Still not too late to get a flu shot

January 23, 2026

If it seems as though illness has been more prevalent in your school, church, office and other circles this winter, you’re not imagining things. According to Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, this year’s flu season has seen a stronger beginning than is typical. “You know, the typical pattern is that we see a relatively modest dip around the holidays, and then we see our major peak in mid-February,” he said, according to a report by WDTN-TV in Dayton. “What our data is showing us is that already, this year’s flu is having numbers that are consistently ...

DeWine directs attention to kids

January 22, 2026

As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine begins his final year in office, he appears to have his sights firmly on matters that will affect our youngest residents. Among the programs he hopes to see expand is OhioSEE, according to a report by WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va. So far, Ohio Student Eye Exam has been run as a pilot program in 15 counties: Allen, Butler, Clark, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Erie, Franklin, Guernsey, Huron, Jackson, Lorain, Mahoning, Marion, Montgomery and Ross. It provides vision screening, comprehensive eye exams, prescription glasses (if needed) and further referrals. The program ...

Long road faces Hancock schools

January 21, 2026

A new chapter has been open for Hancock County Schools, and it’s one to which we won’t be seeing an end anytime soon. A decision made Friday morning put the local school district – currently with two high schools, two middle schools, three elementary schools and a tech and career center – fully under the control of the state. The superintendent and assistant superintendent were relieved of their positions, and the Hancock County Board of Education is, for all intents and purposes, powerless. While board meetings will continue, the reality is that those five individuals now ...

O’Connor works to protect judiciary

January 20, 2026

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and Lt. Gov. Maureen O’Connor is certainly not resting quietly in her retirement. Though she left her seat on the court in 2022 because of age limits, she is still active in matters such as redistricting and protecting the judiciary from politicization. It’s easy to understand why that is important to her. When she was on the court, she repeatedly stood with the majority in rejecting clearly unfair and unconstitutional redistricting maps. For doing so, she faced insults and threats of impeachment from fellow Republicans — for not “acting like ...

Sharing memories of King

January 17, 2026

Monday, Americans of all races and religions mark the observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We think there can be no better way to remember his legacy than by offering the text of the speech he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the ...

AI a useful tool, but it must be monitored

January 16, 2026

It may not be Ultron or Skynet as some initially worried, but the latest wave of artificial intelligence technology has not turned out to be a perfect tool, either. In fact, a case out of Wood County Circuit Court in Southern West Virginia reminds us there are big reasons not to rely on the technology. A petition seeking an injunction was denied by Circuit Judge J.D. Beane in part because the filing contained inaccurate citations generated by AI. He believed that because it was “riddled” with errors, it was unlikely to succeed. “The court is left with the conclusion that ...