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My Chernobyl radiology doc

A week ago today I completed the last of 33 radiation treatments to my face for basal cell carcinoma. Early in this course of this therapy at the Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville, a staff tech told me my doctor was at Chernobyl. “Doc, they told me you were at Chernobyl,” I said at my weekly meeting with Dr. Kirichenko. “It wasn’t your fault, was it?” He laughed. A good sense of humor is among his many fine personal traits. I told this story to one of my grandsons, then had to explain Chernobyl for it to make sense. “Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in ...

We must keep our coal miners safe

As West Virginians watched for news of the trapped foreman of a mining crew in an Alpha Metallurgical Resources mine in Nicholas County, just days after learning of the death of another miner in an accident at a Mettiki Coal mine in Tucker County, the health and safety of our coal miners was brought back into our collective minds. Worst fears became reailty —as is, sadly, the case in such instances — when workers discovered the deceased foreman after searching for days. For the miners themselves, a renewed fight over their health has been brewing for months, as an Associated Press ...

Overcoming limitations during the holiday season

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published Dec. 12, 2020. Thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and nutrition in recent years, we are living longer than ever before. But this increase in life expectancy also brings an increase in the number of diseases, injuries and impairments that affect older adults. With this in mind, we at the local Visiting Angels office in Salem have created this series of articles to keep our older population and their families informed and to offer some practical advice for meeting the challenges faced by seniors and those who care for ...

Indicators suggest that a recession is emerging

A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland delivered some unsettling news as we roll toward the holiday season. Indicators suggest there is a 24% chance the U.S. economy was in recession last month. The Cleveland Fed represents Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky, where the Ohio Capital Journal noted there have been a number of worrying indicators. Credit card debt is rising faster in Ohio than in all but four other states. We had the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the country in August (the Capital Journal notes “despite years of spending billions ...

Report: Ohio lagging in helping college students

Though a well-trained, well-educated and skilled workforce is more important than ever, students seeking a higher education to prepare them for their careers are having a harder time being able to afford it. Sure, many people still believe having a college degree will translate to higher earnings, but students are increasingly challenged to decide whether the expense of that education (or the long-term debt they may incur) is worth the risk. According to WalletHub, the cost of attending a four-year public college has risen by an average of 30% over the past 20 years. And that cost eats ...

Redrawn congressional districts creates upheaval

Given the degree to which so many in Washington, D.C., have shown us their reluctance to do their jobs — or remember for whom they work — lately, it is likely the 2026 elections will be a time for voters to take action. In Ohio, change is imminent, as redrawn congressional districts will mean upheaval for lawmakers and those heading to the polls. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is trying to get out ahead of any confusion by updating the office’s Find My District tool now. The hope is voters will not be caught off guard just as they are looking to cast their ballots in the ...