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Give crash responders the room they need to work safely (editorial for 11/5)

Editorials

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 see ...

Ignoring obesity epidemic only makes it worse

Editorials

National Diabetes Awareness Month takes on a different significance in Appalachia, and WalletHub’s “2026’s Most Overweight and Obese States in America,” give some idea why. Obesity is one of the bigger risk factors and primary cause of type 2 diabetes, and West Virginia is the most obese state in the country. Ohio is 15th. Digging into the data gets more and more disturbing. The Mountain State is first for the percentage of obese adults and the percentage of adults with type 2 diabetes. It is seventh for the percentage of overweight children, second for the percentage of ...

New leadership set to continue SEOPA's good work

Editorials

Handling the responsibilities of the president and SEO of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority is no insignificant task. The organization supports “strategic partnerships that secure investments and opportunities to enhance the infrastructure, tax base, workforce, and overall quality of life in Washington County,” according to its website; and leading an effort like that takes an intelligent, driven, focused and maybe even a little stubborn individual. Last week, the authority’s board of directors announced they had chosen Eric Wade to fill the role. He’s already been a senior ...

MOV Climate Corner: The election and safe drinking water

Local Columns

Although many voters in the Mid-Ohio Valley have cast their ballots through early voting, many more will express their preferences on Nov. 3. Among the most important issues for the voters in this region are injection wells and the danger they pose to our drinking-water aquifers. Several candidates have expressed their views on this topic, others have not. In the gubernatorial race, Dr. Amy Acton made her position clear at a press conference in Marietta on Sept. 17. She endorsed the three-year moratorium on fracking wastewater (brine) injection activity, which specifies a shutdown of ...

Early Marietta: The ghosts of Marietta College

Local Columns

On Halloween in 1992, the Marietta College newspaper MARCOLIAN reported on a strange campus phenomenon: ghosts and paranormal activity. Ghosts abounded; many had names. One night a resident assistant at Dorothy Webster Hall heard "a little kid crying, then laughing and talking." Someone’s ...

Letter to the Editor: $30 from 3000

Letters to the Editor

The journey started in 2020 during COVID, when the Washington County Homeless Project, a 501c3 since 2017, engaged city government and community churches to open the first Drop-in Center to assist those who are homeless or at -risk of homelessness. The need since 2020 has not diminished but successes have been achieved with a collaborative effort from churches, local treatment facilities and the general public. The lives of numerous individuals and families have been impacted in a positive way. Many more people struggling with homelessness or at -risk of it remain hopeful that working ...