Officials with the Belmont County Transportation Improvement District are saying little about the indictment of a former employee. That is appropriate in some ways. It is a personnel matter, and, of course, that individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Clearly, however, someone ...
Over Independence Day weekend, we Americans celebrated and renewed our commitment to the values set forth in 1776 by leaders who felt it was important to explain why our ancestors no longer wanted to live under British rule. Why? Read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. It is a ...
The last few months have been an unusual and challenging time for residents of Eastern Ohio, the United States and the entire world. An unfamiliar pathogen caught us off guard. Our responses to it have been varied. From heroic to rebellious, people have reacted to the threat in many ...
Allowing public school teachers to carry or have access to firearms while on the job is controversial. Armed educators can save lives if schools are invaded by people bent on violence, say proponents of the idea. Critics worry about gun accidents and “friendly-fire” mistakes by teachers ...
Nationally, the American Legion remains strong. It has nearly 2 million members in more than 12,000 posts throughout the United States. But, as many Legionnaires in our area are aware, it has become more and more difficult to bring new members into the organization. Small local posts are ...
Too often in the past, dangerous behavior by members of college fraternities has been shrugged off. The old “boys will be boys” excuse is trotted out. Strange, isn’t it, how they and college administrators refer to themselves as men? It seems that more people have decided they should ...
A consistent, clear-headed approach needs to prevail when it comes to the new coronavirus. Reaction to the threat of COVID-19 is wildly different among various groups of people. Some folks are extremely vigilant about handwashing, wearing masks and avoiding unnecessary contact with people ...
The stance that, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” is among the most powerful — and important — comments ever made on freedom of speech. Some attribute it to the French Enlightenment philosopher/historian Voltaire. It is an ...
It says something about the prospects for ethane cracker plants that Shell Chemical, after a short break due to COVID-19, has resumed construction of one near Monaca, Pennsylvania. Shell executives seem confident. The governors of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania are being urged to ...
In the midst of a pandemic and nationwide protests, we received an additional bit of disappointing news last week here in Eastern Ohio. On Monday, PTT Global Chemical announced a new time line for its proposed ethane cracker plant project. Actually, the company announced a new time line for ...
It will be surprising if any true outside agitators come into our area in attempts to convert our peaceful protests into riots. Troublemakers such as those in Antifa have bigger fish to fry. Our small town nature, even in the Ohio Valley’s cities, is an advantage in times such as these. It ...
National news media outlets spent much of the weekend covering civil disorder — riots — in cities throughout the country. But in many other communities, something more powerful was occurring. In both Wheeling and Steubenville, demonstrations were held in protest of an attitude, one that ...
The decision last week to dispatch National Guard personnel to Ohio nursing homes to help with COVID-19 testing did not come a moment too soon. While the disease seems to be on the retreat in much of the Buckeye State, its rampage through some long-term care facilities seems to be at its ...
Restaurants and bars in Ohio will be permitted to reopen for inside serving on Thursday. They were cleared for outside service last Friday. Both steps are parts of a gradual reopening of all sorts of businesses across the Buckeye State. Many eateries had remained open for carryout and ...
When residents of the Bridgeport area perceived that an injustice was occurring earlier this school year, they quickly rallied behind the man they saw as the victim. The Bridgeport Exempted Village Board of Education sought to solve a problem that had been plaguing the district for a couple ...
Would that government officials were as conscientious about ethics as they seem to be inventive about trying to skirt the rules. Ohio Inspector General Randall J. Meyer’s office reported last week that about 40 state employees and some legislators accepted a free charter boat fishing trip ...
A plan being considered by St. Clairsville officials to resolve longstanding water system challenges sounds promising. Unless significant drawbacks are identified, it should be pursued — and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency should go along. Expensive repairs and upgrades to the ...
It appears that fewer people participated in the Ohio primary election than usual, at least in the local area. In a way, that is understandable. After all, our lives have been turned upside down in recent weeks as we have responded to the novel coronavirus pandemic. In another way, though, ...
Prisons, as well as nursing homes, are high-hazard sites for COVID-19. Belmont County has become a hotspot for the coronavirus, with 107 cases by Sunday. County Health Deputy Director Robert Sproul said many of the cases are in nursing homes — and a prison. Thiry-one inmates at the ...
A reasonable plan to play football at a field within the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District seems to be taking shape, and we believe the public and state and local officials should get behind it. Since 2018, the Bulldogs have been unable to play on their home field, because of flood ...