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Statewide results tell partial story about overall Ohio turkey numbers, hunter enthusiasm

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Statewide results tell partial story about overall Ohio turkey numbers, hunter enthusiasm


Turkey hunters need wild turkeys, and the Ohio Division of Wildlife needs both to help maintain a functional livelihood derived from the sale of licenses and permits.

As far as it goes, then, the end of the 2024 spring turkey season last Sunday suggests results could’ve been worse. They have been. Results could also be better. They have been.

While only the present actually matters, the turkey timeline stretches into a tangled past of cause, effect and numbers.

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Hunters might not be as concerned with the statewide take as much as is each with his or her personal success, that being measured in the effort required to carry home one bearded bird in the spring. If one gets carried home.

Statewide results at season’s end additionally tell a partial story about overall turkey numbers and hunter enthusiasm.

Figuring totals from the April youth hunt, the South Zone season and the North Zone hunt, 15,535 turkeys officially were removed from the Ohio landscape during the season just passed.

That’s down a few from the 15,673 checked in 2023, but up considerably more than a few from the 2022 total of 11,872 birds and the 2021 count of 14,546.

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All the counting invites comment from the field biologist who tracks these things for the wildlife division.

“The 2024 harvest fell in line with expectations,” turkey specialist Mark Wiley wrote in an email last week. “The poult indices from 2021 and 2022 were similar, which suggested 2-year-old gobbler numbers would be comparable in 2023 and 2024. The spring permit and harvest totals were similar across those years.”

Poults are spring-hatched turkeys whose numbers and survival form the basis of the future population. While chills and rain during the hatch is thought to cause high poult mortality, this year’s hatchlings enjoyed mostly favorable spring weather, Wylie said.

The take this year and last pushed past the 2021 spring total of 14,546, a 21-year low during a period of two-turkey spring limits and higher harvest averages. The limit was reduced to one in 2022.

One variable is the number of turkeys. Another is the number of turkey hunters.

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Permit sales plunged from 61,135 in 2021 to 48,815 in 2022 when the one-bird spring limit was inaugurated. The number of sold permits rebounded to 50,174 in 2023 and to a slightly higher 51,530 this spring.

“The exact cause of the increase has not yet been determined, but it is possible we are seeing the return of spring hunters who may have taken a hiatus when turkey numbers dipped a few years ago,” Wiley noted.

What’s likely coming in 2025 rhymes with results in 2023 and this year rather than with either recent lows or past highs.

“The summer poult index was down slightly in 2023, so I expect spring harvest rates and totals to follow suit in 2025,” Wiley wrote. “I expect this will be a minor shift, with spring harvest rates falling only a percentage point or two.”

Probably unknowable is whether the annual spring turkey take has hit some new and more moderate normal at around 15,000 birds instead of the 20,000 or so averaged in the not-distant past.

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A project involving Ohio State University that started last year is ongoing, although preliminary data from 2023 suggests hen survival is not an issue except for increased vulnerability during the period when they are incubating eggs.

When the dust settles,” Wylie said, “we may find that a focus on improved nesting habitat could improve rates of hen and nest survival.”

Ashtabula led Ohio counties with 470 turkeys checked.

outdoors@dispatch.com



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East Palestine, Ohio: A town failed by the EPA – Washington Examiner

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East Palestine, Ohio: A town failed by the EPA – Washington Examiner


A Norfolk Southern train derailed in the quiet town of East Palestine, Ohio, two years ago. After two years, you would think this story would be open and closed, that East Palestine would go back to being the small, working-class town it was. But you would be wrong. Its residents were betrayed by our government’s Environmental Protection Agency. 

Ever since Feb. 3, 2023, residents of East Palestine have struggled with serious health conditions that were nonexistent before the derailment. When the EPA allowed the Norfolk Southern Railway to burn five cars filled with vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals, more than 100 dangerous compounds including dioxins and phosgene were formed, blanketing the town and nearby Pennsylvania communities with a black cloud.  Dioxin, the most dangerous forever chemical known to man, was the active ingredient in Agent Orange, a human rights atrocity in the Vietnam War.

Despite this hardship, residents banded together to make sense of why our government told them it was safe to return to homes that were not safe. Most of all, they wondered why the government and agencies that swore to protect them were keeping them in the dark while they scrambled to put their lives back together. However, with a new administration featuring Ohio’s former senator, Vice President J.D. Vance, they may have a chance. This chance will only become reality if the new administration and Vance provide real, tangible support that makes a difference. 

The greatest impact would come if the new administration declared a national disaster in East Palestine and affected communities. For months following the toxic derailment, residents of the community along with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked the president to declare a national disaster. With this declaration, affected residents would have access to Medicare, long-term health monitoring, and financial assistance to relocate permanently to a safer home away from the toxic chemicals. Nevertheless, even after visiting East Palestine and talking with a hand-picked group of residents, former President Joe Biden only praised the EPA for its “Herculean” efforts.

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In September 2024, four whistleblowers and scientists testified in legal challenges about the ongoing public health concerns from the chemical contamination following the derailment. The whistleblower disclosures from Scott Smith, George Thompson, Stephen Petty, and an anonymous toxins expert supplemented a legal petition filed in June demanding the EPA immediately honor its duty to warn residents about the dangers of consuming wild game and garden crops.

The four whistleblowers in the supplemental petition all reached the same conclusion: The community’s water, air, and soil were still contaminated from the chemicals released during the vent and burn, as well as the spill after the derailment. The EPA and state officials did no dioxin testing on crops in East Palestine but wrongly fell back on flawed dioxin soil sampling by Norfolk Southern. Despite the lack of testing and a petition showing whistleblower and independent tester Scott Smith found dioxin levels hundreds of times higher in East Palestine than in control samples canned before the derailment, the EPA continued to encourage residents to eat from their home gardens.

Former EPA contractor and whistleblower Robert Kroutil submitted a disturbing declaration to the EPA Office of Inspector General. The agency’s airborne surveillance program to assess chemical releases was grounded for five days, and when it did fly over East Palestine on Feb. 7, the day after the vent and burn, EPA program managers ordered airplane operators to turn off the chemical sensors over contaminated creeks. Kroutil further exposed falsification of the EPA’s data, stating that legally required quality assurance plans were created six weeks after the disaster and backdated. The request for a backdated quality assurance plan for the East Palestine mission was allegedly made by a program manager on Feb. 28, 2023, and the falsified documents, including multiple technical inaccuracies and inconsistencies, were provided to the Government Accountability Project as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. 

The Government Accountability Project’s own investigator has filed several FOIA requests against the agencies involved with cleaning up after the derailment. These agencies were tasked with providing community assistance and resources. The residents, however, did not receive the assistance they needed — or virtually any support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The initial FOIA request to FEMA to access records and communications about the derailment was submitted on Jan. 31, 2024, then again on April 12, 2024, to address the unmet needs of the community. Due to FEMA’s procedural failures, the agency refused to provide any communications requested, which is rare. Despite the request being expedited, FEMA has yet to provide any documentation. As a result, the Government Accountability Project recently sued FEMA for the records related to an executive order from Biden that tasked FEMA with assessing the unmet needs of the community and could have led to a disaster declaration, free medical care, and medical monitoring. 

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At the end of 2024, the Government Accountability Project filed an additional complaint with the EPA OIG after a legal recording of a conversation between an EPA official and East Palestine resident surfaced. In this conversation, the official acknowledged that Norfolk Southern’s environmental contractors are biased toward the responsible party that hired them. The EPA employee said the contractors’ reports cannot be trusted because they were written to minimize liability for the polluter. Meanwhile, residents continue to face severe medical complications, PTSD, and financial hardships.  

Under the Biden administration, we saw government agencies lie and cover up mistakes for the sake of corporate appeasement. The EPA stood aside for Norfolk Southern’s burn because it allowed trains to get back on the tracks weeks sooner. Instead of protecting people, it protected profits and then lied to the public to cover a severe public health threat. Brave whistleblowers had to come forward to shed light on the wrongdoing federal agencies were committing. There was no assistance and no sense of hope from the president’s visit, with residents’ concerns swept under the rug for the sake of a publicity stunt and photo op.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

However, with a new administration in the White House, residents whose pleas were ignored in the previous administration are hopeful for a new opportunity under President Donald Trump. Vance has the opportunity to help real people in his home state who have overwhelmingly supported him since his time as an Ohio senator.

The Trump administration has a choice to make. It can listen to the community, whistleblowers, and independent scientists, or continue allowing the federal government and former senator to abandon this town. The fight to help East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding areas is still underway, and we will not stop until every hardworking American can rest easy without the fear of living in a poisoned community that is still making residents sick.

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Tom Devine is the legal director at Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. He and his team have been investigating the derailment in East Palestine since September 2023.



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How to watch No. 8 Ohio State vs. Washington women’s basketball game free today: Live stream

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How to watch No. 8 Ohio State vs. Washington women’s basketball game free today: Live stream


COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State women’s basketball team will try to get its 20th win of the the season when it hosts Washington today – Sunday, Feb. 2 – on the Big Ten Network. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. Eastern.

Basketball fans without cable can still tune in to today’s game. Several streaming services will broadcast the game live. and you can watch on Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling (promotional offers).

The eighth-ranked Buckeyes (19-1, 8-1 Big Ten) have won their last two games since losing their first game of the season to Penn State on Jan. 19. Their most recent win was a 72-66 win at Nebraska. The Huskies (13-8, 4-5 Big Ten) have lost four of their last five, with the most recent being a 73-70 home loss to Indiana.

Here’s more information on how you can watch:

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What: No. 8 Ohio State vs. Washington women’s college basketball

When: Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025

Time: 5 p.m. Eastern

Where: Schottenstein Center | Columbus, OH

Channel: Big Ten Network

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Best Streaming Options: Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling (promotional offers).

Channel finder if you have cable: You can access the channel by using the channel finders online: Verizon Fios, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV and Dish.



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Women’s college hockey: Gophers split weekend series with Ohio State

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Women’s college hockey: Gophers split weekend series with Ohio State


The Gophers women’s hockey team held a 3-2 lead over Ohio State late in the second period Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena when Gophers coach Brad Frost elected to call a timeout.

One got the sense that the final 1:48 of the period was going to be huge, that keeping the lead heading into the final period would go a long way in allowing the Gophers to complete the weekend sweep of the defending national champions.

That instinct proved correct. The Buckeyes tied the game at 19:09 of the second period and scored four more times in the third period as Minnesota lost a penalty-filled, 7-3 game that split the weekend series.

“We were in good shape,” Frost said, “and then it got away pretty quickly.”

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Frost said the primary reason he called the timeout was to get some fresh legs on the ice. But, indeed, the point was made that the Gophers needed to do everything they could to retain the lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

Gophers senior right winger Peyton Hemp’s second goal of the game gave the Gophers the 3-2 lead at 14:15 of the second period. It proved to be the last hurrah for the Gophers.

“I just feel like stuff wasn’t going our way,” Hemp said of the deciding stretch of the game. “I felt like the whole weekend, we were pretty steady and doing all the little things right. But sometimes it doesn’t bounce your way, and it happened to us a lot today.

“We all really wanted the sweep. It would have been huge for us.”

After going down rather quietly on Friday, the Buckeyes had a lot more fire in their game on Saturday.

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“We dictated a lot more (Friday) night,” Frost said, “and they dictated a lot more tonight, as good teams tend to do.”

The Gophers (22-6-1, 16-5-1 WCHA) scored the only goal of the first period, with Emma Connor picking up her third of the season with the game less than two minutes old. The Buckeyes (21-6-3, 15-6-3) got on the board at 1:13 of the second period on the first of three goals in the game by Plymouth native Sloane Matthews.

Matthews’ third goal of the game was the pivotal one, tying the game at 3-3. The Buckeyes scored three times in the first five minutes of the third period, all on the power play.

“Penalties never helps us,” Hemp said. “It’s one of our biggest things we have to keep on the lockdown.”

There were 20 minor penalties called in the game, along with a 10-minute misconduct given to the Gophers’ Abbey Murphy in a particularly chippy third period. Frost was less than pleased with the way the game was called by the referees.

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“I haven’t seen something like that in a long time,” he said. “It was a good hockey game until all hell broke loose. There were three or four times this weekend we were on the power play and they evened it up.

“I know it’s hard to referee two really good physical women’s hockey teams. I know they’re doing their best, but it’s just unfortunate the way things turned out in the third.”

The Gophers, who saw their winning streak end at seven games, were on the highest of highs after Friday’s win. Now, they need to find a way to bounce back from a disappointing loss.

“As a coach, in the back of your mind, if we can get a split on the weekend against another top team, it’s going to be great,” Frost said. “But when you win the first one, you want the second one so bad.

“It’s easy to dwell on this the whole week, but we don’t have time to do it and we’re not gonna.”

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Up next, a pair of games on the road against No. 1 Wisconsin.

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