Highlights about Health

The Ashtabula City Council debates expanding curbside recycling citywide, weighing fairness, finances, and social media criticism while ultimately approving new totes and trucks. Council members also review Lakeside schools’ post-snowstorm rebuilding plans, new grant funding, infrastructure upgrades, park cleanups, and changes to background check rules.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners clarifies rumors about a data center ban, rewrites its development moratorium rules, and hears residents link that change to protecting water, curbing corporate power, and shaping future projects. The board also spotlights prostate cancer screening, honors decades of soil and water stewardship, recognizes elders and refugees, questions opioid settlement spending, and weighs in on surplus vehicles and a small but significant rezoning case.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopts the 2026 budget, setting new county tax bills, outlining school funding per student, and approving plans for opioid settlement spending and future use of occupancy tax revenue after a failed attempt to scale back the tax increase. The board also signs off on a 10-year, $863 million capital plan and unanimously locks in the final design, price, and added funding for the new crisis diversion facility.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners debates an urgent new security contract—including worker pay, benefits, and local hiring—while examining mental health care in the jail, early childhood and food security investments, and long-term wastewater planning. The board also begins charting rules and a possible moratorium for large AI and cryptocurrency data centers that could reshape local power and water use.