What follows is a brief update on what I’m working on. I know a lot of readers come for the political coverage, but please check out a brief note about the Appalachian Freedom Initiative and the great work they’re doing. This is not a standard news story following traditional style guidelines, but a message to my readers and supporters. As always, thank you for reading.
-Scott
As we settle into a hot summer, we’ve already witnessed a lot. Politically, though it seems quiet, things are likely to heat up from here.
A recent analysis by the University of North Carolina suggests the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on rural hospitals could be significant if passed. Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC) topped the list of medical providers in Ohio under threat.
Top ranking Senate Democrats wrote a letter to researchers at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, requesting data and analysis regarding the potential effects of proposed public healthcare cuts. Researchers provided a comprehensive list of rural hospitals in each state most dependent on Medicaid and Medicare that could be closed if proposed changes go through.
SOMC is Scioto County’s largest employer and, along with other regional hospitals on the list, reductions in services or closure could be devastating for the region’s fragile economy and could impact public health.
I’m working on arranging interviews as this story develops.
Also of note, and another developing story, is the recent decision by Scioto County Juvenile Court Judge Rebecca Bennett to end Scioto County’s participation in the Court Appointed Special Advocates program (CASA). CASA is a volunteer-based program that supports children during family and juvenile court proceedings. This issue was raised by Constance Fried during the Scioto County Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting this week. I’ll be following up on this story as well.
Ohio Senate Bill 1, also called the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, goes into effect today. The sweeping legislation bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and faculty strikes. Supporters of the bill in the Ohio General Assembly said the legislation safeguards intellectual diversity in universities, which has long been a concern of conservatives in the U.S. who accuse professors and college staff of “indoctrinating” young students. Opponents say the bill is anti-labor, and leverages “culture war” politics to reduce the bargaining power of college faculty.
An attempted referendum to repeal SB1 failed to gather enough signatures to appear on the ballot this November.
Pushback to SB1 is not over, and I’m going to arrange interviews with Shawnee State University faculty and staff to follow this story.
There are seismic shifts happening in public sectors locally, mostly because of downward pressure from both the Ohio General Assembly and the Trump Administration. I’m not going to read tea leaves and try to predict what the future holds, but it’s beginning to appear that significant changes are coming.
Appalachian Freedom Initiative
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sitting through a presentation and lecture by researcher Marlita Perkins and Dr. Andrew Feight about the Greenup Slave Revolt. It was excellent, and the work that his team has done is exemplary—especially the amount of original research. For readers that are unfamiliar, I highly recommend checking out the work of the Appalachian Freedom Initiative. I initially wasn’t going to write about this (these things aren’t really my beat), but I think this work is important, so I’d like to share. Here’s Dr. Feight on the project:
The work of our team of researchers has uncovered incredible details of the operations of the Underground Railroad in Portsmouth and the larger Tristate region. When complete we will have verified with the National Park Service 27 sites in nine counties from Ripley in Brown County to Gallipolis in Gallia County, including sites in Greenup and Boyd Counties, Kentucky, and Cabell County, West Virginia. We have succeeded in recovering the central role that African American Methodist and Baptist churches and free Black communities in southern Ohio played in establishing and operating the UGRR. You can see their role in Scioto County, where Allen Chapel AME and Pleasant Green Baptist Church and their pastors and members helped shelter, feed, and provide spiritual and practical guidance, as they helped freedom seekers cross the Ohio to Portsmouth and then make their way to the next stop in Huston Hollow, where a rural free Black community ran the first stop north of the city. I look forward to completing the development of this initial phase of the tour, which will add three more sites in Scioto County, including the location of James M. Ashley’s residence on Second Street - where, today, Patty and Pints is located.
I hope readers take some time and explore this important history.
One Last Word From Dr. Kyle Vick as Pride Month Comes to a Close
Last month Portsmouth witnessed a bitter fight over a resolution to declare public support for the LGBTQ+ community. The debate was clouded with disinformation and plenty of demagoguery. In my editorials, I crossed the line into advocacy, and I stand by that now. That said, I would like to share with readers a social media post from Dr. Kyle Vick, the neuroscientist I interviewed back in May.
Take care and stay cool, everyone.
As always, excellent reading. How I appreciate your writing on local events and politics.