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Opinion

Rail safety reform overdue

Editorials

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

Editorials

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 Rather than outdated and intimidating goals that might throw a young person off track, the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge lets students pick their own activities and set their ...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

Editorials

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 ...

AI and the Bible

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,” (2 Thessalonians 2:9) The previous Bible verse is a reference to the antichrist. I know there are those of you who would question why I chose this for a letter to the editor but I ask that you indulge me. In the past few months in my studies I have found something particularly concerning when it comes to people being fooled. As many of you know the world is making incredible advancements in artificial ...

Guard against Lyme disease

Editorials

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, ...

The necessity of having a good backup plan

Columns

In college at WVU when I asked a young lady for a date, “No” or “I have other plans” were not what I wanted to hear, but they were truthful answers. If I wanted a date for Saturday night I knew I needed to ask someone else. “Yes” was a better answer if it was truthful. Several times when I went to meet my date on Saturday, I learned from her roommate, “She left here 30 minutes ago with her ex.” or “She just left with _____. (One of the football players.) It was then I realized “Yes” really meant, “I will go with you if I don’t get a better offer.” I was ...