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Ohio lawakers now have an opportunity to what’s right

Ohio lawmakers have an opportunity to what’s right, now that Secretary of State Frank LaRose has sought an opinion that resulted in a letter to Ohio Democratic Chair Liz Walters last week. In the letter, LaRose’s office told Walters about an “apparent conflict in Ohio law,” according to a report by ABC News. The Democratic National Convention is set to convene Aug. 19. The deadline to certify a presidential candidate in Ohio, for placement on the November ballot, is Aug. 7. “I am left to conclude that the Democratic National Committee must either move up its nominating ...

Fed probe launch into med shortage is much needed

News that the Federal Trade Commission is launching a probe of companies that help buy and distribute the bulk of medicines sold to U.S. hospitals is welcome — and hopefully will unravel and inject transparency into a procurement and maintenance process upon which few Americans reflect until they are affected directly by a medicine not being available. Hopefully, what is uncovered will help end medicine shortages or reduce them dramatically, when stacked against supply records compiled perhaps a decade or two ago. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the FTC “is ...

Two-person RR crews wonderful news but…

In a victory for rail safety, a new federal rule has been finalized, which will require major freight railroads to maintain two-person crews on most routes. It is wonderful news. But lest anyone become too encouraged that Congress has finally gotten itself in gear on rail safety reform proposed after the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, this new rule was first proposed during the Obama administration. Once the new rule was announced, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reminded us that a country like ours should not be satisfied with the average of nearly three ...

Libraries, schools become targets

If the pen is mightier than the sword, it makes sense that those who are afraid of ideas, questions and critical thinking have chosen libraries as their battleground. According to a report by Axios, the American Library Association says that fight is intensifying across the country. In Ohio, there was an increase in the number of book titles challenged between 2022 and 2023. Last year, there were 40 formal complaints filed in the Ohio, challenging a total of 235 books, based on ALA data. By contrast, in West Virginia — where we know there has been much said about the danger of books ...

Non-fatal overdoses will now be reported by ERs

Ohio is working at every angle to attack the substance abuse epidemic that continues to grip our region. A recent change could make a big difference in the way we think about (and therefore, react to) drug overdoses. For many of us the overdose data with which we are familiar involves fatalities. That doesn’t give us the whole picture. Now, a change approved by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review will require emergency departments to report non-fatal drug overdoses to the Ohio Department of Health. As Gov. Mike DeWine put it, this is a way to do better to “address the ...

Mess near the Ohio River is a reminder to officials

No one likes to hear “I told you so,” but officials in Martins Ferry are hearing that and more as a fracking waste recycling facility is facing a complaint filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in Belmont County Common Pleas Court. Filed March 25, the complaint requests a temporary restraining order against Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services, which is accused of illegally storing excess quantities of brine and drilling waste. More specifically, Yost’s office said its chief concern is “the plant’s proximity to the Ohio River (about 500 feet) and to a drinking water ...