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Take precautions with outdoor fires

Perhaps we should take it as a positive sign that we are moving out of winter and into spring and the Ohio Division of Forestry’s outdoor fire laws (for “kindled” fires) are once again in effect. From the beginning of March through November, outdoor open burning is prohibited statewide in unincorporated areas between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. This could mean anything from a proper burn barrel to burning of yard waste, trash and debris. “During spring, wildfire danger is high before plants have turned green, and in fall, fire danger is high due to abundant dry leaves ...

Spelling bee offers valuable lessons

Twenty-nine pupils from across our region had the chance to put their knowledge, analytical skills and poise on display Saturday during the Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee Presented by the Herald-Star. Held in the auditorium of Buckeye North Elementary School in Brilliant, the bee lasted about two hours and included some intense moments as the competition neared its conclusion. When all of the spelling was concluded, Kaden Haddox, a sixth-grader at Indian Creek Middle School, correctly spelled the word “abscess” to earn his win. That means Haddox, the son of ...

Time for action on animal cruelty law

In 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that made animal cruelty a federal felony. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act included penalties for the crime ranging from fines to up to seven years in prison or both. But PACT, it seems, was lacking teeth — or those in charge of giving it teeth lacked a sense of urgency. U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a Republican from Bainbridge Township in the Northeastern part of Ohio, has his heart in the right place, in once again introducing legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Justice to establish an animal ...

Danger lurking from potholes

They appear before the flowers bloom. They are fed by road salt in the winter and begin to appear after the short warm spells that tease the arrival of spring. They are potholes, that annual curse on motorists and municipalities. The onset of potholes is something that is not to be taken lightly. They happen every year, and every year they become an increasing problem as motorists play dodge-the-hole in an effort to prevent damage to their vehicles. It can be a dangerous situation as drivers try to avoid potholes, sometimes swerving into the paths of oncoming vehicles or ...

Time to check your detectors

Daylight saving time returns at 2 a.m. Sunday, when we move our clocks ahead one hour. While that means we will have an extra hour of sunshine to enjoy outdoor activities, it also represents a good time to check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The National Fire Protection Association and the National Safety Council report that in 2023, fire departments across the United States responded to 332,000 home fires. Those blazes resulted in 2,890 deaths and 10,190 injuries, the numbers show. Property damage from those fires totaled $11 billion. Overall, there ...

Donating blood helps save lives

Most of us think of the American Red Cross for one of two reasons: Blood donations and disaster response. But as the organization points out, its founder Clara Barton was a nursing pioneer who cared deeply about humans and their health care. Here in Appalachia, one of the larger health care concerns is diabetes — and access to affordable, quality health care. But in March, the Red Cross is “helping to bridge access to health care for blood donors by providing free A1C testing, commonly used to screen for diabetes and prediabetes, on all successful blood, platelet and plasma ...