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45 years, six days and still counting

Editorial

(First published Oct. 7, 2024) Isn’t it amazing? How you might forget where you placed, say, your car keys just minutes ago but can vividly recall a single moment from decades ago? Such an instance for me was actually a first professional moment for me: getting my first byline as a daily newspaper staff member. The name Bob Lewis would strike a memory for only the most avid of golf historians. He was the 1978 Ohio Open champion. I interviewed him at the Salem Golf Club in August that summer — having just been hired as a part-time sportswriter for the Morning Journal. Dang, my very ...

‘Raylee’s Law’ must return next year in West Virginia

Editorial

While “Raylee’s Law” ­– which protects children from abuse ­–shamefully died on the West Virginia House of Delegates floor on the last night of session, it’s good to see some local legislators vowing that it won’t be the last the bill is heard of in Charleston. The bill stops children suspected of being abused at home from being removed from public school and homeschooled. By the time the House took up the bill and passed it, the state Senate had already adjourned for the year. That led to some fiery responses from Northern Panhandle legislators, namely Del. Shawn ...

Million-plus Ohioans are living below poverty line

Editorial

Ohio residents don’t have to be reminded, but research from the Urban Institute might help elected officials and policymakers remember a significant number of their constituents are struggling with economic insecurity. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the institute updated its 2023 research with help from U.S. Census Bureau data to look at “income fragility,” and other factors here. For example, the cost of average rent, groceries and daycare for two in Ohio is more than $55,000 per year. That means even those who aren’t sitting at or below the official ...

Ramaswamy proposes Ohio universities consolidation

Local Columns

Asked about his goal to eliminate the state’s income tax, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican front-runner for governor, proposed consolidating Ohio’s universities. It was a curious response. Ramaswamy said: “The reason (eliminating the income tax is) possible is that you look at certain areas of excess spending where we can not just cut costs, but improve effectiveness. Look at the number of universities in our state. I love the universities in Ohio. I want us to have the best universities. But we have too many of them. They need to be consolidated. And when you consolidate them, ...

Vivek Ramaswamy needs to tread lightly on Threads

Editorial

Social media platforms can tempt politicians into hyperbole that doesn’t always match reality. It can tempt anyone to do that. So, Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy can perhaps be forgiven for wondering on Threads whether it is possible to eliminate the state income tax (the real question is, if we do, how do we pay for everything?), and suggesting the Buckeye State’s colleges and universities should be consolidated. “Look at the number of universities in our state. I love universities in Ohio. I want us to have the best universities,” Ramaswamy said, ...

Back to the bricks

Local Columns

Two weeks ago, part of an old brick structure which once housed a five-and-dime store on Wellsville’s Main Street collapsed onto an accountant’s office next door. When I read the news my soul ached with desire. I want those bricks. All of them. Loyal readers of this column know that the 1,500-foot driveway to my house is paved with bricks, nearly all obtained free from local demolition sites; “free” if you don’t count the cost of my time, labor, and gas for the pickup truck. Why shouldn’t Wellsville’s five-and-dime bricks find an honored place in my road amongst those ...