage over concentrated wealth. For those whose fortunes have grown beyond any social justification, such accountability is intolerable. Rather than accept democratic restraint, some of the richest people on Earth ...