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Add dental care to services some school districts provide

While we press teachers to do better in educating our children and preparing them for the real world, Ohioans are also expecting schools to fill nearly every other role for some kids, too. Schools are their safe haven, the place where they will be fed — maybe even get the shoes or warm coats they need, the place where they might be able to speak with a counselor, visit the school nurse or go back to the locker rooms for a much-needed shower. Advocates are pushing for schools — especially those in poorer and rural communities — to be a place where those students can receive dental ...

It’s about time Biden got involved with EP

It took long enough, but it appears President Joe Biden has finally decided to get involved in the mess made by Norfolk Southern in East Palestine. On Thursday, Biden issued an executive order that federal agencies must continue to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment that has interrupted the lives of residents in those communities. He still, however, has not declared the incident a disaster. While the bulk of Biden’s order was essentially “keep doing what you’re doing,” it did establish the need for a Federal Emergency Management Agency recovery coordinator ...

Bad Columbus Police behavior needs fixed

Whether the problems at the Columbus Police Department are the quality and number of recruits, training, policies, culture or all of the above, ordinary citizens continue to suffer. Just a few days ago, Columbus Division of Police Detective Demetris Ortega pleaded guilty in a fatal hit-and-run crash, and admitted he had been drinking heavily before the tragedy. Back in February, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended reforms for the department after a two-year review of scandals ranging from how officers handled protests against racial injustice to deadly officer-involved ...

Air taxis could help uplift Ohio’s economy

For those who grew up watching flying cars in cartoons or sci-fi movies, such an idea probably seems like nothing more than a Hollywood fantasy. But here in Ohio we’re getting pretty good at making what once seemed like the ideas of a faraway future come to life right now. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, to learn Joby Aviation plans to built electric planes that can take off and land vertically, at a site on the Dayton International Airport grounds. “When you’re talking about air taxis, that’s the future,” Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. “We find this very, very exciting ...

East Palestine residents still waiting on promise

Back when Norfolk Southern was making promises in an effort to halt passage of the Railway Safety Act, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, avoided getting involved with the process. Now, he says, it is clear he made the right call. “In the run up to the markup of the Railway Safety Act, Norfolk Southern and its backers in Congress announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a fund making East Palestine residents whole for the diminution of their property value,” Vance said Monday. “This announcement was a transparent attempt to distract from the fact that they were opposed to ...

A shortage of blood donors impacting American Red Cross

Despite repeated attempts to lure more donors over the past several months, the American Red Cross reports it had even fewer people donate — making the national blood supply dangerously low and reducing distributions of some blood types to hospitals. The shortfall for August alone was 30,000 donations. “Hurricane Idalia further strained the blood supply with blood drive cancellations and reduced blood and platelet donations in affected areas,” the Red Cross reports. With such an urgent need, the Red Cross continues to look for ways to entice donors. For this entire month, donors ...