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Ohio children benefited from Dolly Parton’s philanthropy

Plenty of the stories shared by those remembering Dolly Parton in the wake of her passing Tuesday revolved not around music, movies or even a theme park, but around books. Because of Parton and her Imagination Library, hundreds of millions of books have been sent out to children and their families. It was a project close to Parton’s heart, and one she expanded outside her beloved Tennessee to Ohio back in 2019. First lady Fran DeWine had a lot to do with that step for the organization. “Her devotion to children and literacy is unparalleled. Because of Dolly, millions of children ...

Has Trump overplayed his hand?

Three moves in the last week have exposed the limits of Donald Trump’s economic bullying. The U.S. slapped 50% tariffs on another $20bn of Canadian goods – then threatened the same rate on the cars, trucks, parts and steel that America Inc depends on. On Monday, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, menaced Iran’s trading partners with exclusion from the U.S. financial network, hoping that coercion can deliver what months of war have not. And as the costs of war, tariffs and pro-billionaire tax cuts helped send U.S. bond yields higher, the Treasury stepped in to tame long-term ...

What if factories had gotten the data center treatment?

When American manufacturing was truly coming into its own in the early 20th century, workers sometimes labored 12-hour days seven days a week and risked life and limb working near dangerous machinery, while factories blackened the skies of American cities. Yet some of the same people who insist that we need to reindustrialize to return to a version of those halcyon days can’t bear the thought of the construction of industrial-scale computing facilities. They complain that data centers are unsightly and use lots of energy and water. But what do they think major factories are like? ...

An app a day keeps the parents away from school

Well, it’s back-to-school season again, and parents across the country know what that means: It’s time to download some new apps. Yes, you already have 10 apps; that’s true. There’s one for the park district, one for summer camp, one for your oldest kid’s teacher to post weekly updates, one for your youngest kid’s teacher to post weekly updates, one for the PTA to inform you of another request for a “suggested donation,” one for fuzzy pictures of children’s backs as they color, one for grades with a dropdown menu written in Cuneiform, one for a fifth grade parent ...

Ohio, W.Va. reputations for work slip

WalletHub recently produced its “Hardest-Working States in America (2026)” report. Readers in West Virginia and Appalachian Ohio are likely thinking “Finally! A report in which our region will not be dead last.” About that … Both the Buckeye and the Mountain states fall in the bottom 10, which WalletHub labels “least hardworking.” West Virginia is 42nd, Ohio is 47th — those residents will be pleased to note that ranks above Michigan, which did, indeed, come in dead last. This study looked at direct work factors, including metrics such as average workweek hours, ...

Don’t fear Flock cameras

We have met the enemy — and it is watching us. There’s a growing backlash against Flock cameras, the automated license plate readers that have become ubiquitous across the country. The cameras take images of license plates, which are then stored in a searchable database that police departments can query in the course of investigations. Opponents of the cameras consider them an instrument of Big Brother, who’s not only watching, but constantly recording and tracking. Vandals have disabled and stolen the cameras and shot them. There’s a movement to get jurisdictions to ...