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Finding Ohio’s lost children

Government work groups and task forces don’t always come up with effective solutions (ask the Ohio Redistricting Commission), but the Ohio Missing Persons Working Group appears to have come up with some solid ideas to improve missing persons investigations in the state. In fact, according to a report by the Dayton Daily News, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson announced 18 areas of improvement in matters such as communication between law enforcement and family members, sharing of information among law enforcement agencies, training and ...

Driving practice makes perfect

As has always been the case, young drivers need not just lots of practice, but lots of guidance from experienced drivers (parents and guardians) before they get their driver’s licenses and hit the road on their own. One would think that would go without saying, but Ohio officials are worried enough about a growing trend that Gov. Mike DeWine has announced a new media campaign to encourage parents to spend quality time helping their teen drivers learn safe driving skills. State law requires teens to complete 50 hours of driving practice with a parent or guardian before receiving ...

Ohio getting too restrictive?

Sometimes legislative proposals sound great on the surface — after all, the people who come up with names such as the “Ohio Property Protection Act” are hoping to persuade others to vote for it. But a deeper dive brings up serious questions. Ohio House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 88 are similar versions of the Ohio Property Protection Act, which would “modify the law that prohibits certain governments, businesses and individuals from acquiring certain real property.” Among the stated goals of the bills are to prohibit foreign adversaries from being able to own land within 25 ...

Making rail safety the priority?

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 there more than two years ago. Charts made available by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show there is still visible sheen on affected waterways — in fact, instances of heavy sheen being observed as late as April in part of Sulphur ...

Support for the front-line caregivers

U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, signed on last week to be a cosponsor of a bill that would recognize May as National Foster Care Month. That resolution later passed. He was not alone, of course, in addition to sponsors Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., there were 14 cosponsors for the bill. It’s a sign of how important most senators understand our foster care system is. “Loving foster families offer stability and guidance when kids may need it most. My parents adopted me from foster care. I’ve seen how transformational a child’s first years of life can ...

Housing issues in Ohio

Efforts in Columbus to address the shortage in affordable housing appear to be making a difference, though the momentum must be maintained. According to the 2025 Gap Report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, there is a deficit of 264,083 rental units that are affordable and available to the 438,108 extremely low-income households in the Buckeye State. That’s an improvement over last year, when the shortage was 267,382. COHHIO Executive Director Amy Riegel called on the General Assembly to “maintain forward ...