Editor’s Note This is Part I of a 3-part solutions journalism series on wildflowers. Part II published March 24 and Part III published March 25. MANSFIELD — A few weeks ago, Becky Scheidler was scrolling on social media searching for inspiration to start gardening again, a favorite hobby of her past. “I did it a lot when […]
Solutions
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Tech-savvy signage keeps public safe in wake of 2019 Kokosing River tragedies
MOUNT VERNON — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources was planning to install new safety signage along all 15 of the state’s scenic rivers in 2021, heading into the summer season. But Lori Totman could not wait. The Knox County Park District director had just witnessed what she described as the “nightmare” scenario: Two people […]
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Hillsdale students learn driver safety though hands-on scenarios
JEROMESVILLE — An 18-year-old swerved around a bend with a blood alcohol level well over the legal limit, driving over traffic cones with several getting jammed in the wheels of the vehicle. Soon after an adult did the same, seeing double and unable to stay within the boundaries of the path ahead. This impaired driving […]
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Learning to read: Centerburg making shift from cueing to phonics
CENTERBURG — A first grade class sits cross-legged on a colorful rug, their heads tilted up to focus on letter pairings on an interactive whiteboard. “Can you come up and make the word seek?” first grade teacher Emily Hite asks a student. The student drags the letter ‘s,’ the digraph ‘ee’ and the letter ‘k’ […]
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COVID makes identifying, assisting unhoused students harder
MANSFIELD – Phil Mitchell begins his workday like many of us — he checks his email inbox. But the correspondence he’s looking for is hardly ordinary. Mitchell is the coordinator of the Mansfield City Schools S.A.F.E. program, which identifies unhoused students and offers support to them and their families. One of the primary ways schools identify […]
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Unhoused: Harmony House staff conducts required ‘point-in-time’ count
MANSFIELD — Kelly Blankenship was driving back toward Harmony House late Tuesday night, the annual “point-in-time” count complete. As the homeless shelter executive director stopped her car at the intersection of Third and Walnut streets, a man walked toward the vehicle. He asked for “a couple of bucks to buy food,” saying he was sleeping in […]
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New solutions series ‘Unhoused’ will explore issue of homelessness in Richland County
MANSFIELD — What does it mean to be unhoused in Richland County? Officially, it means lacking a permanent place of residence. But what does that actually look like? What are the far-reaching effects? And what responses are being deployed to help? Complex problems deserve comprehensive solutions, and no problem is more complex than the issue […]
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A brief look at child care in Knox County
MOUNT VERNON — Child care is on the minds of parents and business owners alike. Economists see the availability of quality child care as one solution to the labor shortage facing businesses. Reports show that many parents, especially moms, would enter the workforce or work longer hours if they had adequate child care. Locally, employers […]
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Ashland morgue storage insufficient for death rate, contingency plans needed
ASHLAND — Health and emergency medical services officials have said there is not enough space to store dead bodies in Ashland County. There are many reasons for this, but at the forefront is a spike in deaths during winter months and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, officials said. Further, a lack of clear contingency plans across […]
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Does the church have a role in addiction recovery?
NEWARK — Twenty million people in the United States suffer from addiction. Putting that into perspective, that’s one in seven individuals in this country. Another 23 million Americans are in recovery. Fifty percent of people know someone who has suffered or is suffering from substance abuse disorder (SAD). One in seven. That means these folks […]