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Valley gets a single competitive district

When Democrats on the Ohio Redistricting Commission cut a deal with their Republican counterparts, the Mahoning Valley didn’t come into play. The seven-member commission unanimously voted in favor of state legislative maps that give Republicans 61 state House seats to 38 for Democrats with eight Democratic and three Republican toss-up districts. The compromise gave Democrats one more seat in the House than an initial Republican proposal did, but it keeps the GOP supermajority. Not much changed in the state Senate map proposed last week by Republicans. The GOP would still retain a ...

Gen Z could be a resource for the American mining industry

By 2030, Gen Z will be 30 percent of the American workforce. This tech-savvy generation has strong ideas about the places and cultures in which it wants to work. And one of the recurring opinions heard from Gen Zers is the longing to get out from behind the desk, to find a place where collaboration is key and where the work is impactful. Gen Z, here’s an idea for you: American mining. Mining needs you. Mining needs your skillset and energy, and it may be exactly what you’re looking for, even if you don’t yet realize it. The opportunity is extraordinary. By 2029, with a tsunami ...

Abortion issue goes back to Ohio Supreme Court

The abortion rights constitutional amendment is heading back to the Ohio Supreme Court — this time over the summary language that voters will see on the Nov. 7 ballot. The Ohio Ballot Board recently approved language for the amendment that supporters of the proposal say is misleading. Opponents of the abortion rights ballot issue say the summary language from the ballot board is more accurate than what pro-choice supporters propose. The board consists of five members: two Republican state legislators, two Democratic state legislators and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican ...

Ohioans fortunate to live atop Utica Shale oil and gas basin

In a time of grinding inflation, increasing energy costs and continuing global instability, we Ohioans are lucky to live on top of the Utica Shale oil and gas basin. Stretching across Appalachian Ohio and into our neighboring states, the Utica Shale is a vast, underground reserve of energy containing an estimated 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 208 million barrels of natural gas liquids. While it would traditionally be impossible to access these energy deposits buried deep underground, new technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic ...

Redistricting change sought at the ballot box

While the effort just kicked off and has a long way to get certified, there’s an effort to get a constitutional amendment on the 2024 general election ballot to again change state and federal legislative redistricting. Citizens Not Politicians, a group spearheading the effort, collected about 7,300 signatures from 31 counties in about four days. The group needs at least 1,000 to be valid to start the process. Also, Attorney General Dave Yost will decidethis week if the lengthy summary of the proposed ballot issue is a truthful statement of what is being proposed. After that, the ...

Humtown Products earns Legacy Business trophy

By Guy Coviello The United States Small Business Administration is celebrating its 70th year as a key resource for the nation’s entrepreneurs who are starting and growing their small businesses. How fitting that one of the anniversary celebrations across the country will take place at Humtown Products in Leetonia, where the SBA will honor the company with a Legacy Business trophy. It was not long ago—around 2016—that, like all foundries in America, Humtown was suffering from strangling regulations and foreign competition. But owners Mark Lamoncha and son Brandon Lamoncha, with a ...