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What can Ohio do about its middling education ranking?

Despite Ohio policymakers’ continued effort to meddle with education — at all levels — a recent study suggests there has been limited success on a national scale. “Most and Least Educated States in America (2026)” by WalletHub doesn’t even place the Buckeye State in the top half of states. We are 35th. That’s not a good look for a state that has worked diligently to attract large employers looking for a well-educated and well-trained workforce. Ohio is 36th for educational attainment, though 19th for the quality of education. Further, it was bundled into the worst ...

This is what working for Ohio looks like

Work and production are coming back to Mahoning Valley, reviving its previous namesake as the “Steel Valley,” with the full investment of supporting the American worker with the passage of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, (https://home.treasury.gov/wftc/) Washington delivered the largest tax bill in nearly 10 years. These policies are not more government handouts or a subsidy; they are simply letting working people keep more of their own money. This historic tax bill is hardly covered. Instead, the news is focused on who Stephen Colbert has on his cancelled late-night show. This ...

At America’s 250th birthday, Democrats want a different country

Jack Hughes delivered the gold medal to the U.S. ice hockey team in the winter Olympics, scoring the winning goal in overtime play. In a postgame interview, Hughes exclaimed: “This is all about our country now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong ... I am so proud to be an American today.” Moving indeed. But the question is, how much did Hughes’ effusive patriotic sentiments, his exhortation of love of country, resonate across our nation? We don’t hear much these days unbridled expressions of national pride, of ...

Warren needs a little less conversation & a little more action

How many Warren City Council members does it take to set up a livestream broadcast of the entity’s regular meetings? Whatever that number is, we still — apparently — are not there yet. Last week, council again discussed why Warren hasn’t joined the 21st century and set up streaming of meetings like other comparable municipalities. Even much smaller cities — like Cortland — have such systems in place. Youngstown, the largest city in Mahoning County, offers its residents a tape-delayed broadcast, but at least it’s something. If this situation seems embarrassing to ...

Remembering Jesse Jackson

President Donald Trump called Rev. Jesse Jackson “a force of nature,” and so he was. Jackson, who died last week at 84, was the last great orator of the civil rights movement. He could bring an audience to cheers or to tears with the power of his personality. I once accompanied him to a Washington, D.C., public middle school. He admonished the young girls in the all-black audience not to get pregnant and to the boys he said to respect the girls and refrain from sex until marriage. They seemed to hang on his every word. Afterward I said to him: “That should be your main message ...

Big Brothers in NYC, DC watch you; you watch them

A poster depicting an enormous face gazed from the wall. The caption ran, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” So wrote George Orwell at the opening of his dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Big Brother’s image was everywhere, on printed material and on telescreens blasting state propaganda in homes, workplaces, streets and shops. The fictional Oceania demanded devotion to Big Brother, backed by the reminder that the people were under constant surveillance. New York City has an updated version of Big Brother. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is all over street kiosk videos and, of ...