Today From The Ohio Newsroom

Ohio food pantries offer new Americans a taste of home with culturally-appropriate staples

It’s six in the afternoon and Rachel Niyonsaba is packing two dozen bags with food in the back corner of a church basement.

“I started with some fresh zucchinis, some green peppers, red onions. We have some peanut flour,” Niyonsaba said.

Ope! Not all Ohioans identify as Midwestern

Researchers from the Middle West Review, a scholarly journal studying the Midwest, posed a simple question to people across the country’s mid-section: ‘Do you consider yourself a part of the Midwest?’ Nearly 80% of Ohioans said, “You betcha!”

Ohio received billions in ARPA funds. Where is it going?

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) gave the state more than $5.4 billion in the State Fiscal Recovery Fund to help Ohio’s economy bounce back from the COVID pandemic. Billions more went to individual local city and county governments.

Tally it all together, and Ohio received almost $11 billion in state and local fiscal recovery funds.

Ohio school board races may be nonpartisan, but they’re far from apolitical

Voters are casting ballots on two statewide issues today. But there’s lots of local levies and races for Ohioans to decide on as well. Among those: school board positions. The races are nonpartisan – candidates don’t run as a Republican or Democrat. But the contests are still fraught with controversial political issues.

Who, and where, are Ohio’s ‘missing’ voters?

Ohio voters are set to decide two highly contentious issues this week — one about abortion access, the other about legalizing recreational marijuana.

Feeding Canada Geese won’t fly in Mentor. It’s now a misdemeanor offense

The geese greatly outnumbered people in Garfield Park on a sunny Thursday in Mentor. They swam, sat in front of park benches, strolled on the sidewalks. A car honked at one blocking the road. The goose honked back.

A new alliance is tackling mental health in Ohio agriculture

Stress-related health conditions, mental illness and suicide rates have been higher in agriculture than in other industries for decades.

Yet, rural areas don’t always have the resources to get people the help and support they need.

A newly formed alliance aims to fill that gap.

More Ohioans turning to permanent contraception, amid abortion uncertainty

Sitting in the living room of her Cleveland home, 30-year-old Grace O’Malley reflects on when she ruled out having kids of her own.

Reader Beware! Ohio shapes scary stories by best-selling “Goosebumps” author R.L. Stine

When R.L. Stine was growing up in Bexley in Central Ohio, he was afraid of everything. It’s part of what led him to spend so much time writing in his bedroom beginning at age 9.

“I was always sure something was lurking in the garage, waiting for me. Something horrible,” he said.

Mythbusting Ohio’s ‘cursed’ Indigenous burial ground trope

Indigenous mounds and burial sites speckle Ohio’s landscape, from Miamisburg in the west to Marietta in the east.

These sites played important roles in many Indigenous cultures.