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Closing the digital divide across Ohio

In today’s digital age, access to high-speed internet is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Yet, Ohio lags behind much of the U.S. in broadband availability. According to a study last year by BroadbandNow, which collects and analyzes internet service provider plans to help consumers find and compare options, Ohio is ranked 30th among states for internet coverage, speed and availability. For more advanced services, the picture worsens. The study shows that only 34.2% of Buckeye State residents have access to 1G broadband—that ranks 47th among states. Digging down further, a ...

Ohio Democrats are in a holding pattern

With Sherrod Brown, a former U.S. senator, considering a return to politics by either running for a seat in the Senate or for governor next year, both races on the Democratic side remain up in the air. Actually the entire Democratic ticket for 2026, unlike the Republicans, is uncertain. When Brown will make his decision on whether to run for Senate, governor or at all isn’t known, but it should be in a few months. Dr. Amy Acton, the party’s only declared candidate for governor, told me during a recent visit to Youngstown: “Sherrod Brown will probably be making some decisions ...

Lawmakers: Please avoid this first, which will hurt our industry

Being the first is normally a good thing. Ask Ohio natives Thomas Edison, Neil Armstrong or the Wright Brothers. But first isn’t always best. And if some Ohio lawmakers have their way, the Buckeye State will be the first in the nation to assess a sales tax on newspapers. House Bill 96, ...

Judges run in mid-terms to get around age limits

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, ...

Customers shouldn’t subsidize the energy needs of data centers

Driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, U.S. electricity demand and electricity prices are rising rapidly. Dozens of new data centers—each with the electricity needs of a small city—are gobbling up the nation’s power supply. Forecasters see U.S. electricity demand growing 25% by 2030—and nearly 80% by 2050. In some regions of the country, it will be far more and even faster. The nation’s largest regional electricity grid, PJM Interconnection—which stretches from Virginia to Illinois—expects that, by 2030, new data center power ...

Property tax cuts are in the spotlight

Finding ways to reduce skyrocketing property taxes that occurred in Ohio during the past couple of years is a top priority for the Republican-controlled state Legislature. It’s a difficult balancing act as property owners are screaming for tax relief while public school districts, which get most of those tax dollars, say reductions will severely impact education. For the most part, Republicans are siding with property owners though there have been a few bills introduced that would have minimal or no impact on school districts and other government entities that rely on property ...