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Crash Responder Safety Week reminds Ohio residents to pay attention on the roadways

Editorial

Changes in the rules about how we approach and drive by traffic incidents have met some success in reducing the number of injuries and fatalities associated with roadway incident crashes. But there is still a danger to those who trying to help at such scenes. During this Crash Responder Safety Week, Buckeye State residents are reminded to move over, slow down, avoid distraction and expect the unexpected. For fire and rescue, emergency medical services, highway maintenance, towing and recovery and public works employees, sticking to those rules could be a life-saver. “Anytime you ...

The greatest columnists

Local Columns

Memories of my last presentation at the East Liverpool Area Community and Learning Center apparently have faded because my friend Mike Parkes asked me to do it again. “Do you have a subject in mind?” he asked. “I need a title for the list.” It took me only a few moments. “The ...

Ohio school districts are paying the price for flawed healthcare policy

Letters To The Editor

A school district’s budget has to cover a lot before the first student walks through the door. Teachers and support staff need to be hired, buses need fuel, and buildings need heat. When those costs rise, school boards have to make difficult choices about how to meet students’ needs with the dollars available. Health care can be one of the biggest variables in that equation. Districts need to provide dependable coverage for their employees, but an unexpected increase in costs can upend months of careful planning and leave less money available for classrooms. For a school board, ...

Election officials are keeping Ohio results safe from fraud

Editorial

Despite repeated attempts by others to instill fear that Ohio’s elections are riddled with fraud, interference and illegal ballots cast, the public official best equipped to accurately assess the situation, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, has said, “voter fraud is rare in Ohio.” An analysis of data from the Ohio Crime Statistics Dashboard by the Ohio Capital Journal bears that out. Since taking office in 2019, LaRose has referred for investigation 1,200 voting/election-related cases. According to the crime statistics dashboard, only 16 resulted in felony convictions — ...

Harassment and assault of sports officials cannot be tolerated

Editorial

Refereeing isn’t supposed to be dangerous. But those who (often volunteer to) do so are increasingly facing dangers to their mental health and well-being AND their physical health while they are trying to do their jobs for our kids. During a Steubenville-New Philadelphia boys soccer game this week, an official was injured so badly he had to be hospitalized. Video evidence shows a Steubenville player who may have been reacting to a red card being given to a teammate charging at the official, knocking him to the ground. According to published reports, the referee suffered a collapsed ...

Devil Anse and me

Local Columns

Having recently read a book about the Hatfields and McCoys, in my new capacity as an expert on this most famous of American family feuds I was invited to speak to a weekly breakfast meeting of the Weirton Rotary Club. The Rotarians were stunned (well, mildly curious) when I happened to ...