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Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS to the Bellaire High School Class of 1965 for its consistent financial support of the district. For the past 25 years, members have reunited to give back to their alma mater. This year, it donated $4,000. JEERS to recent accidents that have killed and injured local students just as the school year is getting underway. We all must take steps to prevent as many such accidents as possible. CHEERS to students and staff in the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District for thinking of their Ohio County neighbors impacted by flooding in June. JEERS to the continuing illegal drug ...

Rail safety reform overdue

Those hoping railroad companies will move on their own toward improved safety for workers and communities will have to wait a bit longer. More than two and a half years since a Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, not one of the larger freight railroads in the country has signed on to the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, a voluntary federal program that was meant to reduce rail hazards and prevent accidents. According to a report by the Associated Press, BNSF and Norfolk Southern did attempt partial trials but have not actually joined the program. Congress has ...

Helping make Ohioans fit

Ohio is getting ahead of the game in terms of student fitness with a new plan from the lieutenant governor. The Team Tressel Fitness Challenge for students in grades 4-8 is a program developed by Jim Tressel — who has some experience in keeping students fit and healthy. “If we can add just a little better fitness and health, it will make us that much better,” Tressel said Monday. His idea is a solid one. Rather than outdated and intimidating goals that might throw a young person off track, the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge lets students pick their own activities and set their ...

Gee a guiding voice for OSU

Ohio State University isn’t letting its former president E. Gordon Gee rest for long after his departure as president of West Virginia University. They’ve asked him to return to Columbus for a one-year consulting role. According to a report by The Columbus Dispatch, that role will include working with OSU’s new Salmon P. Chase Center to recruit faculty and increase the center’s presence on campus and nationally. Chase was Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of the treasury and later the sixth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving in that role until his death in 1873. But ...

Guard against Lyme disease

Belmont County achieved a dubious distinction this year — it has more confirmed cases of Lyme disease than any other county in the Buckeye State. According to Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Rob Sproul, 106 cases of the illness had been diagnosed in the county as of Wednesday. The Ohio Department of Health listed 94 confirmed cases in Belmont County as of July 30, with Jefferson County close behind at 88 cases. There have been 1,131 cases across Ohio so far in 2025. We owe this problem, in part, to the natural beauty of our region. Things are green and growing here, ...

Use caution, avoid scams

Across the country, scammers continue to find success — particularly with older residents — with a seemingly endless supply of techniques for separating people from their money. Among the latest efforts is a scam in which a person receives a phone call, email or text that says they need to pay a fine, but that they should do so with Bitcoin, a gift card or other virtual currency. And yes, the wording is confusing and aggressive enough that people continue to fall for these scams in droves. In Ohio alone, between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, counties received 16,741 ...