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Animal tranquilizer emerges as a new drug abuse danger

Editorials

Just as Ohio is beginning to see signs the tide is weakening (though not quite turning) in the substance abuse epidemic, a new danger rears its head. Xylazine-related overdose deaths are on the rise. Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer — not for use by humans — that is becoming popular. Speaking to WTOL about his observations in other cities, Matt Bell, the chief executive officer and founder of Team Recovery, said the drug is frightening. “These folks in Philadelphia, their drug of choice is Xylazine,” Bell said. “And in fact, if they know that someone has fentanyl, and ...

Editorials

Ohioans hope for a rosy future, as politicians hand us promise after promise to distract from reality. We know there is potential, but numbers don’t lie, and the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Research took a look at population projections from 2020 to 2050 to show us what the trends really suggest. Population change: Ohio’s population is projected to decline by approximately 675,000 (5.7%) by 2050 if current rates of fertility, mortality, and migration remain unchanged. Ohio is currently the seventh most populous state. Georgia and North Carolina will likely surpass ...

Communities suffer damage caused by undervaluing news

Columns

For too many years people undervalued having a local newspaper, local radio station and local journalists who they knew by name and trusted. People eagerly turned to social media as an alternative to subscribing to their local paper or tuning in their local radio or tv station. We saw early signs of trouble as more and more people started sharing unsubstantiated rumors with their friend groups as news or facts. We saw the dangers of this during the Covid pandemic and 2020 election. We continue to see that no topic is immune. Springfield has dealt with viral social media posts causing ...

Protect each other with fall vaccines

Editorials

Wondering whether or when you should get your seasonal vaccines this year? Well (provided your doctor agrees), the answers are yes; and, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, right now. Staying up-to-date is important for the latest COVID-19 vaccines, flu shots and maybe even respiratory syncytial virus, if you are of a certain age or risk group. “Right now is the best time” to get all the recommended fall vaccinations, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s “the single most effective thing you can do ...

Third-party groups impacting election

Editorials

As the Nov. 5 general election rapidly approaches, third-party groups appear to be trying to bog down county boards of elections with requests to systematically remove thousands from voter rolls. In Ohio, the state chapters of Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, represented by the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice, are alerting Secretary of State Frank LaRose to what the groups say are the illegal systematic removal of voters from the rolls in Delaware, Muskingum, probably Logan and possibly Cuyahoga counties. The groups cite public records, including minutes of county ...

45 years, six days and still counting

Editorials

Isn’t it amazing? How you might forget where you placed, say, your car keys just minutes ago but can vividly recall a single moment from decades ago? Such an instance for me was actually a first professional moment for me: getting my first byline as a daily newspaper staff member. The name Bob Lewis would strike a memory for only the most avid of golf historians. He was the 1978 Ohio Open champion. I interviewed him at the Salem Golf Club in August that summer — having just been hired as a part-time sportswriter for the Morning Journal. Dang, my very first feature! A clip of that ...