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Looking to the New Year

As we wrap up one year and look hopefully ahead to the next, most in our region are looking forward to the possibility of peace, prosperity, success … all the good things that are possible when the blank slate of an entire year stretches out before us. Sure, we take some accountability by assigning resolutions to ourselves — improvement plans to which we say we will stick for 365 days. (On the other hand, some eat their pork and sauerkraut and hope for the best knowing they’ve done their part.) But it is worth asking ourselves: What do we truly want for ourselves, our families, ...

Restore funding now

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 ...

Ohio Valley residents showing they care

As the calendar pushes past Christmas Day and toward the New Year, it gives us time to reflect on the Ohio Valley’s 2025. And what a year it was. During the last 12 months, we saw plenty of tough times. But through those times, we saw shining examples of kindness and community. That was no more evident than in the devastating flash floods in Ohio County. Nine lives were lost, along with dozens of homes. Families were forced to rebuild almost, if not entirely, from scratch. And many of those families struggled to find the means to do so. Yet, in the days, weeks and months that ...

Laws must be followed

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 ...

Good Ohio nature news

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 a river 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, ...

Funding freeze no good

Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership is facing a sudden freeze on millions of dollars in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Commerce cited an ongoing federal review of the program. According to the Ohio Manufacturers Association, the loss of funding could mean several programs will be halted at the end of the year. At issue is the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General looking into allegations of fraud or misconduct — and deviating from its usual procedure because it has not filed a report on preliminary findings that would give administrators of the ...