Breaking News

Editorials

Ruling on voting rights has racist undertones

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cautiously praised the hard-won Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a “great step forward” toward removing obstacles that kept black Americans from voting. It was. But last week, in striking down a voter redistricting map in Louisiana, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken that embattled law and the movement that marched and campaigned for it on a disastrous step backward. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expressed the sentiments of many Americans, particularly Democrats, saying of the high court ruling, “It is an attack on a crown jewel of our democracy.” As ...

Yost, other state AGs seek drug transparency

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has joined an important effort by 45 state attorneys general to push the federal government to seek more transparency in prescription-drug transactions through pharmacy benefit managers, and to ensure federal efforts do not preempt state transparency laws. It’s a significant effort because PBMs — the companies that are supposed to represent insurers in drug transactions — have always favored the federal rules and regulations over state laws. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the three largest PBMs control approximately 80% of ...

Kimmel’s unfunny jokes pave the way for violence

Americans love arguing about free speech. We invoke the First Amendment as a kind of political force field: You can say whatever you want, whenever you want, without consequence. But the First Amendment only restricts government action. It does not guarantee you a career, a platform or ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To longtime Trumbull County Treasurer Sam Lamancusa for winning the Gus Frangos Lifetime Achievement Award last week from the Ohio Land Bank Association at its annual conference in Toledo. Lamancusa, who retired last year after 24 years of service in the treasurer’s post, richly deserved the honor for his herculean efforts to create and strengthen land bank programs in Trumbull County and throughout the state. In Trumbull County, for example, Lamancusa oversaw projects that led to the renovation or construction of more than 500 homes. His office also facilitated the reuse of ...

Ohio tax abolition campaign stumbles; opposition grows

From a variety of perspectives, the Ax OH Tax movement to abolish all local property taxes in Ohio is going over like the proverbial lead balloon. Consider: ● Its nearly yearlong drive to collect its goal of 620,000 ballot-access petition signatures as of last week has fallen woefully short, lacking 315,000 needed signers. And time is running short for their submission to state officials to qualify for this fall’s ballot. ● A mushrooming coalition of more than 65 organizations and local governments across the state have united under the banner of Ohioans to Protect Public ...

Who’s to blame this time?

It would be amusing if it wasn’t so serious. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and several other Democrats were on weekend programs calling for a toning down of the political conversation following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington. Jeffries went so far as to say we are all Americans. This after regularly denouncing the president in harsh tones. Another of the bad rhetorical offenders has been Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. He has called the president an authoritarian who threatens the Constitution, rule of law and democracy. There are ...