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NAMI Columbiana County returns with mental health support, education

LISBON — After a period of inactivity, NAMI Columbiana County is making a strong comeback, bringing vital mental health education, support, and advocacy back to the community. The local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is re-establishing itself with new leadership, new programming, and a renewed commitment to providing resources for individuals and families affected by mental health conditions. Kristy Munyon, the newly appointed chair of NAMI Columbiana County, is leading efforts to expand services and strengthen support networks in the area. One of the ...

Explaining America’s health care free speech movement

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 ...

Lincoln statue a fitting tribute to the Underground Railroad

Late last year, residents of Salem, Ohio, unveiled a new statue of Abraham Lincoln as part of a memorial plaza dedicated to America’s 16th president. It is a fitting reminder of the community’s history as a major stop in the Underground Railroad in Ohio. Even before he became president, Lincoln had history with Ohio as a circuit-riding lawyer. The state was included in the route to his inauguration in 1861, and in his funeral procession en route to Springfield, Illinois, in 1865. Lincoln reminds us that good presidents grow into the job. During his presidency, he went from ...

Husted just couldn’t pass up the Senate opportunity

Hardly anyone, including Jon Husted, pictured him as a U.S. senator. But the Republican, who has eyed the Ohio governor’s seat for many years, just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Husted, lieutenant governor for the past six years, gave the vice-presidential nominating speech for J.D. Vance on July 17 at the Republican National Convention. When he got the appointment last week from Gov. Mike DeWine to succeed Vance in the Senate, Husted harkened back to that day at the RNC and said someone asked him at the time about filling that potential vacancy. “That seems so ...

Mapmaking for legislative districts in Ohio returns

Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission drew a congressional map four years ago that they anticipated would give their political party a 12-3 advantage in the U.S. House over Democrats. Instead, two toss-up districts — one with Akron as its largest city and another with Toledo — went to Democrats in the 2022 and 2024 elections. Expect Republicans to make it harder for Democrats to maintain their slim advantages in those two districts when the lines are redrawn for the 2026 election. That Democrats were able to win those two toss-up seats as Ohio continues to trend more ...

Are you as safe as DC during a winter storm?

Washington, DC got nearly 10 inches of snow recently. That was more than enough to shut down the nation’s capital. Thankfully, all of DC’s lobbyists and politicos stayed safe at home. Their local utility, Pepco—which relies on natural gas and coal for roughly half of its power generation—supplied the electricity needed to keep everyone warm. But what about the rest of the country? Are they as safe as Washington? Not necessarily. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC)—which oversees the reliability and security of America’s bulk power system—believes the ...