Beating the Heat: Energy Savings and Health Tips for Extreme Temperatures

The extreme summer heat is upon us, and its effects ripple through our communities in ways that extend far beyond discomfort. We're tackling this timely issue from multiple angles to help you navigate these challenging conditions.

Federal policy shifts are threatening Ohio's growing clean energy economy. Alex Zorniger from Power to Hydrogen shares how proposed changes to energy tax credits in the "Big Beautiful Bill" could derail job creation and force companies to redirect business overseas. With solar manufacturers already reconsidering their investments and international companies crossing Ohio off their expansion lists, the economic stakes couldn't be higher for our region's clean energy future.

Staying cool without breaking the bank is possible with strategic approaches to energy use. Julia Ivinskas from AEP Ohio walks us through practical solutions like setting thermostats to 78 degrees, running heat-generating appliances during cooler parts of the day, and ensuring ceiling fans rotate counterclockwise to maximize cooling efficiency. AEP's smart thermostat program offers immediate discounts and ongoing incentives for participating in energy-saving events during peak demand periods – a win for both consumers and grid stability.

The health risks associated with extreme heat deserve serious attention. Delaware County Health Commissioner Garrett Guillozet explains the critical differences between heat exhaustion and potentially life-threatening heat stroke, with special precautions needed for children and seniors. His timely reminders about never leaving children or pets in vehicles – where temperatures can reach 125 degrees within just 30 minutes – could save lives during this heat wave.

Summer brings additional concerns beyond heat. Learn about Delaware County's mosquito surveillance program tracking West Nile virus and the alarming increase in tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease. Practical tips for protecting yourself and your family from these health threats complement our comprehensive approach to summer safety.

Join us for these essential conversations about navigating the challenges of Central Ohio's summer.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to Central Ohio Matters, the podcast where we delve into the issues that shape Central Ohio's future. Each episode features in-depth conversations with local leaders, visionaries and changemakers driving progress in our region. These conversations offer insights into the challenges our communities face and the solutions being crafted to move them forward. Here are your hosts, michelle Gatchel and Ryan Rivers.

Speaker 2 0:24

Welcome everyone. We have a very informative program for you today. Heat advisories have been all over the news and in this episode of Central Ohio Matters, I had the opportunity to sit down with Delaware County's Health Commissioner from the Delaware Public Health District and ask him about the best way to live with these extreme temperatures. We will also hear from AEP Ohio about the best way to live with these extreme temperatures. We will also hear from AEP Ohio about the best ways to save energy and, in turn, prevent extreme energy bills during these times while staying cool. But first let's talk about some other news that made headlines this week involving energy.

Clean Energy Policies Impact Ohio Jobs

Speaker 2 1:00

On Tuesday, june 24th, the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum and the Clean Energy Business Network hosted a virtual press conference to discuss protecting Ohio jobs and the state's growing clean energy economy. Which is a solar manufacturer, yellow Light, which is a solar installer, and Power to Hydrogen, which is a clean technology company, discussed their concerns over language in one big, beautiful bill act concerning clean energy tax credits and how those changes could hurt current businesses in Ohio that utilize those credits and also to tier new companies from coming to Ohio. Joining Ryan and I to discuss this group's concerns is Alex Zorniger from Power to Hydrogen. Alex, tell us why you all came together this week.

Speaker 3 2:00

Yes, it was a variety of stakeholders, from mayors in Ohio to leaders at companies commercializing clean energy technologies, from solar hydrogen batteries, and so with some of the policy changes, or suggested policy changes from the new administration, there's a real risk of some job loss in Ohio.

Speaker 3 2:21

So we're all working on new advanced energy technologies.

Speaker 3 2:26

One of the interesting things is, you know, Power to Hydrogen is based in Columbus, Ohio. So we're all working on new advanced energy technologies. One of the interesting things is, you know, Power to Hydrogen is based in Columbus, Ohio. We are recruiting from the coasts to bringing employees to Columbus Ohio to be able to develop this technology. It's, you know, very good paying jobs as far as the high end for the engineers, but it's a lot of manufacturing jobs too. And so some of these incentives in I would call it like the US industrial policy towards energy technologies was very supportive for us making these electrolyzers here in the US and serving the global market, exporting it to Europe, exporting it to different areas. But the rescinding of these and kind of the pullback on that industrial policy is going to take away those benefits. So we were all meeting together to discuss in kind of a press conference format the impacts that it's having on the growth of our companies and the growth of the Ohio economy for removing some of these tax credits and policy levers to support energy technology manufacturing.

Speaker 2 3:23

So who are some of the main groups that were part of the press conference?

Speaker 3 3:28

So it was a group from Illuminate Solar. So they are one of the largest solar manufacturers globally and they're building a large factory in Columbus, ohio. It was our company, power to Hydrogen, which is developing electrolyzer technology to make clean hydrogen from water and electricity. It was a few different mayors, so one the mayor of Dayton, ohio, and then a few other stakeholders as well, so both political and then private actors.

Speaker 2 3:53

And the Ohio Chamber of Commerce was part of that as well.

Speaker 3 3:56

Yes, you're right.

Speaker 2 3:58

Yeah, yeah, they were one of the organizing groups for it organizing groups for it, so you know if they go down the path that they're headed how does that cut jobs here?

Speaker 3 4:16

So a lot of these companies are growing or have scaled up in order to support the demand for their technologies and you know what they would cost with these incentives and credits.

Speaker 3 4:22

And so when you remove that, when you change the economics for the industry, you know any of those investments that companies made. So I think a really good example you know this Illuminate Solar Company that's building the large solar factory in Columbus Ohio. So they have cited their factory to serve the US market in Columbus Ohio. However, a lot of the changes to how energy is incentivized is really reducing the ability to install rooftop solar in the US. So they've made this massive investment, hired, I think, 500 to 1,000 people in the Columbus area. But now the economics have totally changed on rooftop solar based on these recent suggested policy changes. So they're going to sell far less solar panels than they expected. Because of that, I would imagine would have to change the amount of staffing that they have. So it's really that the economics for these energy technologies will be significantly negatively impacted. So for anyone that was scaling up or has made investments to serve that market, they might have to lay people off.

Speaker 4 5:19

Alex, what about the existing pipeline right now potential employers looking at Ohio. Do you have any idea of of how deep that is and what impact it could have on that side of things?

Speaker 3 5:33

That's a very good question. I don't know all the details. As far as who's currently evaluating, you know, moving production and opportunities to Columbus Ohio, I do know of one specific company so they work on a component of electric vehicle motors and they were looking at Columbus for their global expansion. So they're actually based in Italy but they wanted to invest in the United States. They're no longer looking at Columbus Ohio because of some of the policy changes and so it's just one example. I don't have the full pipeline. There are certainly people that have a really good beat on that, but there are definitely impacts of companies no longer considering kind of the Ohio area.

Speaker 4 6:12

What kind of timeline right now are we looking at for these taking place?

Speaker 3 6:17

The policy changes are really associated with the big, beautiful bill. Right, because it's big and beautiful, it's got a lot of components in it. So if the Senate and the House pass it which I believe President Trump has said he wants to pass it by July 4th. That's kind of the timeline over the next 10 days or so. So the House version of the bill was pretty negative for the energy manufacturing and clean energy industry. The Senate version is a little bit better but still would have significant impacts. You know we're having to look. It's not negative necessarily because we still have a big export market for our projects, but really for hydrogen in the US the impacts there's the entire market is frozen and we really will not have a lot of revenue coming from the US because of this. We'll have to focus on the global market.

Speaker 2 7:03

Wow, and on the state level, are you experiencing the same things?

Speaker 3 7:08

No, it's really federal policy. So the state is still. The state has not made significant changes to how they're approaching these things. It is really the federal policy, for you know how different energy technologies are incentivized and the unit economics for those. So we've moved significantly, for, like one interesting example, so in the hydrogen space, they've actually, in the recent Senate bill, have proposed expanding the tax credit for hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and significantly reducing it from hydrogen from water and electrolysis. So everything seems to be going in the way of supporting more fossil fuel resources and less of any clean energy resources or just new energy technologies.

Speaker 2 7:58

So what should people take away from this? You know I'm sitting at home, I'm watching this I can't. I can't vote in the Senate or the House, but what can I do?

Speaker 3 8:09

You can certainly reach out to your stakeholders and your representatives. Right now, the Senate is doing the majority of the work. So in Ohio, senator Bernie Moreno and Senator John Huston are the key contacts, and I think what you would want to push for is a lot of these policies. You know that may be rolled back. You know any of the things from the Inflation Reduction Act. They were really kind of US industrial policy and they were US industrial policy to support the US to effectively manufacture and make all different forms of energy in the US, and some of these supports are kind of rolling that back, and so I think the US wants to continue to lead on energy. It's good for consumers to lower energy prices and it's good for national security and it's good for jobs. So I really think the federal support for energy manufacturing technologies is really important as a part of the Inflation Reduction Act and I would reach out to your senators and your representatives.

Speaker 3 9:07

So what's next? Well, we continue to push forward. We have our first industrial scale system of the novel new electrolyzer technology to make lower cost hydrogen. That's going to be delivered to a pilot project in Antwerp, belgium, this year. You know that's. One effect of some of these policies is that we're doing more business in Europe, so that will be really cool. We'd rather do it in the US, but so we're shipping that system out this year, really excited for that to be running in the field and producing the clean hydrogen. And then, once that system is in the field, then we'll be able to scale up production and sell to more customers. So the team's running around getting that unit ready for shipment over the pond and then we can scale up from there and hopefully the energy policy supports that as well.

Speaker 2 9:55

And is there anywhere people should go to keep an eye on what's going on with this budget bill in this area. Okay, well, alex, thank you so much for joining us and keeping us updated on kind of the struggle right now going on for clean energy.

Speaker 3 10:11

Thank you. Yeah, it was really good to be able to share more about what we're seeing and happy to talk about it.

Speaker 4 10:17

Thanks, Alex.

Speaker 2 10:20

Ryan, we've been seeing some dog days of summer lately.

Speaker 4 10:24

Yes, we sure have. Summer is officially here.

Speaker 2 10:28

Air conditioners are running, the electric is getting used. I thought it'd be a good time to talk to someone from AEP Ohio about, you know, things we can think about during this time that you know. I think a lot of people just assume my bill is going to be high in the heat of summer and the worst of winter, but there are things we can do. So joining us is Julia Ivinskas. She is the Customer Experience Manager at AEP Ohio. Julia, thank you so much for joining us at AEP Ohio. Julia, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Michelle and Ryan, you know I wanted to. There's so much we could talk to you about, but I wanted to start with you know, because we have so much heat going on and everybody's using so much electricity during this time, there are things that people can do to help minimize their bills just skyrocketing yeah, that that's right.

Speaker 5 11:26

So one of the biggest users of electricity is your air conditioning. So we typically recommend that our customers increase their thermostat by a couple degrees. In the summer we recommend 78 degrees, but you really have to find a temperature that's going to be comfortable and safe for your family. So take into consideration if you have infants or elderly people in your home.

Speaker 5 11:50

But yeah, the air conditioning is a big user of electricity. And then also keep in mind that sometimes appliances like your oven, your dryer, anything that's going to give off a lot of heat, you may want to use those, maybe in the early morning hours when it's not as hot outside, or later in the evening when it's starting to cool down as well.

Speaker 2 12:11

You know, I saw one thing on your website which has fantastic tips about, you know, dealing with the heat and your energy right now, and it was talking about overhead fans that you have in your house, and I had no idea that there was a specific way to have the fan turn to be better at cycling the hot air through your house.

Speaker 5 12:36

That is correct. So in the summertime you want to have your fans going in a counterclockwise direction and that will you know, it'll push the cool air down towards you. It'll make you feel cooler when you're in the room. I always like to tell people, though, there's not necessarily much benefit to leaving the fan on if you're going to be gone all day, unless you just like circulating air in your house. But it's really all about making the temperature feel cooler on your body. So when it's going in that counterclockwise direction and it's pushing that cool air down on you, it's cooling you a little bit.

Speaker 2 13:10

And the other thing we have now so many options for smart thermostats. I think a lot of older houses are not updated to this. It doesn't take a lot to update a thermostat, and how does the smart thermostat help you?

Speaker 5 13:25

Yeah, so a smart thermostat you can set it remotely. You know, if you have one of those, you can anticipate it when you're going to be gone for the day. You can raise the temperature a couple degrees and then also start to cool it before you arrive back home. For residential customers as well, we also have a smart thermostat program that customers can enroll in. You can find all that information on our website. Yeah, so with the smart thermostat program you'll receive an instant $75 discount when you buy a new smart thermostat. You can actually go shopping for it on our website. There's some links there and we actually have some different money saving options on the website as well. So I always encourage our customers to go to our website.

Speaker 5 14:15

But with the Smart Thermostat program you can earn incentives by having the thermostat automatically the temperature increased when energy demand is high across the territory. So it's optional. You can opt out. If, for some reason, you don't wanna participate in that particular event, you can opt out. If you know for some reason you don't want to participate in that particular event, you can opt out. Then you won't get that the reward for that event and there's some terms with it.

Speaker 5 14:46

So I would encourage any of our customers who might be interested in a program like that, to go to our Web site and explore and see if it might be something that's right for you and your family, for you and your family. But while the event's underway, just to give you a little more information. The temperature set point will either increase three degrees or, if we're in the wintertime, it would decrease three degrees, but you'll be notified ahead of time. And again, it's 100% voluntary, just an option out there if people are exploring certain ways to save money voluntary just an option out there if people are exploring certain ways to save money.

Speaker 4 15:24

Yeah, and I'm sure, in today's day and age, where these home automated systems are becoming more and more popular, that there's information on there to check as far as what it's compatible with as far as whole house systems.

Speaker 5 15:34

Yes, yep, absolutely so. In some of the thermostats you may already have one in your home, and so you can still participate in the program if you have one of the thermostats, that's that's eligible for it. So, again, you can find all that information on the website at AEPOhiocom. Slash savings.

Speaker 2 15:54

So you guys actually this year launched an initiative. You know, you always hear when the temperature gets super hot and everybody's got their stuff running, there's going to be a brownout, like there's the naysayers that predict doom right away. Right, but you guys have an initiative going on where you've been taking steps ahead of time to make sure things like that don't happen.

Speaker 5 16:26

We currently have what we call power without interruptions. That's across our entire service territory, and you know we just want to make sure that we're focusing on areas and making sure we have the most reliable electric service across the territory. So we're doing things like being proactive with inspecting our lines and our equipment, making sure that any necessary repairs are taking place and also focusing a lot on vegetation management. So tree trimming, tree removal in some cases, anything that could be threatening to our system or the power lines we're taking a look at. On our website as well, we have some good information on our, you know, on our forestry program and the work that our arborists and forestry crews do to protect the grid.

Speaker 2 17:13

Well, julia, I want to thank you so much for joining us and keeping us updated on things we can do to help you know reduce our bills Absolutely.

Speaker 5 17:23

Thank you so much, michelle. Thanks Ryan.

Speaker 4 17:25

Thank you.

Speaker 2 17:26

So we've taken a look at how to save money and energy during these hot, hot days. Now let's turn to how do we protect our health during these hot days? So we are talking to Garrett Ghiozzi, who is the health commissioner at Delaware Public Health District and, garrett, thank you so much for joining me.

Speaker 6 17:44

Yeah, thanks for having me, Michelle.

Speaker 2 17:46

We just finished the first week of like really high temperatures locally so people are starting to think about you know what do I do in these situations?

Speaker 6 17:56

Yeah, that's a great question. Right now, you know, I think we're the hottest day of the year and it's expected to continue for the next several days, but really we're focused on two separate things heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Neither one is good, and so we really look at preventative measures to help, you know, reduce the temperature as best we can. Obviously, the easiest and best thing to do is to stay hydrated Drink lots of water or electrolytes. That definitely helps you really stay in the cool as much as possible. I think everyone's best friend right now is a fan and then air conditioning, if you're fortunate enough to have that, to really make sure that we're reducing that exposure to outside temperatures as best we can.

Speaker 2 18:45

Yeah, In Delaware are there fan programs. I know in past years we've talked about programs where people can go to get fans if they need one.

Speaker 6 18:56

Yeah, so we're fortunate to have great partners here with our Delaware County Emergency Management Agency. They are our lead agency on a Delaware County fan drive, so they are currently in the midst of collecting fans for people in need and those are available through the EMA and People in Need, so that information is available on our website and social medias, so that information is available on our website and social medias. But they are still very early in the midst of their fan drive for the summer.

Speaker 2 19:30

But they try to make as many fans as available to those residents that do not have them. Cutting your grass in this kind of heat? One should you be, and two, what are symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat issues that you might feel?

Speaker 6 19:40

Yeah. So first of all, we definitely recommend minimizing outside exposure or work the best that you can. Not everyone has that luxury, we certainly understand that, but the signs of heat exhaustion are really dizziness, thirst, extreme sweating and then nausea and weakness as well. So those are some of the early signs of sort of heat exhaustion, which then can lead to heat stroke if not maintained or treated. So again, that's where we really worry about things like confusion, dizziness, losing consciousness in the extreme heat. That's when we would want someone to seek 911 or medical attention. But really, for heat exhaustion, really wearing things like loose clothing, making sure you have access to cold or cool water, taking more frequent breaks, looking for those shady areas all of those things help really regulate our body temperature in this extreme heat we're seeing today.

Speaker 2 20:44

And what should you do with children, like if you have kids who want to go outside and play?

Speaker 6 20:51

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a, you know, a sort of a personal decision. Our recommendation is to really limit that exposure outside, not just for infants and children, but also for senior citizens. You know they are more susceptible to heat exhaustion both little kids and older adults and so really recommending that they limit their outside activity to short time periods they're taking more frequent breaks. As a father of a 10-year-old, I can tell you her best friend right now is a water bottle. So really making sure that that water bottle is full, it has ice, it's cold, and then really encouraging them to drink as much as they need to help stay cool.

Speaker 2 21:32

Any other things like just sun exposure in general.

Speaker 6 21:37

Yeah, I mean right now we're worried about extreme temperatures, but UV rates are really really high. So making sure we're wearing sunscreen we're regularly applying that. Sure we're wearing sunscreen, we're regularly applying that really making sure that exposed areas of our bodies are limited from severe sunburn is equally important. So really taking sort of a all-encompassing approach to the heat right now.

Speaker 2 22:01

Yeah, and you know, unfortunately we hear a story at least once a year where someone has left a child in a car.

Speaker 6 22:13

Yeah, absolutely Now, if not more than ever, double check your back seat. You know you can never be too sure. We all sort of get in these daily routines, right, but we have to be mindful of children and pets in cars. We have to be mindful of children and pets in cars. You know, for example, right now, while the outside temperature is about 90 degrees, within 10 minutes the inside of your car can reach 110 degrees and then within a half an hour about 125 degrees, so significant temperature increases. So we have to be mindful that we're checking those back seats, making sure that kids are kept safe and we're not leaving anyone in a car unattended right now.

Speaker 2 22:54

Yeah, goodness gracious. I saw a Today Show tip that said leave your purse next to your car seat if it's in the back, and that way, no matter where you you go, you get out of your car, you're going to get your purse absolutely same thing with keys.

Speaker 6 23:12

We, we hear that as well. You know most keys don't uh, you know cars have just key fobs these days many of them do and leaving that somewhere where it's not readily available to you in your car. So you know you have to check that back seat when you get out of it. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 23:28

So other things in the summer that we should be thinking about while we're out and about. I noticed on your website at the beginning of the month there was a mosquito spray that was going to happen in one of the townships. So what should we? I mean, I always see mosquitoes out and about, but what should we?

Mosquito and Tick Season Concerns

Speaker 6 23:50

I mean I always see mosquitoes out and about. But what should we be worried about? Yeah, I mean, we're out there throughout the entire county doing some trapping in various locations every week. We collect those mosquitoes and then we test them in-house here specifically for West Nile virus. And so the spraying you mentioned we generally only spray as a result of a positive West Nile virus test. The easiest thing we can do is to sort of limit our exposure the best we can to those creatures, eliminate standing water using EPA registered insect repellents, making sure that we're avoiding peak mosquito time, which right now in Ohio is the early morning hours and late evening hours, to really kind of not put us in harm's way of excess mosquitoes.

Speaker 2 24:42

So they're kind of a sunrise, sunset critter.

Speaker 6 24:46

Yeah, that's when they're most active, and so for mosquito spraying, we generally try to spray in the late evening hours, when they are out and about, when the weather is normally a few degrees cooler. I don't know if that's the case this week, but that's when you'll see our team out spraying. In the event, we have a positive West Nile virus mosquito.

Speaker 2 25:08

And what is West Nile virus? What happens if someone gets it?

Speaker 6 25:12

Yeah, I mean most of the time you're looking at headaches, some nausea signs and symptoms of that. Currently we have no human cases of West Nile virus, and so a lot of the spraying we do is to prevent or kill off those mosquitoes that have tested positive. So we, you know, do that preventative work. We also treat things like storm ditches and retention ponds with larvicide to really stop those mosquitoes from developing into full-grown adults where they are able to then transmit West Nile virus. Most of that comes from birds, mosquitoes on many different types of animals, and so we see that transmission there for West Nile virus.

Speaker 2 25:57

And you mentioned the larvicide. So for people in their own yards, what are some tips that they could act upon to prevent mosquitoes?

Speaker 6 26:09

that they could act upon to prevent mosquitoes. Yeah, the number one tip is to remove standing water, really making sure that if you do have standing water, you're at least flushing it or rinsing it. We often see this with bird baths. Frankly, old tires around the county hold standing water as well as rain barrels, and so they can get residential, residential, commercial larvicide tablets. But really the easiest thing to do is is really remove that standing water. And then things like protecting your home. If you have screens, making sure that the screens are intact, you can purchase a repair kit to cover up your or fix your holes in your screen door. Those are really the easiest, best recommended solutions for removing the risk of increased mosquito populations.

Speaker 2 26:57

What are some other insects that we should be wary of?

Speaker 6 27:00

Oh, right now we're in the midst of tick season. There's certainly no shortage of ticks out there. Our tick reporting is through the roof. We get calls all the time on people finding ticks from their yards, from parks, from pretty much anywhere, and so really you know understanding what the tick is and you know inspecting yourself after you've been outside. If you do find a tick on you, properly removing it, cleaning the area, keeping that tick so we can help you identify it and understand the risk of possible disease transmission. And then showering, making sure you're cleaning yourself off. You're checking your hair, your neck, any exposed area of your body if you are wearing shorts, around your ankles, wrists. But ticks are extremely prevalent this year, I think.

Speaker 2 27:57

What are some suggestions where people either what they should do or places they can go to read about what they should do?

Speaker 6 28:03

Yeah, so on our website we have a direct link to a wonderful video on how to properly remove a tick. You really want to make sure you're using proper equipment, things like really pointy clean tweezers being able to grab the full amount of the tick and then pulling directly out, really trying to prevent yanking or ripping. But yeah, on our website, on social media, we've shared this as well. Definitely tons of videos out there on how to properly remove that tick.

Speaker 2 28:37

What are some of the things that ticks can give you?

Speaker 6 28:41

So the most common tick we have in Ohio is the black-legged tick, which is also known as the deer tick. The number one disease of that tick is Lyme disease and we have seen a steady increase about through the last 10 years of more reported Lyme disease cases. And then you know, when we look at another common tick in Ohio, which is the dog tick, it can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever. And so we really want to make sure that if you do find a tick you can let us know and we can help you identify that. We do not test ticks here locally for specific disease, but knowing the type of tick can help us point you in the right direction for possible treatment if you do find a tick on you and it is a certain type that may transmit Lyme disease, for example.

Speaker 2 29:36

Do we have reported Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Delaware?

Speaker 6 29:42

So this year we do have one reported case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and we do have reported cases of Lyme disease. Just for reference, in 2024, we had 26 cases of Lyme disease just in Delaware County, and then this data is actually updated monthly on the Ohio Department of Health's website. So all of these diseases are reportable, which means that if you go to your family physician or the emergency room or someone diagnosed you with Lyme disease, that information is reported and we get that. So we would do an investigation to see, maybe, when you were exposed. But all of that is actually uploaded by cases per county on the Ohio Department of Health's website.

Speaker 2 30:35

Well, Garrett. Again, thank you so much for giving us these great updates, and we'll have to have you back on in a month or so and see how it's changing.

Speaker 6 30:42

That sounds great. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 30:45

Thank you for listening to this episode of Central Ohio Matters. Be sure to like, share and download. We cover government policies, healthcare challenges, housing and business developments, transportation solutions, education and innovation. If you know of a good story we should be talking about, go to the radio station website and fill out a contact form Directed to Michelle Gatchel, host of Central Ohio Matters. Thank you,