READ THE SCRIPT:
As Ohio bids goodbye to 2019, let's recap stories for the last month of the year.
Welcome to December's "Buckeye Beat," I'm Pat Miller.
The United States Census Bureau announced it will be hiring 100s of 1,000s of people to help conduct the census. Including folks in eight different areas in Ohio. A census is an official count or survey of a population in the United States. It happens every 10 years.
Everyone has to fill out a form with various details about themselves, such as their age, race and family size. This helps the federal government keep track of the size of every state.
It also determines how many members of the House of Representatives each state gets. Right now Ohio has 16 Representatives but we used to have more. After the 2010 Census we lost two seats. And with the 2020 Census we're expected to lose another. All because of the decrease in population.
From the National House of Representatives let's turn to the Ohio House of Representatives. These state lawmakers passed a bill on December 12th that would stop local communities from banning plastic bags.
Earlier this year three areas across the state banned plastic bags, Cuyahoga County, Orange Village and Bexley. But republican representatives who supported the bill want to keep other places from doing that in the future. They say it should be up to the businesses to decide whether or not to use plastic bags, not a local government.
Opponents of the bill, mostly Democrats, say they think the house is overstepping its boundaries by telling local officials what they can and can't do. The bill now heads to the Ohio Senate. But Governor Mike DeWine has said if the bill passes the senate, he will likely veto it when it gets to him.
So we want to know who do you think should have the power to ban plastic bags? Head over to newsdepth.ideastream.org to vote in our online poll. You can choose either the federal government, the state government, or local governments.
Then write to us. Do you think plastic bags should be banned? Make sure to support your answer. Rick will be sharing those letters next week.
Sticking with the Ohio lawmakers, some in the Ohio House want to change how school districts are evaluated each year. They released a study of the current grading system on December 15th.
Right now school districts are graded just like most of you. They receive a report card with an A through F from the state. They are graded on factors like how well students do on standardized tests, and the rate of students who graduate.
But legislators say that the system isn't working and hope to make changes in the new year. They say that the grading scale is too simplistic, and that the grades sometimes can be misleading. The grades are supposed to help communities know whether the schools are doing a good job preparing students for the future.
Did you drive to a relative's house for the holidays? If so you may have seen a festive and cleaver sign on the highway. The Ohio Department of Transportation, also known as ODOT, came up with some creative catchphrases for drivers over the holiday season.
The messages discourage speeding, distracted and drunk driving. But they also reference classic Christmas movies. One sign paid tribute to the movie, "A Christmas Story," and said, "Drop the phone, "we triple dog dare you." another said, "Life is fragile, stay safe." ODOT says most traffic accidents are completely preventable. So they wanted drivers to stay heads up with a holiday twist.
Well, that's it for Ohio's December news. I'm Pat Miller. Tune in next month for more Ohio happenings.
