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COVID-19: The Latest

Nursing home deaths on the rise

OLUMBUS — Nursing home residents continue to make up the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths in Ohio, according to new Department of Health statistics. At least 1,246 residents of Ohio’s long-term care facilities have died as of Wednesday from the virus, or nearly 70 percent of the total COVID-19 deaths statewide, the data show. As nursing home fatalities continue to rise, Gov. Mike DeWine has promised a plan to ramp up testing in long-term care facilities, including the deployment of 14 teams of Ohio National Guard members to assist with the testing. The latest data ...

May 22: Events canceled/postponed due to coronavirus

Due to the precautions being taken surrounding the coronavirus, the following changes have been made regarding events and meetings in the local area: ¯ The June 1 meeting of the Jefferson County E-911 Board is canceled. The next scheduled meeting of the board is at 6 p.m. August 3 at the Jefferson County Emergency Operations Center. ¯ The Jefferson County Safety Council announced that the May Safety Council meetings have been canceled. ¯ All military meetings for the Jefferson County Veterans Association have been canceled until the end of summer. The cancellations include the ...

Steubenville High School holds 153 separate commencements

STEUBENVILLE — Sadie Carducci was clear: Celebrating high school graduation in a nearly empty gymnasium, with only a handful of family members to watch wasn’t the ending she or her classmates wanted. “But here we are,” said Carducci, salutatorian of Steubenville High School’s Class ...

Steubenville finds sanitation savings have yet to materialize

STEUBENVILLE — The city’s sanitation department isn’t seeing the cost savings that had been expected after doing away with its commercial dumpster business last year. Sanitation Supervisor Bob Baird figures it has a lot to do with the stay-at-home order Gov. Mike DeWine issued in March to slow the spread of COVID-19. “With the stay at home order, schools and businesses being closed, there’s a lot more waste being generated at people’s homes,” Baird said, pointing out the department’s account base is “basically the same, but tonnages are going up. “What we’re ...

Judge relaxes petition rules

COLUMBUS — A federal judge has ruled that Ohio must allow groups pursuing voting law changes, a minimum wage increase and marijuana decriminalization more time and flexibility to qualify for ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr.’s ruling Tuesday ordered the state to allow campaigns until July 31 to gather required signatures and to allow them to be collected electronically. He stopped short of reducing the number of signatures required, as some courts elsewhere have allowed amid a spate of COVID-19-related signature-gathering ...

Ruling calls health director’s order closing gyms ‘oppressive’

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s decision to shut down gyms and fitness centers was “arbitrary, unreasonable and oppressive,” a judge ruled Wednesday in a largely symbolic finding that nevertheless underscored an ongoing debate over the state’s response to the pandemic. The nine-page ruling by Lake County Court Judge Eugene Lucci applies only to gyms in that northeastern Ohio county. Meanwhile, gyms are set to reopen Tuesday under an updated order announced last week by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Lucci responded to a lawsuit brought by gym owners that argued Health Director Dr. Amy ...