You're invited to public roundtable Sunday on Ohio's economic future

The numbers just aren’t good for Ohio: 152,000 fewer jobs than nearly 20 years ago, lower household income, high student debt, falling behind in education – almost every measure used to define quality of life is going in the wrong direction.

People don’t have to see the numbers – they see it in neighborhoods. Auto parts stores, payday lenders and deep-discount stores in almost every town are evidence of cash-strapped households. There are entire vacant blocks in once proud residential areas of Youngstown, Mansfield, Dayton. County-coroner morgues often overflow with drug victims. New moms and babies increasingly are in the hospital due to complications.

Local news organizations — including The Vindicator — want to help by holding conversations about solutions to see where people agree, to let citizens drive the identification of what is most likely to work.

The Your Voice Ohio media collaborative that began small in late 2015 to try to bring voice to the people in the 2016 presidential election has grown from about 10 participating news outlets to more than 40 print, broadcast and online news organizations across Ohio and into West Virginia.

On Sunday in Warren, a conversation for all citizens on Ohio’s future economy will take place at Warren G. Harding High School from 1-3 p.m. The school is at 860 Elm Road NE in Warren.

Register for this by going to the Your Voice Ohio website linked here.