Setting a good fiscal example

January 21, 2019

Give West Virginia legislators credit for, as they say, walking the walk as well as talking the talk. Even as they have demanded more fiscal discipline from state agencies during the past couple of years, they have imposed it upon themselves. As House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, noted last week, the Republican majority that took power in 2015 has cut its own spending. In 2014, the House had 49 full-time employees and 68 “per diem,” or part-time employees. This year, the numbers are 38 and 46, respectively. The House payroll has been cut by $550,000 a year during ...

Move on

January 10, 2019

Editor: Hillary Clinton has been whining since election night two years ago that she was cheated when she lost to Trump. She thrust her arms in the air, and with her weeping supporters, still try to convince the public to sympathize with her as she screeches “Foul.” Let’s just think about this for one moment. She and her supporters claim they won the popular vote and should therefore have won the election. But wait a second, if you will, to see if she has solid ground to stand upon. The founders of this country set the rules when they drafted the Constitution. Since then, for ...

Penny wise, pound foolish

December 20, 2018

Editor: For the past two years, I have been a devoted volunteer at the Columbiana County Dog Pound. I was born and raised in Lisbon and felt good giving back to this community. All I ever wanted to do was walk puppies and help out. During that time, I came to know several other volunteers who shared the same goals and dreams as I have for making the pound a better place. About a year ago, we formed a group to promote adoptions and raise money to help improve the pounds worn out facilities. We called our group Friends of Columbiana County Pound Dogs. Last Christmas we walked the ...

Position paper

December 13, 2018

Editor: The last several weeks has been full of stories in print and on social media concerning Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman Dave Johnson. His meme blaming the California fires on “liberals” caused quite a stir with many. This meme on Facebook was hateful, yet revealing of the person. What disturbs me more is the complete silence from other elected Republicans in the county. I have reached out to state Rep. Tim Ginter several times in regard to this with no response from him. Not one elected Republican in the county has made a public statement concerning his ...

Civic pride

December 9, 2018

Editor: What a whirlwind it was. Now that the dust has settled on Election 2018, I look back with appreciation for all I learned and observed about our government and legislative process. The voter turnout was great — over 10 percent increase from the 2014 midterm election. That is something our county can be proud of. We need, however, to put that into perspective that we had only 50 percent voter turnout. There is still work to be done for all of us to realize that our vote is our voice. In the hundreds of conversations I had with people throughout our county, some said “I ...

The right track

November 25, 2018

Editor: Congratulations to the Wellsville Board of Education and Superintendent Richard Bereschik on your decision to renovate Nicholson Field with the installation of a turf field, six lane all weather track, upgraded practice field, and parking area. This is truly a great investment in our community and the students of Wellsville school district. In this competitive environment of open enrollment it is critical Wellsville school system offers as many assets and opportunities as possible it’s students. The district has taken positive steps in that direction recently. The ...