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Opinion

Editorial

Years ago, a few politicians and elected officials began to understand it was irresponsible to ignore the downturn in the coal industry. Though acknowledging it at the time drew significant pushback from those clinging to bygone days, today we welcome the support of those in state and federal government who are rooted enough in reality to be looking for ways to support individuals and communities affected by that downturn. This week, the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, along with the Ohio Department of Development, announced more than $6 million in funding from the Appalachian ...

Rail safety reform should not be a matter of partisan politics

Editorial

Rail safety reform is not a matter of partisan politics – or it shouldn’t be, anyway. But since February 2023, when a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, ignited renewed calls for reform, politicians in Washington, D.C., have sat on their hands while their friends in the railroad industry made promises and assurances that weren’t worth the paper their public relations teams hoped it would be printed on. This week, U.S. Sens. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., are giving it another shot, with a bill that would increase pay for federal railroad inspectors and ...

Playing like a child again

Local Columns

One of the great surprises I had upon becoming a father was that because I had a child, I could play like a child again. Nobody told me that would happen. I have seen it happen to others, and not only to humans. It has happened to our adult cats. “Play with her, Leo,” my wife Honey ...

The last tomato of summer

Local Columns

I love my garden, but right now I can’t wait to brush hog and plow it under. All this rain, lordy. Eight inches in August. Long stretches of days with high temperatures in the 90s. Humidity you could bathe in. Mosquitoes Cajun-thick, and me deaf on one side: my left ear can’t hear the ...