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Our surest sign spring is near

There has been plenty of evidence during the past month or so that winter continues to hold its grip on the Tri-State Area. We’ve seen snow, bitter cold and freezing rain — a pretty good sampling of what winter has to offer. And even though the region’s groundhogs offered different outlooks on what lies ahead (Punxsutawney Phil said six more weeks of winter, while Buckeye Chuck and French Creek Freddie both called for an early spring), a glance at the calendar reminds us that spring will arrive in a little more than a month — at 5:01 a.m. March 20, to be precise. If you ...

Consider origin of animal products

Most of us try to shop responsibly, but for some items, we don’t know what we don’t know. For example, how many use coyote urine to keep deer out of gardens? How many think about how the key ingredient is acquired? “People don’t know that when they buy products that they might be endorsing a fur farm, including myself,” Susan Vogt, founder and president of Red Riding Hood Rescue Project in Middletown told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. Vogt was speaking to the news station after having helped save hundreds of animals from an Ashtabula County fur farm in January. Vogt described ...

Commitment to the community

Lee West’s life might have been short, but the exuberance he displayed during the limited time he was on Earth has not been forgotten. An honors student and multi-sport athlete at Steubenville High School, West was just 15 when he lost his life in a fatal house fire in 2011. Since then, his mother, Alexandra “Cookie” West, has been joined by friends and family members to keep his memory alive while doing things in the community that meant a lot to her son through the Lee Alexander West Spiritual Movement. His legacy of loving and helping others was again celebrated on Jan. ...

Leave education distractions behind

Last week, at least one expert was disappointed by Ohio’s performance in the National Assessment of Educational Progress report card. Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, called the report — based on exams given biennially to fourth- and eighth-graders in math and reading — “disappointing.” “Mirroring national trends, Ohio’s reading scores continue to be on an alarming slide,” he said. “Results from math are more positive — Ohio’s proficiency rating ticked upward in both grades — yet still remain well below ...

Legislators must stand up for math

Ohio lawmakers digesting the results of the latest National Center for Education Statistics report card are right to be scrambling for ideas. One pitched by state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, is nothing new, but very much worth considering. Senate Bill 19 would require school districts or individual schools to develop math achievement improvement plans if they don’t have at least 52 percent of students receive a proficient score in math comprehension, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal. It also would require math improvement and monitoring plans for individual ...

Improving mental health care access

During these cold and bleak months, when many are struggling with their mental health and looking forward to brighter, warmer days, it is encouraging to learn recent numbers from the Ohio Department of Health show there was a small decrease in the number of deaths by suicide in the Buckeye State in 2023. The more than 1,700 people who took their own lives were a 1 percent reduction in 2023 from the previous year. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the decrease was the first in three years. “Every death by suicide is a tragedy that deeply affects so many,” ODH ...