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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 ...

Summer concerts are here

No matter what style you like to listen to or your preference for performance, there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy live music in beautiful outdoor settings across the Tri-State Area during the next several months. The Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce helped to kick things off on Memorial Day with the launch of this year’s Monthly Monday Music Madness and a performance by Twice As Nice at Follansbee Park. Shows will continue June 16, June 30, July 14, July 28, Aug. 11, and Aug. 25, alternating between Follansbee Park and a spot near the log cabin in Wellsburg. The ...

Never forget their sacrifice

This weekend has become what is considered to be the start of the summer vacation season. The kids are out of or about to get out of school. The days are getting longer. The grills are out in full force. But this weekend in general, and Monday in particular, also must be a time to pause and consider those freedoms we enjoy as Americans - the things we too often take for granted, like living in a place where we can travel as we choose, read the newspapers and publications we want to, watch the movies and television shows that we prefer and enjoy picnics and good weather as harbingers ...

Protecting Ohio’s children

For Ohioans who care about making sure no child slips through the cracks in our system, data out of Franklin County is nothing short of appalling. The county’s Children Services agency has seen a horrifying FIVE child deaths in a little more than a year. According to a report by WBNS, state Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, has had enough. “It’s heartbreaking,” Jarrells told the news station. “It’s an opportunity for us to really have a hard conversation around our system of care.” To that end, Jarrells says his office is drafting legislation after hearing the ...

What comes next?

For whatever reason, one fast food restaurant in particular has made enough inroads with the federal government that the U.S. Secretary of Labor visited Delaware County Monday to help the company tout its additional 375,000 jobs for the summer — 20,000 of which will be Ohio, according to a report by WSYX. Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel was there, too, trying his best to turn the announcement into economic news. Perhaps state officials are smarting from the loss (or, rather, failure to materialize) of so many of the jobs promised by larger employers who never put their money where their mouths ...