In more local news, Shawnee High School's latest board meeting is being met with discord and disagreement. The board meeting's main focus was security and safety in the school. Some solutions for preventing security issues include not allowing students to carry backpacks during the school day and requiring background checks for volunteers. We have asked a Shawnee student to share their thoughts on the precautions, the reply to our inquiry is transcripted here:

"We are still allowed to bring our bags and keep them in our lockers. People can still take weapons and other things to school. Another reason they did this was to deter kids from vaping, but that's not going to solve anything. It just makes it harder for band kids, whose lockers are on the opposite side of their classes, and the kids that are injured. Not to mention the people that are menstruating. We are allowed to carry a 8" by 5" bag, but I now have to carry that around with me everywhere. Also, what if you get your period unexpectedly? Are we just expected to sprint to our lockers? I know a few teachers that don't allow you to go to your locker or the bathroom during their class time. However, I do like the other safety procedures implemented this year. They installed Halos in the bathrooms to detect when people vape, and they made the procedure to allow adults into the school harder. For example, they require an id now, but taking away carrying bags around makes it more difficult for everyone involved."

In the 2021-22 school year, students received free lunches through the USDA. Why are they no longer free this year? The USDA stated that the program enabling this has expired, leaving lunches with a charge for the foreseeable future. However, there are alternatives to acquiring free lunches through programs such as SNAP, TANF, and FDPIR. Information for these resources will be linked below.

https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/366 (SNAP)

https://jfs.ohio.gov/ofam/p-ebt.stm (TANF)

In 1973, Roe v Wade was a hot topic, a case making it impossible to ban abortion in any state entirely. This summer, the issue has come back into our focus. In June, the Supreme Court ruled the case as an infringement on states' rights, overturning it and enabling every complete state to control their abortion laws. Abortion is a topic that the Catholic community is passionate about, so we have asked Father Ross to provide his input on the event. Father Ross has been a part of our Lima 

Catholic community for over 20 years, serving St Charles, St Rose, St John, and LCC.

During our interview, he said, "I'm grateful. We spent 50 years trying to get it overturned. I'm hoping that as the conversation continues in the states, people come to a greater understanding of exactly the importance of life and our respect for life from birth to natural death. Oftentimes what happens is it's become sensationalized, and consequently, in that aura of sensationalism, people spend more time talking about rights than they do responsibilities. We, as Christians, as Catholic Christians, believe that our life is a gift of god; we don't have the right over our bodies, it's a gift of god, and consequently, this is why we would not, of course, support abortion. We believe that that's a life within the womb."