Editorials from around Ohio

Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers:

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The Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 12

Which is worse - not having the resources available to help children in need, or hoarding the resources that could relieve some of their struggles?

We believe it is the latter and strongly urge the administration of Gov. John Kasich to think carefully how it plans to spend a half-billion-dollar surplus in the program to assist the poorest of poor Ohioans.

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The surplus is noted in a recent report from the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on health, social and economic issues. The report’s title says it all: “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Ohio: Majority of Ohioans living in deep poverty don’t receive cash assistance.”

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The CCS report notes the number of poor Ohio families helped by TANF has greatly declined. When TANF began in 1996, it helped 68 of every 100 families living in poverty. By 2016, that had declined to just 23 of 100 families in poverty. Some of the reduction is due to Ohio’s three-year limit for receiving cash assistance and work requirements for adults.

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We encourage this administration - and Ohio’s next governor elected in November - to stop underspending for TANF and ensure the state’s neediest children are not victims of budget hoarding.

Online: https://bit.ly/2yG05Af

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The News-Herald, Oct. 13

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An estimated 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications last winter - the most deaths from the disease in 40 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in an Associated Press story.

In recent years, flu-related deaths in the U.S. have ranged from about 12,000 to 50,000 each winter season, the CDC stated.

After seeing the number of flu-related deaths spike during the winter of 2017-18, we’re wondering if some people might feel it’s not worth getting an annual flu shot this year.

However, we hope that people will think and act differently. An annual flu shot is still a good example of preventative medicine, even though it doesn’t come with a 100 percent guarantee.

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The flu vaccine can:

- Keep you from getting the flu.

- Make the flu less severe if you do get it.

- Keep you from spreading the flu to your family and other people.

Perhaps now is also a good time to clear up misconception. Getting a flu shot cannot give you the flu. There is no live virus in flu shots, the CDC stated.

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Online: https://bit.ly/2RSWWWq

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The Vindicator, Oct. 12

One of the most visible trends of the administration of President Donald J. Trump over the past 20 months has been its success in loosening or gutting dozens of rules and regulations that aimed to protect the quality of this nation’s most precious and vital natural resources.

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Many big businesses have viewed them as productive and necessary tools toward ensuring corporate sustainability. Many environmentalists and public-health leaders have vilified the looser regulations as a misguided step back in time to when environmental protection did not play any serious role in the federal government.

In Ohio in general and the Mahoning Valley in particular, however, we’re pleased to see no such dilution, and the public sector’s commitment to the quality of our air and water remains strong and vigilant.

The proof is in two recent spills into waterways to which local authorities and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency responded quickly and professionally.

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Taken together, the prompt and efficient responses to water pollutants in both Valley streams and the quick assessment of their causes should comfort our communities in the knowledge that their state and local authorities continue to consider environmental hazards as they should - as serious public-health business.

Online: https://bit.ly/2OXJYbn

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The Marietta Times, Oct. 15

First, the good news: The number of domestic-violence related deaths in Ohio went down last year - from 116 in fiscal 2016 to 91 in fiscal 2017.

Now, the bad news: There were still 91 domestic-violence related deaths in Ohio last year.

For domestic violence advocates it is an unfortunate reminder of the importance of listening to those who report domestic violence and sexual assault.

… Nancy Neylon, executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, says the sharply divided public opinion surrounding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings may have done a bit of damage in that regard. She told another media outlet it was a “setback.”

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No matter what one believes about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh, it is important not to let that political spectacle influence our common decency in remembering that, yes, everyone is innocent until PROVEN guilty; and that victims of domestic violence must feel safe knowing they will be received by someone with an open mind when they find the courage to report it. In Ohio last year, 91 people never got a chance to make their case.

Online: https://bit.ly/2OnPN2x