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Ohio State Fair just the ticket for late-summer fun

Buckeye State families looking to squeeze in one more family outing before the start of school should consider a trip to Columbus for the Ohio State Fair. The annual tradition began July 29 and ends Aug. 9. In between, there is plenty of food and fun in an event that has been growing since 1950. There are, of course, the traditional competitions in categories ranging from beef or goats to the creative arts or horticulture/floriculture. There are rides, entertainment — if hypnotists and magicians aren’t your thing, perhaps you’ll want to stay for Nelly, Sammy Kershaw or “Weird ...

Dr. Fauci diary reveals just how highly he feels about himself

We are born with an ego — from a baby’s first cry to our death. Most can control their ego, protecting themselves and others from harm. Some give it free reign, causing the fallout to be substantial. History is full of people who let their ego get the best of them. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who rose to international fame during the COVID-19 pandemic, fed his ego, causing great harm to others. Thanks to Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, we can now read the diary Dr. Fauci compiled during that stressful and deadly period. Through more than 1,000 pages, Dr. Fauci, who then headed the ...

Parents in need of back-to-school discounts can receive a break

Need a budget break on back-to-school shopping? Ohio’s Department of Taxation has one built in Aug. 7-9, with a sales tax holiday that should help. Though there is no expanded holiday this year, for those three days, clothing priced $75 or less, school supplies priced $20 or less and school instructional materials priced $20 or less will be exempt from sales tax. While most of us are capable of using common sense to sort it out, the department does note the sales tax holiday does NOT apply to “food in restaurants, boats/watercrafts, titled outboard motors, motor vehicles, ...

Socialists v. the U.S. Senate

Political parties tend to harshly reject the idea that they are a threat to the constitutional order, but the Democratic Socialists of America are making it part of their brand. The DSA has released a new program that, besides contemplating the advent of a classless society, calls for abolishing the Senate, the presidency and the Supreme Court. This is literally a revolutionary program to topple the American system as we have known it since 1789. It’s the kind of thing you might expect after angry rebels mount the barricades in Washington, D.C., and overthrow the government. It ...

Nebraska’s Osborn is really real

“A Face in the Crowd” is the prophetic 1957 movie about a charismatic drifter “discovered” in an Arkansas jail. The face belongs to “Lonesome” Rhodes, a scoundrel whose folksy act catapults him to national prominence. “Lonesome” (Andy Griffith) abuses women, but the crowd only sees a lovable spinner of down-home yarns. He deflates after getting caught on an open mic mocking his followers as idiots and fools. Maine’s Graham Platner was a face in the crowd, sold to Democrats as a salt-of-the-sea oysterman who actually came from a privileged background. The senatorial ...

Ohio’s lack of affordable housing just getting worse

Affordable, accessible housing is getting harder to find in Ohio; and the “affordable” part is getting a little harder to define. A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio shows a “modest” two-bedroom apartment in the Buckeye State is even further out of reach now than it was a year ago. Last year, the group estimated a full-time worker would have to make $22.51 per hour to afford to rent at HUD’s Fair Market Rent without spending more than 30% of their income, according to a report by the Ohio Capital ...