Commentary

COMMENTARY
The Ohio Department of Education in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.)

Ohio Republicans work to politicize our schools, destroy power of elected state school board

BY: - September 26, 2023

Last fall I voted for a serious candidate to be my levelheaded voice on the Ohio Board of Education. Like many voters, I was fed up with the far right craziness that had infiltrated the ed board at the expense of real issues roiling public education in the state — unconstitutional school funding, under-resourced schools, […]

COMMENTARY

Opinion: Recognizing progress and opportunities for our railroads during Rail Safety Week

BY: - September 22, 2023

By Jeff Buddle The writer is president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Maryland. Every three hours in the United States a person or vehicle is hit by a train, and 60% of collisions occur at crossings that are equipped with lights and/or gates. More than 2,100 people across North America are injured or killed […]

COMMENTARY

Long Covid isolates sick people and their loved ones

BY: - September 21, 2023

My girlfriend’s idea felt brilliant to me: Put out a call on Facebook for Covid-cautious people in our area to rent a theater together. We could watch the Barbie movie while wearing high-quality masks to keep each other safe. The plan turned out to be quixotic. No one responded to Sarah’s request. She scrolled through […]

COMMENTARY

Vouchers awards public Ohio tax dollars to discriminatory private religious schools

BY: - September 19, 2023

Public financing of parochial school prejudice is the law in Ohio. Take a minute to process, I’ll wait. The state has opened its coffers to Catholic schools that discriminate. The overwhelming amount of Ohio’s voucher money — free taxpayer money to offset private and religious school tuition — goes to Catholic schools.  The Catholic Diocese […]

COMMENTARY

Census Bureau releases new poverty numbers

BY: - September 18, 2023

On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual report on the state of poverty in the United States. Every year, this is the biggest moment in poverty statistics as we get a snapshot of what poverty looked like in the previous year. While statewide information is forthcoming, with the national numbers we can come […]

COMMENTARY
The Ohio burgee waving along with the national flag of the United States of America. Getty Images.

We are facing a sustained, historic assault on democracy in Ohio and across America

BY: - September 15, 2023

The textbook definition of democratic decline includes the weakening of democratic institutions like the peaceful transition of power or free and fair elections, and the violation of rights that underpin democracy. Ohio is in the middle of a sustained, historic assault perpetuating just such a decline, and so is America. Due to events that have […]

COMMENTARY

Ohio Redistricting Commission descends into chaos and dysfunction on first day back

BY: - September 13, 2023

If Ohio politicians planned to show exactly why they deserve to be kicked out of the redistricting process entirely, they couldn’t have done a better job than the shameful display they put on Wednesday morning: They immediately descended into chaos and dysfunction after waiting more than 16 months to begin the process of drawing new […]

COMMENTARY

Trump’s trial will be televised. That transparency comes with a cost.

BY: - September 13, 2023

The first of the televised sessions in former President Donald Trump’s conspiracy trial in Georgia aired Sept. 5, and it was dull as a butter knife: Two of the 19 alleged conspirators arguing to have their cases separated from the mob and from each other. It was an inauspicious start to what is potentially the […]

COMMENTARY

Jim Jordan uses weaponization of government committee to weaponize government, persecute prosecutors

BY: - September 12, 2023

Bullies expect their targets to cower and comply. When the bullied show backbone their intimidators often buckle. That’s how it’s done. Last week it happened to Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-Urbana). The MAGA Republican got owned by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for his outrageous abuse of power.  She tore into the jacketless […]

COMMENTARY
Getty Images.

What’s the matter with zoning?

BY: - September 11, 2023

Conversations in Columbus have been brewing for years about an overhaul of the city’s 70-year-old zoning code. City officials are now saying they will likely vote on a large reform package this spring. While zoning, or restriction of land for particular uses, feels as American as apple pie, the institution is only an invention of […]

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The US committed but struggling to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals

BY: and - September 8, 2023

In a Zen parable, a man sees a horse and rider galloping by. The man asks the rider where he’s going, and the rider responds, “I don’t know. Ask the horse!” It is easy to feel out of control and helpless in the face of the many problems Americans are now experiencing – unaffordable health […]

COMMENTARY

Ohio voters can expect to get hosed again by gerrymandering in upcoming redistricting charade

BY: - September 7, 2023

As Ohio gears up for another round of Statehouse redistricting, Republican politicians’ gerrymandering games never really ended — they were just intentionally paused to run out the clock on a full, fair, transparent, and good faith process. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has called for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to reconvene on Wednesday, Sept. 13. Ohio […]