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Get all the lead out responsibly but realistically

Editorials

The public-health jury has been in for some time now, and its verdict on lead pipes is clear and stark. Lead pipes providing drinking water to American households are guilty of serious, toxic and sometimes life-threatening health risks to children and adults. For children, lead leached into drinking water is tied to behavior and learning problems, lower IQ, hyperactivity, slowed physical growth and hearing problems. For adults, the dangers include heightened blood pressure, hypertension, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems for both men and women. That’s why state ...

Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To the Warren Heritage Center for recently adding a tribute exhibit to astronaut Ron Parise at the Neil Armstrong First Flight Lunar Module replica exhibit off Parkman Road in the city. The addition, in the form of a large illustrated biographical sign, stands as a worthy and needed addition to the site that pays homage to local heroes in space travel. Its main attraction is a half-scale replica of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Module on the site where Ohioan and first man on the moon Neil Armstrong made his first airplane ride. Warren-born Parise more than earned his place at the ...

State’s OhioSEE program coming clearly into focus

Editorials

At the end of the school year, Gov. Mike DeWine attended an event at Dublin City Schools elementary school, during which he did a countdown that ended with several young students putting on their prescription glasses for the first time. It was the lead-in for DeWine to talk about the expansion of the OhioSEE program. And, for those of you who remember what it was like to put on glasses and see clearly for the first time, likely quite an effective one. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, OhioSEE has so far administered approximately 1,900 eye exams, with nearly 1,200 ...

Tressel reflects on enormity, complexity of his state post

David Skolnick

Gov. Mike DeWine surprised many people when he announced Feb. 10, 2025, that he was nominating Jim Tressel, the retired Youngstown State University president and a former football coach at YSU and Ohio State University, to be lieutenant governor. While a longtime Republican like DeWine, Tressel had never held or run for elected office before the selection. During Tressel’s time as lieutenant governor, DeWine repeatedly said he had the utmost confidence that he would do a great job and if something happened to the governor, he was certain Tressel could run the state. A couple of ...

Mass-graves myth is media malpractice

Editorials

A hoax costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and appears to incite arson attacks against dozens of churches. No, this isn’t the latest headline out of Minnesota — look a little further north. In 2021, at a time when media throughout the Western world were still in a state of agitation after the killing of George Floyd, Canadian outlets picked up a story too sensational not to be true: Hundreds of indigenous First Nations children had been buried in unmarked graves at schools run by the Catholic Church in British Columbia. The Kamloops Indian Band said remains of 215 ...

Redefine what ‘man up’ truly means to save lives

Editorials

I frequently speak with parents who have lost their child to suicide. Recently, I met with the mother of a teenage boy. She shared he had been dealing with mental health challenges for several months but seemed to be improving. One evening, he sent her a casual “I love you, Mom.” She did not think much of it at the time. After a concerned friend reached out, she used a phone-tracking feature to locate him and tragically found him in his car. After his burial, she discovered text messages where her son had written to a friend about the struggles he was having. The last message he ...