ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services is putting out the call for foster parents, with a new round of classes beginning in April. Jennifer Fietz, adoption case manager, said the DJFS is looking for interested people willing to share their lives with ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — An exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums. After laboring all night on a ...

MILAN (AP) — The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive. Genetic analysis confirmed what officials already suspected: The highly ...

CADIZ — The $1.1 million Puskarich Public Library renovation project that began last summer is nearing completion with a grand reopening of the new and improved facility set for April 7. The library has been involved in a renovation project since June that will allow the building to be ...

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Law enforcement officers seized drugs, cash and a stolen tractor when they searched a Martins Ferry home Thursday. Members of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Unit and detectives with the Major Crimes Unit made five arrests and seized a large amount of ...

CADIZ — Around 65 percent of Harrison Hills City School District employees are now fully vaccinated after receiving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Friday. Superintendent Dana Snider said around 150 staff members received their second dose of the vaccine during the schools' clinic ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin struck a deal late Friday over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a nine-hour logjam that had stalled the party’s showpiece $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. The compromise, announced by the West Virginia ...

PLAINS OF UR, Iraq (AP) — Pope Francis walked through a narrow alley in Iraq's holy city of Najaf for a historic meeting with the country's top Shiite cleric Saturday, and together they delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence in a country still reeling from back-to-back conflicts ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Saturday, moving President Joe Biden closer to a milestone political victory that would provide $1,400 checks for most American and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local ...

COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine announced another advance in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic Friday, with news that 15 long-term mass vaccination clinics will open throughout Ohio to expand access to the shots. The state-sponsored mass vaccination clinics will be located in Lima, ...

BELLAIRE — Now that Ohio is beginning to lift some restrictions on gatherings related to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are beginning to make plans for warm-weather events across the Ohio Valley. After Bellaire Village Council’s regular meeting Thursday, Village Treasurer Tom Sable said ...

After close to one year of lockdowns across the state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday announced a goal for lifting health restrictions. “When Ohio gets down to 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, all health orders in the state will come off,” ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 379,000 jobs last month in a sign the economy is strengthening as virus cases drop, vaccinations ramp up, Americans spend more and states ease business restrictions. The February gain marked a sharp pickup from the 166,000 jobs ...

CADIZ — A Sally Buffalo Park project is able to move forward now that it has secured $140,000 in grant funds. The project includes the construction of a new stage inside the park where concerts will be held. Cadiz Village Council discussed the estimated $250,000 project during Thursday’s ...

ADENA — A popular ice cream parlor has announced it will reopen in the spring after remaining closed this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dairy Jean, located along U.S. 250 in Adena, announced that it plans to reopen for business this season. The ice cream shop is visited by ...

MARTINS FERRY — Death care workers are among the new groups of people permitted to get the COVID-19 vaccine — something funeral director Chase Milburn and hundreds of others in his business are happy to hear. Gov. Mike DeWine this week announced that among the people allowed to get the ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — At the beginning of 2020, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was working on plans to battle algae blooms in Lake Erie, crack down on distracted driving, and figure out a way to save an Ohio minor league baseball team. The largely popular first-term Republican governor accepted an ...

MARTINS FERRY — The Rev. William Webster is inching along in his recovery from COVID-19, but is looking forward to feeling better, springtime and watching his tomatoes grow. Webster, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, has been recovering from the virus since he contracted it in early ...

CADIZ — Harrison County recently reported an increase in its COVID-19 related deaths bringing the county’s total deaths to 24. On Tuesday, the Harrison County Health Department reported an additional five deaths. Garen Rhome, administrator of the county’s health department, said the ...

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Vaccinations are proceeding at a fast pace in Belmont County, following the health department’s vaccination of more than 1,000 school staff last week against COVID-19 and announcements that more vaccine will be available in the future. At the Ohio Valley Mall, health ...