Breaking News

Opinion

Newsroom memories

Local Columns

It’s likely that in each of every life, there are moments that you can remember the exact time, date and place they occurred. For me, one of those moments happened at 11:04 a.m., Feb. 4, 1981. That happened to be a Wednesday, and the weather outside was not much different than what we have been experiencing for the past week or so. It also was the first time I walked into the newsroom at the Herald-Star, ready to start a career as a sports writer. The room held a lot more people than it does now, and after I had finished filling out all of the necessary paperwork, the time ...

Still not too late to get a flu shot

Editorials

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

Editorials

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

Editorials

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

Editorials

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 ...

A knock on my door that takes me back ...

Local Columns

Those small pair of tennis shoes sitting by the front door can change the entire temperature of my house. Not literally, of course. The thermostat remains exactly where it always is. But the temperature shifts in that quiet, unseen way — a kind of happiness that has a way of sneaking in and warming corners of your home and your heart that you never even realized had grown cold. Yes, that is what happens every time my 3-year-old grandson, Layne, comes to spend time at my house. It is especially true on those rare nights he gets to spend the entire night. It is as if the ...