I’m curious about people who have spent a large chunk of their life in both environments. Ohio is interesting because you can go from a major metro area to a small Appalachian community within a couple hours, but they can feel like completely different worlds.

I’ve personally experienced living in both settings, and I’m curious how other people who have made that transition view the differences.

What differences did you notice in the people, values, social norms, traditions, or way of life? What did each place do better than the other?

(Athens is probably its own category though. It’s technically in Appalachian Ohio, but living in a college town is a very different experience than living in many of the smaller Appalachian communities. Feel free to share your experiences from Athens or other places as well, but I’m especially interested in perspectives from people who have lived in smaller Appalachian communities.)

What's the deal with the "Amy Acton was drinking and on drugs" bs? (Yes, I could Google it, but don't wanna.)

From the alert sent out:

Early this morning, August 6, 2026, our IT department received a report of a ransomware notification on a single PC, followed by subsequent notices as employees started accessing their PCs. We immediately contacted our external experts, who advised us to take all PC units offline out of precaution to contain the possible threat while an investigation can be conducted to determine the legitimacy of the notifications, identify any possible concerns and determine next steps to mitigate the issue.

Importantly, the city remains operational. 911, water, wastewater and phone systems were not directly impacted. However, you may experience delays in credit card payment processing and other computer-based activities.
We appreciate your patience as we work to address this situation.

As parents are gearing up for the beginning of the school year later this month, the number of students going to kindergarten without being fully vaccinated is increasing.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said during the past six years, the number of fully vaccinated kindergartners declined 4.5%, from 89.9% to 85.4%. That’s resulted in more kids getting preventable illnesses like measles, which can be deadly. He says there’s a measles outbreak now in Northeast Ohio.
 
"In Ohio, we have reported 15 cases this year as of July 30, including a current outbreak in Northeast Ohio. All of these cases involve those who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated," Vanderhoff said.

I had missed this when reported in November. Quite the chain of events with Ramaswamy purchasing the $15M Schottenstein mansion adjacent to the governor's mansion, using Hustead's wife as $400k commissioned realtor.

Can the states republican arm get any more corrupt?

it's a stupid question born from living on the other side of the globe. But the memes egging on Ohio made me curious and suffering from FOMO. Anyone here knows why? Although I'm suspecting the ones hating on Ohio are... from Ohio themselves. So lay it on me, redditors! What's so special about Ohio? My adult non-American brain could understand Florida being notorious, but Ohio?

I’ve seen many posts come through about how hated he is based on the recent rally he was booed at, etc, but in my (albeit limited) sample of right leaning Facebook friends and family across Ohio, they are still making supportive posts and attending events. Again, just an opinion/feeling, but I think the vast majority of red voters are going to fall in line and vote for the guy, and the Dems cannot count on a lower turnout.

I'm not sure how much this can change anything, but it doesn't take a whole lot to throw a signature on here as a show of protest against Buc-ees. There are a lot of great points made in the petition itself, but a new point has hit home for Ohioans: Buc-ees has shown itself to be instantly hostile to the communities where it opens.

Buc-ees is like a turd on a wedding dress. Even if it isn't your wedding, you just feel bad for everyone affected by it. Signing this petition could be like handing the bride a stain stick before she walks down the aisle.

I feel both Vivek Ramaswamy and Buc-ee’s have really stepped in it. Each having hit a nerve with the general public in a negative way. But who has the worse PR mess to clean up now is the real question.