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Ohio’s Tax Free Weekend stretched to 10 full days

August arrives next week. And with it comes the waning days of summer vacation for local students. More so it seems nowadays with classes beginning earlier and earlier for many districts. Can you remember back when the school year did not start until after Labor Day? We do. Barely. Of course now is the time for parents, grandparents and guardians to get a jump on school shopping including supplies and clothing. Shoppers will be getting soon a little break. What used to be a Tax Free Weekend has been expanded to 10 days. Ohio sets aside at least three days each year (to include the ...

Columbiana County, Canfield fairs remain timeless treasures

There’s no glitz, glamour or full-scale high-tech wizardry used to awe which seems to be needed — or felt is needed — in this day and age of providing entertainment. No fancy 21st century version whistles, horns or gimmicks are involved. No, the summer fairs in our area like the 179th Columbiana County Fair, which officially opens Monday, and the upcoming Canfield Fair, which opens August 28 for its 178th year over 353 sprawling acres, are two examples of what is right with our area. Fairs provide good, old-fashioned entertainment for the young, old and all in between. And you ...

TechCred is a valuable tool for our workforce

As Ohio works to reinvent itself as the tech capital of the Midwest, officials understand there are many smart, hardworking Ohioans who need nothing but a little education and training to remain part of our evolving workforce. To their credit, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation set out to help with its TechCred program. Since 2019 the program has awarded more than 100,000 credentials. “This milestone is a celebration of the hardworking Ohioans who have dedicated time and effort to learning new skills and earning the tech-focused credentials necessary to support ...

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is saving lives

Good ideas don’t always prove to be effective once put into practice. But the implementation of Ohio’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline two years ago has proved to have been worth every ounce of effort. According to a report from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office, the lifeline has responded to nearly 340,000 contacts during that time. Hundreds of thousands of people facing emotional distress or thoughts of suicide found support when they picked up their phones. “988 is saving lives,” DeWine. “The lifeline is providing free, around-the-clock support to Ohioans in crisis by ...

Advocacy groups bog down election process

Ohio’s elections officials — at all levels — take pride in safeguarding our elections process. They know their responsibilities and handle the job well. It seems some advocacy groups believe they need a little help, and that’s a problem. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the Ohio Election Integrity Network has been approaching officials in multiple Ohio counties with lists of hundreds of voters they say should be deemed ineligible to vote and removed from the rolls. Voting rights advocates are asking Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to do something about it ...

Statistics reflect economic struggles of many Ohioans

Ohio residents who feel as though they are struggling to a greater degree than those living in other parts of the country are not imagining things. A report by Oxfam America says nearly one-quarter of Ohio workers are making under $17 an hour. According to Axios reporting, that is the figure Oxfam America considers to be a living wage. But the nonprofit anti-poverty group dug deeper into Ohio’s data and found that here we have a higher number of people under that line than the national average; and that approximately 1.3 million Ohioans may be struggling to keep up with ...