On his first day in office, President Joe Biden rescinded the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, and followed that up by suspending new oil and gas leasing and drilling on federal lands and waters. Americans have unfortunately felt the effects of these actions through record-high energy prices.

A recent Rand study found that 77% of school districts used the federal money on exactly what numerous other fiscal hawks cautioned against: beefing up staffing with little regard for the future. “Roughly half of district leaders see a fiscal cliff looming after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) federal aid expires,” Rand researchers reported. The study noted that over three-quarters of public school districts have “increased their number of teaching and non-teaching staff above pre-pandemic levels.”

Special thanks is extended to two area residents – Bob Hodson and Jim Lukens – for recently sharing a bit of local history with The Highland County Press.

Despite empty government cubicles, President Joe Biden tucked a 5.2-percent pay raise for the 1.4 million employees of executive agencies into his proposed budget. That would be the single largest pay hike for the Swamp since 1980. They don't call it Club Fed for nothing.

With red flags flying, and with the stakes at American universities, laboratories and businesses high, Biden’s indifference to the Chinese entering illegally – and virtually at will – proves his callous disregard for the nation he’s sworn to defend and the citizens who trusted him.

On yesterday’s walk along the creek, I noticed that the buckeye trees were just beginning to wake up. Fat, red buds were swelling at their branch ends. I could see that some of the buds had even unfurled into close clusters of tiny, feathered leaves, and I was reminded of a story from several years ago when Greg and I drove east to visit my brother and his wife in the far northeastern mountains.

Will the information age be an era of informed, empowered citizens – or an era of a dominant, information-controlling elite? Stay tuned. That’s the question we need to answer.

We have to look to Jesus with faith, looking not for what the world celebrates, but for what sinners need: A holy Savior who bore the sins of His people on the cross and rose again for their salvation.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI), a pro-immigration, Washington, D.C.-based research organization whose self-described mission is to “improve immigration,” published a timely report on Nicaragua and its citizens’ exodus from their home country.

AI development is at the point where researchers are not sure when its intelligence will surpass humanity’s and concede perhaps it already has. Earlier this week, an open letter containing names like Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) and others gained over 1,000 (latest count 2,137) signatures calling for at least a six-month pause in training the AI systems to be more powerful than Chat GPT-4. Others are saying the pause needs to be 30 years. Good luck with that.

Baseball is still the game you are more likely to find fathers and sons playing together. I know that when you’re in the backyard and the cool breeze is blowing and you’re playing catch, and you smell the leather, and you hear a baseball smack the back of the glove, and you see the smile on your child’s face, that’s about as perfect a feeling as there is.

Ohio is now a national leader in regulatory reform when the legislature passed Senate Bill 9 in 2022. This law established a goal of 30-percent reduction in regulations by 2025 with the goal of making Ohio’s businesses more competitive and spurring growth in the Buckeye state.

The future of the world is at stake. Up till now, those wishing for action commensurate with the threat could only watch this disaster unfold. But Americans now have a choice. If they support global victory for the Eurasian Axis, they should vote for Trump. If they don’t particularly care which side wins, DeSantis is their man. But if they want the West and all it stands for to prevail, they now have a candidate.

I will continue to work for U.S. producers and others as Farm Bill reauthorization discussions take shape. I encourage those interested in these issues to contact me with your views as Congress begins the process of writing the next Farm Bill.

The deadline for filing your 2022 taxes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is less than a month away, and it is critical you file your tax returns on or before Tax Day to avoid late penalties. As this crucial deadline on April 18 approaches, I wanted to share some suggestions and resources to ensure you are well prepared for a smooth and timely filing process.