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Needed funding will help in fight against sexual assaults

Editorials

On at least one front, Gov. Mike DeWine has maintained the tenacity he displayed as Ohio’s attorney general. His office continues to support efforts to hold accountable those who commit sexual assault. In February, DeWine launched the Ohio Sexual Assault Investigations Grant Program, to be awarded through the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services. Last week, the program awarded nearly $900,000 for law enforcement organizations, prosecutors and victim advocacy groups. The Forensic Nursing Network will get more than $244,000 for training programs on ...

Stockpiles of solar modules threatening Ohio industries

Editorials

For one of Ohio’s more promising emerging industries, a familiar threat looms. Solar manufacturers are feeling the sting of unfair trade practices from China. As the Biden administration implements provisions meant to prevent importers from evading tariffs by stockpiling solar modules, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is right to want to know how U.S. Customs and Border Patrol plan to actually enforce the measures. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., backed Brown’s request for more information about those who hoarded the modules during a tariff moratorium that ended June 6. “According ...

Ohio State Fair ranks with the best in nation

Editorials

Other states may have well-known state fair attractions — North America’s largest traveling Ferris Wheel in Wisconsin, or Big Tex in Texas, for example — but there’s nothing that matches Ohio’s most famous attraction. Sculpting has already begun on the 2024 butter cow, in addition to a butter calf and other sculptures to be unveiled. There’s more to our fair than that, though. This year’s fair runs July 24-Aug. 4 at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair Grounds in Columbus. It has been showcasing the best of Ohio agriculture and providing entertainment for fairgoers since ...

Innovation hub could be a driver of change

Editorials

Ohio development officials keep coming up with ideas purportedly designed to support the kinds of innovation (and employers) that will keep our economy growing and diversifying. Last week, Gov. Mike DeWine announced another such project, with the launch of the Northwest Ohio Glass Innovation Hub, at the Owens-Illinois campus in Perrysburg. It will be, as a WTOL report put it, “a place for industry and academia to come together.” With more than $31.3 million in state funding and more than $10 million matched by local companies, the possibilities are exciting — not just for ...

These numbers should be troubling for Ohioans

Editorials

Numbers tell a story, and a recent batch of numbers should be raising some eyebrows. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says both initial and continued unemployment claims increased in the last week of June. In fact, initial claims increased by 725 from the previous week, for a total of 5,879 initial unemployment claims files. Continued claims for that week were at their highest level in two months — the 8-week average is 39,377 continued claims filed. Meanwhile, Ohio’s unemployment rate for May was higher than the national average, at 4.2%; and the labor force ...

Johnson’s resignation led to a series of moves

Columns

Republican Bill Johnson’s Jan. 21 resignation from the U.S. House put in motion a series of moves during the past few weeks that led to the election of his replacement and the appointment of two others to state legislative positions. Also, those two Republican appointees won’t have to run in a primary and when Democrats select a state Senate candidate on July 16, that person will go straight to the ballot as the party’s nominee without a primary. While we’ve seen candidates appointed by political parties before without a primary, this is the first time there will be three in ...