Officials of the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority, popularly known as the JB Green Team, probably can get the required percentage of local government entities to approve their spending plans without worrying about Barnesville. Still, they should. Formed several years ago as ...
Many taxpayers would love to have access to details — check by check — on how local officials are spending their money. If you live in Jefferson County, congratulations — the information is at your fingertips, literally. In 2014, the Ohio treasurer’s office launched an online ...
Residents of the Ohio Valley are still reeling from the news that two hospitals we have relied on for more than a century will close in a matter of weeks. But, in true local fashion, many area leaders have pledged to do all they can to save the institutions — or at least some of the most ...
You’re all somewhat familiar with the tale of Peter Rabbit. Well, I’m here to tell you, it is based in reality. The story by British author Beatrix Potter begins with young Peter Rabbit and his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, passing their days with mischievous behavior. Peter ...
When public officials buy something, they ought to pay the lowest price possible. When they sell something, they should strive to get the most money they can. Most taxpayers would agree with both ideas, we feel certain. It is their money, after all. Monroe County commissioners are facing a ...
When pieces of your municipal building begin falling off, you have a problem. No doubt Martins Ferry officials realize that. The question now is what to do about it. A piece of metal window framing fell from the structure’s exterior last week. It landed in the city building parking lot. ...
Monte Miller simply had a way about him. Whether it was the athletes he coached, the students he taught or even some of the less fortunate that he mentored, Miller had an uncanny way to get the most out of everyone he crossed paths with. It was a gift. It’s a gift that left this world far ...
The most effective protectors of children are off duty now. They are the school teachers who so often alert the authorities about abused and neglected youngsters. That places a special burden on the rest of us to keep our eyes open and, if we see something, to say something to law enforcement ...
Few things are more important than ensuring that our children are leading safe and healthy lives. That is a big job, though, and sometimes it requires help from many sources. During the school year, parents can almost always count on local public and private schools to help make sure that ...
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be easy to become frustrated with the people and circumstances that surround you. Over the past couple of weeks, however, I instead have been impressed with some of what I have seen. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump traveled to Wheeling for ...
DETROIT (AP) — When Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, there was no question that Terrance Holmes would vote for the first black president. But as he helped fix cars this week at a repair shop on Detroit’s west side, he recalled his ambivalence about the 2016 campaign. “I ...
I will never forget what my drivers’ education instructor told us in high school: “If you ever have to leave the roadway, never focus on the tree or utility pole you want to miss. You will surely hit it. Focus on the open space between them.” This has proven to be good advice for me. ...
Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra clearly was troubled by a defendant he sentenced on Monday. He ordered the 40-year-old Barnesville man be imprisoned for the maximum term allowable, five years. The man had been found guilty of unlawful sexual contact with a minor, a third-degree ...
Apparently, some people cannot read the signs advising that large, heavy vehicles are banned on the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. Perhaps barriers they cannot pass — at least not without damaging their own trucks and buses — will do the trick. A large tour bus driven across the span on ...
Making improvements to the Steubenville Marina is an excellent idea, but also a costly proposition. Especially given the city’s current stressed finances, with millions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure repairs and improvements needed, even making a good start is beyond what local ...
The Upper Ohio Valley lost one of its great leaders last week with the death of John Mattox at age 84. And while those who knew Mattox are grieving his absence, they also know that the contributions he made to our region were so numerous and important that they will endure for generations. ...
I don’t remember the first time I met John Mattox, but by the time I was 8 years old or so, I knew exactly who he was — a Union Local Board of Education member, an area businessman, father of two children who attended Flushing Elementary where my mother taught and the kind of person you ...
This week 50 years ago on July 20, 1969, I was sitting in the living room with my parents and five brothers watching Walter Cronkite and the first moon landing on our black and white TV. There was a lot of excitement, tension (we didn’t know how things would work out) and pride to be an ...
Fifty years ago this week, one of Ohio’s greatest sons, Neil Armstrong, became the first man to walk on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, the world watched in awe as grainy footage beamed in from the lunar surface 289,000 miles away to millions of TV screens around the globe. As a 13-year-old, I ...
Ohio’s fledgling medicinal marijuana industry is not yet fully up and running, but already, state officials are raising questions about the honesty of some of those involved. Two companies in the medicinal marijuana dispensary business are being accused by the state Board of Pharmacy of ...