Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers:
The Canton Repository, Feb. 21
Early this century - about the time many of the kids in this this year’s high school senior class first came into the world - the Transportation Security Administration got serious about cracking down on anyone who uttered the word “bomb” in an airport or on a plane.
Zero tolerance.
It doesn’t matter whether the culprit is serious or not. Say the word, face the consequences - and those consequences can be harsh.
Every now and then, when some smart-aleck thinks he’ll be the wise guy, he quickly learns the level of his stupidity.
On Wednesday, Stark County Sheriff George Maier drew a similar line in the sand over threats related to violence in schools.
Zero tolerance.
Harsh penalties.
In a directive from his office, in language this Editorial Board supports, Maier made it clear to anyone of any age who would issue - or re-post on social media - a threat related to school violence: Law enforcement will find you, and you will be punished.
“The Stark County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to investigating any individual who utilizes social media in a way to create fear or alarm to others. We will hold them accountable,” Maier said in a news release that came only a few hours after a 16-year-old girl was charged with two felony counts related to alleged threat-making. She and more than a dozen others roughly her age from across the county have learned over the past few days that enough is enough.
“We have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior,” Maier said. “We will be swift and sure with our investigations. There will be no leniency for individuals who indicate they may cause harm to another person.”
To the 99 percent of kids in school who aren’t causing the problems, Maier said: “If you see something, say something.” And don’t forward or re-post any type of threatening message. Instead, follow the lead of the teen who helped Stark deputies move swiftly in Wednesday morning’s case: Take a screenshot of the post and inform authorities.
Maier also had strong words of advice to parents: Talk to your kids. Lock up your guns. You could face penalties for the actions of your children.
Each public school district across Stark County will convey information about the zero-tolerance policy at their high schools and middle schools in coming days, in most cases through conversations between teachers and students in their homerooms.
There is “nothing funny at all about posting pictures with guns or making threats,” county schools Superintendent Joe Chaddock said shortly after meeting with Maier to discuss the sheriff’s position.
Students, teachers and support staff deserve safe schools. No one should fear being in a classroom. Ever.
Let it be clear: There will be zero tolerance for those who would threaten otherwise.
Online: http://bit.ly/2sXzP4T
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The (Youngstown) Vindicator, Feb. 26
In announcing his plan to eliminate funding for a federal program that helps people - especially the working poor - to meet rising heating bills in the dead of winter, President Donald Trump’s administration alleged that no one was going to freeze without the program and, besides, it is rife with fraud,
Those are common threads among critics of federal programs that help the least fortunate among us. Money is being wasted, they say. If there is a real need, someone will step up to fill the void, they promise. And, of course, there’s the overarching contention, even if not spoken by the administration in this case: Too many of the recipients of federal aid simply don’t deserve to be helped.
The program that the president is putting on the chopping block is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. It helps families pay their heating bills primarily through grants sent directly to utility companies or heating fuel vendors, which reduces opportunities for abuse.
Commonly known by its acronym, HEAP, the program has broad bipartisan support, especially among lawmakers in cold-weather states. A year ago, before Trump’s administration first announced its proposed budget, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, were among 45 senators who called for “robust funding” for the program.
They noted that more than 90 percent of HEAP recipients have at least one household member who is a child, elderly, or disabled, and 20 percent of the households include a veteran.
Congress rejected Trump’s proposed cuts last year and allocated $3.4 billion for the program. A little more than $3 billion was included in the budget that eventually passed.
That money will help about 6 million households, which is why the program is popular, even among Trump supporters. The Associated Press interviewed Dwayne LaBrecque, a diabetic who is on disability after losing several toes and part of his foot to infection.
“If the president turned around and did away with that funding, I have no idea how we’d survive in the winter,” said LaBrecque, whose income plummeted when he lost his job as a shipping manager. He and his fiancee and their five children are struggling in the rural Maine town of Hartford. The family received about $1,000 in heating assistance this winter.
A Trump supporter, LaBrecque said he won’t be voting for Trump again if the president succeeds in killing off the program.
In Ohio, recipients must have had their heating source disconnected, be threatened with disconnection or have less than a 25 percent supply of bulk fuel. In Mahoning County, more than 3,500 families received help through HEAP’s winter crisis program last year. MYCAP also received funding that helped low-income families make winterization improvements to their homes that will pay long-term dividends.
As for the contention that if there is a need, others will step in to help if the federal government steps out, we would wonder who those others would be. The people of the Mahoning Valley already support their churches, the United Way, food banks, the Red Cross and other charities too numerous to mention.
During the blizzard of 1978 there were people here in the Mahoning Valley who were found frozen to death after their heat had been turned off. That was just 40 years ago, but it is a pre-HEAP time to which we should not return.
It is not realistic to suggest that private or religious charities are in a position to step in and keep 3,500 families in Mahoning County from having their heat turned off when temperatures outside are in the teens or lower. Multiple polls and surveys in recent years have shown that most American families don’t have ready access to emergency cash. A Bankrate financial security index survey released last month showed only 39 percent of American families would be able to cover a $1,000 emergency bill.
Granted, of those 4 out of 10 that were emergency-ready, many would have far greater assets. And out of those 6 in 10 who couldn’t come up with $1,000, many had nothing to fall back on.
If local charities are overextended, and 6 in 10 families can’t help themselves in an emergency, is it wrong for the government to help an unemployed veteran or a senior citizen getting by on Social Security from having their heat turned off? It isn’t.
The president should begin looking for imaginative ways to make America great again, ways other than cutting federal housing assistance, food stamps or heating assistance - ways that do not make it more difficult for the disabled or working poor to survive.
Online: http://bit.ly/2HNN8Ih
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The Blade, Feb. 25
As plans for a Toledo Area Water Authority progress, planners have begun a town-by-town series of public-information sessions to sell the deal. In most communities, a vote from city council will be enough to join the new regional authority. That might not be enough for Toledo.
Before Toledo can join the new regional system, city officials will need to answer some legal questions and make a more persuasive pitch to its residents.
The city’s lawyers have had an evolving interpretation of the city charter when it comes to the regional water issues.
For several years, Toledo attorneys said the charter would not allow the city to sell its water treatment plant and other infrastructure to a new authority. But lately, city attorneys working for Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, who supports the regional water authority, have said a re-reading of the applicable section of the charter pursuades them that the sale would be legally permissible.
Lawyers also must wrestle with a charter clause that says the city must seek voter approval before granting a “general public utility franchise.” The question remains whether joining the Toledo Area Water Authority amounts to granting a franchise and triggers a referendum.
Giving the city’s residents a vote on the regional water plan risks sinking the whole deal. That would be a potential disaster for Toledo and the suburbs.
But this is a decision of such importance that city voters surely have a right to pass judgement. And giving city voters the power to affirm or nix the deal gives them ownership. It also forces the mayor of Toledo and the leaders of the suburbs to make their case.
Regardless of whether the charter forces Toledo officials to put regional water before voters, they should commit to a persuasive campaign that will convince residents that regional water is the best option for Toledo.
Taking it to the people is never a mistake.
Online: http://bit.ly/2ClEKQP
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Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 17
The notion of the “starving college student,” subsisting on ramen noodles and the occasional beer, is a quaint little campus concept that should be long retired - like “co-ed” and panty raids.
Nobody should go hungry in America, certainly not people who are sacrificing to pay ever-increasing tuition in order to build better lives.
Colleges and universities are beginning to recognize that, along with folks who are nontraditional in age and more diverse in every way, the typical student body includes people struggling to make basic ends meet.
It’s encouraging that campuses are responding, in many cases by setting up food banks. Ohio University has taken an extra step, by applying for and receiving permission to accept federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, formerly known as food stamps.
OU students who qualify can use SNAP to buy food at a campus-run grocery. The university also is making an effort to let students who aren’t enrolled in SNAP know that they might qualify.
That sort of proactive approach probably is more important now than in the past, as colleges and universities seek to help and encourage low-income students and adults get college training or degrees.
More campuses should consider qualifying for SNAP spending. Even with financial aid, many low-income students need help to cover expenses. If no on-campus store accepts them, food stamps can’t be much help to a student who doesn’t have a car to drive to the nearest grocery store.
In trying to increase the percentage of low-income and first-generation students who make it to graduation, colleges and universities provide many supports: tutoring, academic advising, help making the social transition to college. If they aren’t already including assistance to those who need food, they should start.
Online: http://bit.ly/2FaH8v3
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