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SB 197: Online casino gaming would be a losing bet for Ohio

Editorials

The odds are in, and they’re not looking very pretty for impassioned efforts to expand legalized gambling in Ohio. But that’s just fine with us, thank you, as passage and enactment of Senate Bill 197 to make Ohio the eighth state in the union with lawfully regulated online casino gaming would pose a plethora of public health risks, economic uncertainties and constitutional challenges. To be sure, some may consider casinos at your fingertips a logical extension of Ohio’s continued growth in legalized gambling over the past several decades. Most of those initiatives — from state ...

Stop the Scroll Act would create a warning label requirement

Editorials

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, has thrown his support behind an effort to keep kids safer when it comes to social media. But the Stop the Scroll Act isn’t about the kinds of online dangers some parents may be thinking. It would create a mental health warning label requirement for social media. “As more and more children and teens use social media, a warning label should be prominently displayed highlighting the potential harms of using social media platforms. The Stop the Scroll Act would help young people grasp the mental health risks that come with social media. I’ll continue to back ...

HB 3: School Bus Safety Act will create harsher penalties

Editorials

House Bill 3 made its way to the Ohio Senate after having encountered no naysayers during the House of Representatives vote June 11. It seems unlikely there will be much resistance in the state Senate, either, as the School Bus Safety Act includes some important ways to keep students and drivers safer. Most drivers know the rules regarding driving safely when school buses are on the road. Too many ignore them anyway. According to the National Safety Council, between 2013 and 2022 there were 1,082 fatalities and approximately 132,000 injuries as a result of school-bus related ...

Ohio Senate Bill 1 presents detrimental consequences

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: I respectfully ask that you share this message with your readers. As a tenured professor at Youngstown State University, I emphasize that this letter represents my views alone, and it should not be considered a statement on behalf of my institution. If enacted, Ohio Senate Bill 1 or SB 1 will have broadly detrimental effects. There is a remedy: a petition for a referendum on SB 1 (see ohsb1petition.com). If we can get 250,000 signatures, SB 1 will be on the ballot this November. SB 1 requires degrees graduating fewer than five students per year be eliminated, ...

Judges run in mid-terms to get around age limits

Local Columns

Republican Pat Fischer is looking to stay an Ohio Supreme Court justice for as long as possible. With some prompting from Gov. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican, Fischer announced May 28 that he would challenge incumbent Democrat Jennifer Brunner for her seat in next year’s election. Ohio has a law that doesn’t permit judges to run for office if they will be older than 70 when their terms are to begin. Fischer, 67, cannot run in the 2028 election, when his seat would next be on the ballot. So instead of finishing out that term, he said he will challenge Brunner in 2026. If he wins, ...

Judges run in mid-terms to get around age limits

Local Columns

Republican Pat Fischer is looking to stay an Ohio Supreme Court justice for as long as possible. With some prompting from Gov. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican, Fischer announced May 28 that he would challenge incumbent Democrat Jennifer Brunner for her seat in next year’s election. Ohio has a law that doesn’t permit judges to run for office if they will be older than 70 when their terms are to begin. Fischer, 67, cannot run in the 2028 election, when his seat would next be on the ballot. So instead of finishing out that term, he said he will challenge Brunner in 2026. If he wins, ...