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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 ...

It’s time Ohio rethinks priorities

Ohio leadership has for quite some time been promising improvements in employment opportunities for Buckeye State residents. Lofty goals such as having a large employer within commuting distance of every Ohioan gave us reason to hope. What we got — in droves — are data centers, which don’t check many of the boxes when it comes to benefiting residents. Policy Matters Ohio, a progressive watchdog organization, took a look at all those data centers and what they mean for the state. There are more questions than answers. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, data ...

Black History Month a chance to reflect

Black History Month 2025 is a chance to consider the ways work and working of all kinds intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. “African Americans and Labor” is the theme that has been selected by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the founders of Black History Month, which runs through Feb. 28. It’s a multi-layered topic, and one that allows for study and discussion on many levels because, the association writes, of the many levels — free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary — of life that labor ...