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Ohio must do better for schools

It’s possible to look at data from the most recent Anne E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book and think Ohio’s schools are doing a pretty good job, compared with the rest of the country. But despite a higher percentage of Buckeye State eighth-graders being proficient in math than the national average, the figures are pretty grim. Based on 2022 testing, 71% of Ohio eighth-graders are not proficient in math — MUCH worse than the 62% determined not to be proficient in 2019. (The national average is 74% of eighth-graders who are not proficient in math.) Meanwhile, 65% of Ohio ...

Summer’s 100 deadliest days

If you’ve done much driving around our region lately, you know the orange barrels and cones are out in abundance. That means the men and women who work in those marked zones are out doing their jobs, too. Better weather means better conditions for work at the same time that it means more people on the roads. That makes this period the “100 deadliest days of summer,” according to Ohio officials who want us all to be a little more careful in work zones. Last week, Gov. Mike DeWine said he had instructed the Ohio State Highway Patrol to intensify its patrols in work zones. ...

Applying law to everyone

As he spoke in Marietta over the weekend, during the Washington County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Dinner, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was absolutely correct when he said “The rule of law means the same rules for everybody.” Further, Yost talked to the crowd about the need to follow what has been outlined for us in the Constitution; and discussed the importance of judges who follow the law as it is written and rule IMPARTIALLY. How refreshing to hear a politician these days who understands the courts have a job to do — and must not be asked to let agenda get in the ...

Reject bill restricting libraries

While Ohio libraries face a potential funding crisis due to an expected shortfall in property tax revenue, some members of the state House of Representatives want to twist the knife. State Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, introduced House Bill 622, “to require each board of public library trustees to adopt a policy that prohibits its libraries from displaying matter harmful to juveniles and to redistribute the public library funds of libraries that fail to do so.” Horrifying, isn’t it? As has become painfully obvious in recent years, what many of these politicians mean when they say ...

Level the playing field

Ask anyone who used to work in the steel or aluminum industry in our region what happens when the federal government does not defend strongly enough against unfair trade practices — too often at the hands of China. Their story is one of failure to transition policy at a pace that keeps up with the bad behavior of global players. Now, there is a threat on a new front — the solar industry. Ohioans who welcomed First Solar and had hoped for more growth (and jobs) in the industry know they have allies in Washington, D.C., as U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, ...

Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS to the remaining members of the Greatest Generation who marked 80 years Thursday since they stormed the shores of Normandy and began their work to end World War II. JEERS to the fact that someone — or several someones — is causing damage to the fixtures and facilities at Martins Ferry’s City Park. CHEERS to U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance for backing Gov. Mike DeWine’s call for President Joe Biden to declare a weather-related disaster in eight eastern Ohio counties, including Belmont, Jefferson and Monroe. JEERS to news that the long-awaited Barnesville Rails ...