View From The Pugh

View From The Pugh

By Chris PughComedy
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View From The Pugh episodes

  • Talking with teens about good choices during the holidays
    Mary Schuermann Kuhlman

    Ohio News Connection

    The holiday season has officially started, and one group is encouraging Ohio parents to make a special effort to check in with their teens to help them avoid risky behaviors.


    With days off school, parties and distracted parents, experts say underage drinking tends to increase during the holidays. Rick Birt, president and chief executive of Students Against Destructive Decisions, said alcohol is the most widely used substance among teens, with 14 the average age for a first drink. He encouraged parents to set ground rules to manage expectations, and to not make discussions about risky behaviors as "one and done."

    "We've talked with parents all across Ohio who try to have regular, routine check-in," he said. "Maybe when you're driving 'em to the bus stop, go beyond the 'How's school?' conversation; dig into the 'How are you feeling?' The more that you talk with your young person, the more able they are to have that ongoing conversation with you."

    Because risk-taking is a typical part of teenage development, Birt recommended avoiding scare tactics. He said the best conversations focus on education about healthy choices and how to make smart decisions in the face of peer pressure.

    Other important topics to touch on, Birt added, include the illegal use of prescription medications, tobacco and marijuana. With medical marijuana legal in Ohio as well as efforts to legalize recreational use, Birt said, teens may have misconceptions about its dangers.

    "The marijuana of today is not the marijuana from the '60s and '70s," he said. "It's been genetically modified and is much stronger. It is different depending on how it's ingested - whether it's smoked or used as a dab, or used in an edible or in some other way."

    Birt also noted that it's important to keep a check on a teenager's mood.

    "While the holidays are full of lights and glamour and special moments, and while we're oftentimes more together during the holidays, we don't always feel that way," he said. "They can be lonely seasons for many young people. There's anxiety, and all sorts of other things that come into play."

    Parents who are concerned about a teen's mental health can contact their primary-care physician. Online resources are available, too, at nami.org, ohiosadd.org and preventionactionalliance.org.

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    3 min
  • What happens if you eat too much at an all-you-can-eat buffet and Thanksgiving dinner

    Paul, Joe and Chris talk about a guy who was banned for eating too much sea food at an all-you-can-eat buffet and wonder how much you need to eat to get kicked out of a Thanksgiving buffet.

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    13 min
  • Chris is excited about Reese's new Peanut Butter Thanksgiving Pie

    Craig and I talk about the new Reese's Peanut Butter Thanksgiving Pie.

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    11 min
  • States like Wisconsin are closer to closing the digital divide

    (Public News Service) - States like Wisconsin are closer to closing the digital divide, and critics of a plan by New Mexico's largest utility company to abandon an aging coal-burning plant say ratepayers deserve better.

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    7 min
  • The House holds a marathon debate over Build Back Better

    The House holds a marathon debate over Build Back Better, Republicans push back against vaccine mandates, and President Biden resets ties with Canada and Mexico.

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    4 min
  • The flight to rural America could cause housing headaches

    (Public News Service) - The flight to rural America could cause housing headaches; better broadband is coming; children's advocates campaign for free school lunch post-pandemic; and a wily turkey escapes the Thanksgiving platter.

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    4 min
  • Death penalty debate: Are Ohio lawmakers listening?
    By Mary Schuermann Kuhlman

    Ohio News Connection

    Legislation to abolish the death penalty in Ohio was slated to have another hearing last week.


    The House Criminal Justice Committee will hear from interested parties on House Bill 183, which has a companion bill in the Senate.

    Rev. Dr. Crystal Walker, executive director of the group Greater Dayton Christian Connections, whose son was murdered in 2013, said the death penalty cannot bring him back, and she would not want his killer's family to feel the loss she feels.

    "All it does is cause sorrow and pain to another family," Walker asserted. "And we have to stop this because someone loves the perpetrator as much as they love the victim."

    Opponents of repeal argued the death penalty is reserved for the "worst of the worst," offenders, and say ending it would put serial killers or mass murderers on the same level as someone else committing an aggravated murder. Ohio has not held an execution since 2018 due to problems acquiring a suitable drug for lethal injections.

    Jonathan Mann, vice chair of Ohioans to Stop Executions, said he struggled with the moral implications of the death penalty after his father was murdered in 2017. He contended it is not a deterrent, adding there currently is no legal means for executions in the state.

    "The cocktail of drugs that had been previously used for lethal injection have been referred to as barbaric and inhumane," Mann pointed out. "And what we're talking about here from the death penalty perspective and ending lives is philosophically humane ways to do that -- that currently does not exist."

    Melinda Elkins Johnson of Barberton, the daughter of murder victim, said when her mother was murdered in 1998, her husband was falsely accused and could have been given the death penalty. She said no one believed her claims he was innocent, and did not view her as a victim herself.

    "Not one time did victims' assistance or the prosecutor's office attempt to contact me for any reason," Johnson recounted. "I was given no services. I was completely a pariah in their eyes."

    Proponents of repeal argued money used for executions should be redirected to provide assistance to victim's families, including mental-health care, and money to pay for funeral costs, mortgages or tuition.

    3 min
  • Legal challenges pile up in Texas over newly drawn congressional and legislative district maps

    Legal challenges pile up in Texas over newly drawn congressional and legislative district maps, and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt spares the life of high-profile death row inmate Julius Jones.

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    7 min
  • A closer look at the Octi social network

    Chris Pugh and Craig Shoup try to figure out what the new Octi social network is all about.

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    9 min
  • A closer look at Frasier's "Travels With Martin"

    Laura Kessel and Chris Pugh talk about Frasier, Martin, Niles and Daphne's trip to Canada.

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    31 min

About View From The Pugh

From the publisher's feed

Podcast from Chris Pugh, Craig Shoup, Joe Frost and Paul Yanchek with regular guest appearances from Robert McCune, George Thomas and Bob Garver that discusses pop culture and sports.