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Election monitoring needed

Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski behaved so badly via social media that the U.S. Department of Justice plans to send in election monitors to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day. Last month Zuchowski felt comfortable suggesting on social media that households with political signs in their yards supporting Kamala Harris should have their addresses written down. He suggested that, should a Democrat win the presidency, illegal immigrants should be sent to live in those households, and he called those immigrants “human ...

Halting human trafficking

“We have to attack this scourge by curbing the demand,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday, referring to those who seek to buy sex in the Buckeye State. He was announcing the arrests of 132 people as part of a statewide human-trafficking operation that involved more than 100 law enforcement agencies, with major activities in Akron, Columbus, Cleveland, Marietta, Portsmouth, Toledo and the Mahoning Valley. Operation END-OHHT, named after the state’s human trafficking hotline, had three purposes: round up as many suspects as possible, help those victimized by human ...

A new threat on Ohio’s streets

Just as Ohio is beginning to see signs the tide is weakening in the substance abuse epidemic, a new danger rears its head. Xylazine-related overdose deaths are on the rise. Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer that is becoming popular. Speaking to WTOL about his observations in other cities, Matt Bell, CEO and founder of Team Recovery, said the drug is frightening. “These folks in Philadelphia, their drug of choice is Xylazine,” Bell said. “... Their body is so accustomed to it that they need it to survive more than they need fentanyl or the opioid.” But, like its ...

Population drop predicted

Ohioans hope for a rosy future, as politicians hand us promise after promise to distract from reality. We know there is potential, but numbers don’t lie, and the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Research took a look at population projections from 2020 to 2050 to show us what trends really suggest. Based on today’s rates of fertility, mortality and migration, by 2050 Ohio will lose 675,000 people — 5.7% of the population. Population stability and growth are predicted in only a few counties: Clermont, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Geauga, Greene, Hamilton, Licking, ...

Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS to the Village Network for bringing a new Therapeutic Stabilization Center to its Bethesda facility that will provide additional space and treatment options for youth in crisis. JEERS to the back-to-back blows that hurricanes have dealt to Florida and its residents. Let’s hope the season is winding down. CHEERS to local firefighters and first responders who have been called upon to respond to several fires and accidents in recent days. Fortunately, no injuries ha e been reported in most of those cases. JEERS to word that St. Clairsville’s reservoirs for drinking water have ...

Child care reform needed

With the release of the Century Foundation’s report “Child Care Funding Cliff at One Year: Rising Prices, Shrinking Options, and Families Squeezed,” there was a look at challenges in Ohio, but also some praise for measures taken by the state ahead of the expiration of COVID-19-era federal funding. The report quotes Action for Children in Ohio, saying “’prudent and forward-thinking investments by state and local government means the flow of ARPA funding’ continued into 2024, despite the expiration of stabilization funds in 2023.” But there is still a problem. “The ...