Mike DeWine
DeWine using state resources for political stunt in sending troopers to border
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is cozying up to the people cozying up to a twice-impeached insurrectionist. That’s bad enough. But he’s doing it at our expense in state resources, tax dollars and community safety. He hoped you wouldn’t notice. That’s why news about the governor sending Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to the Texas-Mexico border […]
Education funding overhaul reappears in final budget draft
The Ohio House’s version of a public school funding overhaul won the day after negotiations ended for the new two-year state budget. The conference committee on the budget bill, comprised of members of both chambers of the Ohio legislature, returned to the so-called “Fair School Funding Plan” after the Senate tried to make its own […]
Proposed budget changes said to threaten Medicaid reforms
The Republican leadership of the Ohio Senate is attempting to give an Ohio-based Medicaid managed-care company a do-over after it failed badly in a competitive process to keep its business with the state. Critics say the do-over — which was apparently lobbied for by the previous Medicaid director — would at least delay a series […]
Results of Vax-A-Million: Ohio vaccination rate spiked, then fizzled
When Ohio’s governor announced a first-in-the-nation vaccine sweepstakes, he acknowledged it might seem like a farfetched idea. “Now I know that some of you now are shaking your head and saying, ‘That Mike DeWine, he’s crazy. This million dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money,’” he said during a public address. Indeed, […]
Denying a financial lifeline to the poorest Ohioans is not the ‘Christian thing to do,’ Gov. DeWine
“It’s not a Christian thing to do, it’s not in the Judeo-Christian tradition to hurt people.” That was Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine a year ago, chastising churches who insisted on holding large services during severe outbreaks of Covid-19. Now it’s DeWine who deserves to be castigated for his unchristian-like choice to hurt the most vulnerable […]
What the Vax-a-Million says about us
There is a saying in public health that you need to “meet people where they are.” The problem is that realizing where people are can sometimes be depressing. This is this hard truth that Gov. Mike DeWine alone was willing to face in turning to a lottery — the so-called Vax-a-Million — to convince more […]
States offer gift cards, clinics at baseball games, worksite shots in push to increase vaccinations
WASHINGTON — Maine officials are enticing residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine by offering free fishing or hunting licenses and L.L. Bean gift cards. Ohio has the National Guard taking shots to the lobbies of senior housing facilities, so those residents only need to come downstairs. And in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz says that if […]
Conservation is a team sport: With H2Ohio, everyone stands to win
By Bill Stanley, The Nature Conservancy I have been involved in conservation, personally and professionally, for more than 30 years. In that time, I’ve learned that long-term conservation success takes three things: innovative thinking, funding, and, above all, collaboration. It’s a lot like the African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If […]
Amid bloody Spring, House Dems renew gun laws push
Ohio House Democrats renewed efforts Monday to pass what they described as common-sense gun laws, characterizing Republicans as in the pocket of the gun lobby and deaf to public hunger for solutions. In a press conference, they talked up several proposals to curb gun violence amid a bloody start to 2021. At least 218 Ohioans […]
Ohio leaders must be vigilant against virus and help prevent more unnecessary deaths
It was springtime, 2020. Andy, as usual, was puttering around his yard on some new project. I couldn’t resist teasing him about spring cleaning and inquired if he did windows. My affable neighbor, a retire middle-school teacher, made a crack about only doing selective window-washing and we laughed. He had a dry sense of humor. […]
Son of murder victim urges legislature to end death penalty quickly
By Jonathan Mann Thomas Knuff, the man who murdered my father, was sentenced to death in 2019. Knuff brutally murdered my father and I live with the pain and grief of that violent loss every single day. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley sought the death penalty for Thomas Knuff and got the conviction. But when […]
Ohio on track to meet Biden push to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is directing states to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said over the weekend the state is on track to do that or better. Biden’s COVID-19 advisers are projecting that enough Americans in priority groups will be able to access […]