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Ohio’s rainy day fund should be used wisely

When a state manages to build a substantial rainy day fund, there are inevitably those who believe they know exactly how it should be spent ... rather than waiting for the aforementioned rainy day. Such is the case with an Ohio child welfare organization that is suggesting the rainy day fund and billions in other unused revenue should be used to help expand child programs and services. Certainly the data from which the Children’s Defense Fund Ohio has drawn its conclusions suggests there is work to be done. Too many children are at a disadvantage from the start, and face challenges ...

East Palestine still waiting for fed help

Perhaps the federal government is concerned only with certain kinds of environmental and health disasters. Perhaps only politically expedient targets are worth the effort. Whatever the reason, help has been hard to come by in East Palestine, as nearly a year after the fiery Norfolk Southern derailment that shocked the community, there is still no federal disaster declaration and still no long-term health monitoring. Recall that Gov. Mike DeWine demanded such a program, and (at the time) Norfolk Southern promised there would be one. DeWine also asked President Joe Biden for a ...

Legislators need to focus on priorities

At the start of the Ohio 2024 Legislative Session, lawmakers would do well to heed Gov. Mike DeWine’s thoughts on what should be prioritized and accomplished. Speaking with WCPO, DeWine appeared to hope lawmakers would move away from the distracting nonsense with which they’ve become obsessed and instead focus on doing real good for Ohioans — particularly when it comes to education, mental health and addiction. “Focus more and more on mental health this coming year ... kind of go back to John Kennedy 60 years ago,” DeWine said. “When he signed The Community Mental Health ...

No kidding! Airlines need to be vigilant

Twice during the Christmas travel season, young people flying solo on their way to family ended up very far from their intended destinations. One was a six-year-old flying Spirit Airlines, who despite always being in the care of an airline employee, ended up in Orlando instead of Ft. Myers, Fla., as his grandmother was expecting. The other was a 16-year-old who was flying unaccompanied from Tampa to Cleveland ... yet ended up in Puerto Rico. That one was Frontier Airlines. According to the boy’s father, his son ended up on the wrong flight because there were two flights leaving from ...

Child’s death should be a stark reminder

Tragedy has struck again in Ohio, as the Ohio Department of Health announced Friday the first pediatric death of the 2023-24 flu season — a 9-year-old girl from Clermont County. It is a sad reminder that age is not the only determining factor for when these viruses become deadly. In fact, Ohio generally reports one to six influenza-associated pediatric deaths per year, according to the ODH. “If you haven’t gotten a flu vaccine, now is a good time,” said ODH Director Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D., MBA. “We are in the heart of flu season, and a vaccine may help prevent you or your ...

Play it smart as we steer toward 2024

This message is one we feel obliged to repeat this time each year. There are some people across our country, across our state and across our own area who will awaken Monday with a brand new year in the offing helped along with a drink or more. There will be so much promise and anticipation for 2024. Many will celebrate and share good times Sunday evening with family and friends as midnight beckons the fleeting hands of 2023’s clock. They will sing —or slur — along to “Auld Lang Syne.” Even if they don’t know all of the words. Which, actually, most of us couldn’t recite ...