The newest recreational area of Friendship Park in eastern Ohio’s Jefferson County is situated between acres of rolling farmland and a big lake.
The sloping hill there has just been revegetated with native plants, two different types of restored wetlands, pollinator plots, even a bat roost.
Playgrounds and picnic tables dot Triangle Park in Dayton. The unassuming green space is similar to any number of parks in the city and across Ohio: a field of trees, a gravel path, plenty of grass to play on. But Triangle Park played a key role in America’s most popular sport.
The National Climate Assessment is a research-based, federal report on climate change and its impacts, risks and responses across the country. The assessment is the culmination of years of work by nearly 500 authors and 250 contributors. Their analysis of national and international data paints a picture of what climate change will look and feel like over time.
Ohio is becoming more diverse.
More than a decade ago, in 2011, people of color made up 18.6% of the population. By 2021, that number had grown to 22.2% — an increase of 3.6%.
But that growth did not happen equally across the state.
Athens County’s friendship benches are tucked discreetly into pockets of public spaces: libraries, a community center, the health department.
Sometimes they’re vacant.
But other times, a trained and trusted community member with a listening ear, like Shari Blackwell, will sit on one side of the tête-à-tête style bench, inviting strangers to join her.
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.
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!”
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.
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.
