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Editorials

Handling dangerous toys

Earlier this month, Belmont County sheriff’s deputies were called upon to perform a rather unusual duty — Sheriff David Lucas directed them to visit the Belmont County Fairgrounds to confiscate toy guns. These weren’t just any toy guns, though. These water pistols, which were being sold by a couple of different vendors, were extremely realistic looking imitations of Glock handguns. Not only were the water pistols great copies of the real thing, but they lacked one crucial detail designed to keep kids safe. These fake guns did not have the orange or red tip that is required by ...

Credit card debt in Ohio

When finances get tight, some households turn to credit cards to get by. It’s not an ideal solution and can lead to bigger problems down the road, but sometimes feels like the only way. According to WalletHub, the collective credit card debt of the United States is approximately $1.28 trillion — $109 billion of that came from 2023 alone. But some regions are faring better than others. “Some parts of the country are racking up credit card debt at an alarming rate,” financial writer Adam McCann reported in WalletHub’s “States with Largest and Smallest Credit Card Debt ...

The rural health care void

A significant problem is sneaking up for rural Ohioans. Access to health care is disappearing. On Aug. 31, Community Memorial Hospital in Hicksville (Defiance County) closed its doors permanently after having temporarily suspended services. As The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind., points out, Community Memorial was facing some of the same financial challenges being experienced by many rural hospitals. Meanwhile, there’s another worry in the closure of hundreds of pharmacies. Rite Aid and Walgreens are of particular concern. Dave Burke, pharmacist, former state senator and ...

Helping young offenders

A working group tasked with helping the Ohio Department of Youth Services understand how best to work with younger offenders reported something that may seem obvious to most. “The younger the kids are, generally the worse they do in a secure congregate environment,” the group’s report said. Therefore, the group recommended, children under age 14 should not be placed in one of Ohio’s three juvenile prisons, according to a report by WOUB. The group recommended alternative placement for those 13 and under, and that non-violent first-time offenders could go to one of the ...

Americans must never forget

Americans today tend to have a short attention span. Important news often is quickly overshadowed by the latest nonsense posing as news that captures the nation’s attention. Yet some events are of such a magnitude that they remain seared in our memories. The attack at Pearl Harbor. Troops storming the beaches at Normandy. The fall of Saigon. And the events of Sept. 11, 2001. For those old enough to understand what was happening 23 years ago, when terrorists hijacked four planes — two of them brought down the World Trade Center, one smashed into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed ...

Diversifying our economy

Ohio’s diversifying economy includes a new addition that can help tackle challenges ranging from environmental concerns to avoiding dependence on foreign companies. Nth Cycle in Fairfield will extract nickel and cobalt from scrap material to reduce reliance on open pit mining, avoid those same materials being dumped in landfills AND avoid having to send the materials overseas for refining. Almost all of us are dependent on materials such as nickel and cobalt because of our use of lithium ion batteries. Nth Cycle builds systems that yield nickel and cobalt from a form of shredded ...