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Number of local pharmacies shrinking as need is growing

Editorials

A significant percentage of Ohioans rely on prescription medication to maintain their health. As our population grows, so, too, does the number of people in need of the services of a local pharmacy. Yet, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, pharmacies in the Buckeye State are closing at an alarming rate. The number of openings of retail outpatient pharmacies peaked in 2015. Then, the trend reversed. In 2016, there were a record number of closings. Closures continued — in 2023 there were 55 closures, and over the following year there were 191. Using the Ohio Board of ...

Help available to recover damaged brownfield sites

Editorials

Site readiness is a pressing challenge for many communities looking to attract larger employers and shore up their economies. And in our region some sites that could be appealing to developers bear the scars of their previous use. They are not ready because in another era they were used for industrial, commercial or institutional purposes that left their mark. Such properties are dotted all over Ohio, but there is help available to get them back to showroom condition. Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik have announced another $50 million in grant ...

Explaining America’s health care free speech movement

Local Columns

Why should you join America’s health care free speech movement? You may have already enlisted if you’ve had the gnawing feeling that the well-known patterns of health care debate conceal some as yet unrevealed primal reality that block important issues from being joined. You’d be right. There may be a few thousand people nationwide who are occasional health care free speechers, although they don’t call themselves that. Among them are a few lawyers, some academics, a handful of medical doctors, and independent theoreticians and citizen-dissenters. Consider this: historians ...

An empathetic view on the St. Clair Township shooting tragedy

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor: So many stories have been told about the horrible incident that happened in St. Clair Township on Jan. 22. Fact: two people died and their beautiful families are devastated, their lives will never be the same. Fact: A police officer was severely wounded and he/his family are devastated and their lives will never be the same. I want to tell you a little bit about Joseph Como. Joe was a young man with a terrible illness — schizophrenia. There are people who are referring to him as a horrible or evil person, but the fact is Joe was neither of these things. Joe was ...

Can the U.S. still equip its military in time of war?

Local Columns

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching its fourth year. And as it drags on, Washington is learning just how vulnerable our nation could be in a similar conflict. The glaring problem we now encounter is the erosion of our defense industrial base. The once vaunted arsenal of democracy that led America to victory in World War II is long gone. Simply put, we no longer produce the weapons and munitions needed for high-intensity, industrialized conflict. Consider our startling inability to meet Ukraine’s need for 155-millimeter artillery rounds. It’s a key piece of weaponry in ...

Tressel-DeWine partnership could be boon for the state

Editorials

Those surprised by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s choice for lieutenant governor must have been encouraged last week when Jim Tressel spoke to the state about his priorities. When so much in Columbus can feel overly specific or exclusionary, Tressel understands it is time to look out for ALL of us. “We’ve got to make sure the concern for our Ohioans and their fate, their future is our chief concern, and sometimes it doesn’t line up with what individually with what I’d really like. Maybe it doesn’t serve my needs. But the chief interest and the decisions we make need to make sure ...