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Tick season is upon us

If the thought of creepy crawlies sends shivers down your spine, fair warning: Tick season is upon us. According to a report by Ohio’s Country Journal, experts are seeing a shift in the number and species of ticks here; and many bring health concerns with them. “We’re seeing changes in the distribution of a lot of medically important tick species,” Risa Pesapane, an associate professor in ecosystem and wildlife health at Ohio State University told the Country Journal. “We have had new ticks arriving in the state of Ohio and becoming established here.” Sure, there’s ...

Leave wildlife alone

It’s late spring in Eastern Ohio, and the region’s non-human residents seem to be thriving. It seems that everywhere you look, you can see examples of the wildlife that help make this region a beautiful place to live. Over the past week or so, people living in and visiting St. Clairsville have reported seeing a black bear passing through the area. Such sightings are relatively rare, but they do occur in Belmont County nearly every year. In fact, Belmont County Sheriff’s Office Dangerous Wild Animal Response Team Commander Sgt. Thomas DeVaul said several bears inhabit the southern ...

A new voice for us

State Rep. Don Jones, R-95th Dist., has been tapped by the president to become the state executive director for the Ohio Farm Service Agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jones has already been a fighter for farmers, sponsoring legislation that helped support them with funding after severe drought; and improving laws to address the harm done to the state’s livestock industry by feral swine. Now he has a chance to embrace a new role in that fight. “The 95th District may have changed its configuration since my beginning in 2019, but one thing has remained the same — ...

House Bill 96 deceptive

In a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, Ohio lawmakers appear to be hoping residents won’t notice what they slipped into House Bill 96 on Tuesday afternoon. While some of them tout efforts to reduce and reform other taxes, they may be hoping to make up some of the difference by collecting what the Office of Budget and Management estimates to be more than $100 million in new ones. When the state Senate Finance Committee adopted its substitute version of HB 96, it included the repealing of sales and use tax exemptions for rental payments for motor vehicles provided to the ...

Move on the RAIL act

Norfolk Southern says it still expects site restoration in East Palestine to be “substantially complete by early/mid June.” This despite additional monitoring wells being installed as recently as the end of March, and sediment and surface water monitoring that continues to show evidence of the catastrophic derailment that occurred more than two years ago. However infuriating the progress of Norfolk Southern’s effort to “make it right” may be, though, the progress being made in Congress is even more frustrating. On the two-year anniversary of the derailment on Feb. 3, ...

Rethink tax cut proposal

Proposals from advocacy groups and lawmakers have plenty of Ohioans talking about what it would mean to reduce or eliminate property taxes in the state. Certainly, state government should always be working to leave as much money in residents’ pockets as possible. But responsible public officials must be careful not to venture into extreme ideas that would do more harm than good. State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, has sponsored a bill to provide a 50% property tax reduction for any homeowner at least 65 years old. Income would NOT be a factor. It is tempting to wonder why, if ...