Few things are more important in the lives of our youth than an opportunity to achieve academic success. Being able to excel in the classroom is the first big step toward finding a successful path in life.It can be a challenging road in this day and age. Fallout from a struggling economy can ...

BELMONT COUNTY Commissioners defused a potential bomb last week when the board announced the decision to drop a plan to consolidate Eastern and Northern division courts for now.The commissioners had planned to consolidate the two courts in an effort to save money. The plan was initiated this ...

CRIME IS running rampant in the Ohio Valley. Be it of the violent nature or petty theft, local residents harbor safety concerns like never before.The economy is one definite reason for the spike in illegal activity. An accompanying factor is the constraints that many -- if not all -- local ...

THEN PRESIDENT George Bush said it was a day Americans must never forget. He was correct in regards to Sept. 11, 2001.On that day nine years ago tomorrow, terrorists struck our land and shattered our feeling that we were free from outside aggression. Many people lost their lives and many others ...

THE OHIO Department of Education recently released its 2009-10 student testing results. The findings provide an indicator on how schools are functioning in regards to students' academic performance.It was refreshing to see that several local school districts received high marks from the state. ...

It's been a long time coming, and today it has finally arrived.The Belmont County Fair officially opened today at its new home off Roscoe Road west of St. Clairsville.Plans to relocate the fair to the new site have been in the works for many years now, and today opens a new chapter for the ...

Millions of Americans have watched and listened as President Barack Obama assured us the U.S. combat role in Iraq is over. "The war is ending," he proclaimed a few days ago.Now consider what Lt. Col. Andy Ulrich told the American troops he was leading Wednesday - just hours after Obama's ...

SEPTEMBER 11, better known as 9/11, is a day that lives in history as a result of the cowardly attacks by terrorists in 2001 in the United States and the tragic deaths of nearly 3,000 people, and it also is connected with another historic event nearly 220 years earlier in the Ohio Valley.It ...

IRISH EYES will be smiling a little wider come Saturday. For that is when St. John Central's nomadic football program comes home.The Fighting Irish will play its first-ever "true" home football game this Saturday at noon. The Green will welcome the Cameron Dragons to its new digs in south ...

THE VILLAGE of Bridgeport finds itself embroiled in a water dispute.At issue is whether the village should abolish the current village administrator position and establish a board of public affairs. Should such an occurrence play out, a water board would also return.At last week's village ...

TRUCKLOADS OF old, unwanted electronic devices were collected by the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority in recent weeks.On Saturday, the authority held its third annual electronics recycling collection at the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville. The previous week, the agency held ...

TO WORK at any position for 35 years, two things must be in place. First, you must be good at what you do. Secondly, you must enjoy it as well.Tonight marks the end of a most impressive run for Richard Melanko.When Shadyside Village Council meets at 7 p.m. it will mark the first time in ...

THE BELMONT County Commissioners should be commended for their decision this past week to throw their collective support behind the county's port authority.Funding for the port authority has been a major point of contention over recent months. The future of the development agency was in ...

THE GOLDEN years became a good bit shinier this week for our local senior citizens, courtesy of the Belmont County commissioners.A long-awaited and much-needed contract has been put in place that provides for services for senior citizens. The accord has been years in the making and was finally ...

THE STATE of Ohio must be doing something right in the realm of education.Although the Buckeye State's school funding formula has wreaked havoc on district budgets in Eastern Ohio, the state has found itself in prestigious surroundings.Ohio was just one of nine states selected by the U.S. ...

WE BELIEVE education is priceless, but we also believe it should fall in the parameters of fiscal responsibility.Such is not the case with the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools. The Los Angeles-based learning center is an educational template for spending irresponsibility.The school, ticketed ...

This week, students from grade school to college are headed back to class for the 2010-11 school year.It may be hard to believe that summer break has come to an end already. With some hot August days still ahead, the calendar says summer doesn't officially end for several weeks.But the school ...

THE SEVENTH Annual Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame Banquet will be staged Saturday night, ushering in 17 more individuals who have distinguished themselves within the conference.THE OVAC is the largest functioning conference in the nation. It is also one of the finest. The Hall of ...

SCHOOL BELLS will be ringing in the very near future for Eastern Ohio students, some as early as this week. The resumption of classes signals the end of the summer season.That being the case, an ideal family oriented way to wind down the season unfolds in Martins Ferry this week. The annual ...

THESE ARE exciting times for the Belmont County Fair.The annual September extravaganza will be moving into new digs when it unfolds Tuesday, Sept. 7. The move is one that offers boundless opportunities to the Belmont County Fair Board.Gone are the days of cramped quarters at the old ...