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Trump’s outrageous threats are getting some practical results

Columns

Think about it: Heads of government do not normally reveal the texts of private communications from other heads of state. Yet that is what Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway did on the first weekend of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the international press would have no difficulty finding appalled foreign leaders. You could think of this as a hostile act of a statesman appalled that the American head of government does not know that the government of Norway does not decide who gets the Nobel Peace Prize. It is probably better to think of it as an ...

Stay safe in this weather

Editorials

There are few situations where the phrase “abundance of caution” is more fitting than where the Ohio Valley stands now with its weather. The winter storm of the past weekend dumped several inches of snow —up to 16 inches in places like East Liverpool — on the ground. Residents have been digging themselves out ever since. State, county and city crews have been working around the clock to make the streets as safe as they can. This isn’t going to be an easy, or quick, fix. The biggest fly in the ointment will be the frigid temperatures the region will see for the next ...

Romney says he wants higher taxes

Columns

Congress is debating major funding bills that would avoid another of those phony government “shutdowns” now scheduled for Friday. One sticking point is that Democrats want to either defund ICE, or greatly reduce its budget even though it is following the law in arresting and deporting people from other countries, some of whom have committed crimes while here. Adding nothing positive to this debate is Mitt Romney, the GOP nominee for president in 2012. In a lengthy letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Romney seems to be channeling Democrats when he writes that he is ...

Does Trump need a portrait of James K. Polk?

Columns

Donald Trump has a painting of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, but as he tries to browbeat Denmark into coughing up Greenland, maybe he should add a portrait of a Jackson acolyte — James K. Polk. If cold-eyed American expansionism is the theme, there are fewer better representatives than the 11th president. He added more than 1 million square miles to U.S. territory and extended the country all the way to the Pacific, making him the most successful president not celebrated as part of the American pantheon. Trump’s impulse to throw his weight around and assume control of ...

Check out unclaimed funds

Editorials

Looking for something to do while snow, ice and frigid temperatures have perhaps kept you home for more time than you’d like in recent days? It could be a good time to check out the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Unclaimed Funds website. According to a recent report by the Akron Beacon Journal, the state still holds more than $4 billion in dormant bank accounts, utility deposits and uncashed checks. That’s a huge chunk of YOUR money just sitting (virtually) in Columbus. And remember, if you don’t claim it after more than ten years, you run the risk of it being used ...

Consider the status quo vs. the alternative

Columns

The last two weeks have been, like the preceding weeks, nuts. The president insisted the United States must own Greenland and he would not rule out military force, if necessary, to take the island. He imposed tariffs on the NATO allies who oppose his territorial lust. Then he walked it all back for the framework of a deal. The reality is, President Donald Trump has a knack for getting things he could have gotten without all the drama, but the drama is salesmanship for his base. They insist it is the art of the deal, he is the best negotiator and the deal is amazing. Most often, the ...