Have you ever been on the receiving end of a good deed — maybe someone paid your toll on the bridge, or covered your cup of coffee at a local drive-thru? It feels nice, doesn’t it? Knowing there are people around you looking out for their neighbors ... even if the definition of neighbor ...

Law enforcement officials at all levels and across the country are to be commended for their cooperation in putting behind bars a predator from Alaska who finally was brought to justice in Morgan County. “Justice has finally caught up to (Andrew J.) Jensen thanks to a strong partnership ...

Still think we haven’t painted ourselves into a corner in this country with the taxpayer-funded public assistance programs that now keep so many families afloat? A study by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation shows 20 percent of Buckeye State businesses have had problems with ...

About a year ago, a respected national university began offering Ohioans new options for higher education. They can take online courses to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fields where there are excellent career opportunities. They can save money in the process. What’s not to ...

Mid-Ohio Valley residents have heard before “we cannot arrest our way out of this,” in reference to the substance abuse epidemic. Nevertheless, there have been plenty of arrests, some of which have no doubt saved the lives of those who were able to use an arrest and conviction as a turning ...

Data released this week shows by 2030 there will be more people over 65 than under 18 in the United States. Local readers will not be surprised to learn there are 13 Ohio counties in which that has already happened — and 11 of them are right here along the Ohio River, including Washington, ...

Occasionally we think back to the “good old days” and realize there was a little less “good” in it than we remember. One tradition that has stood the test of time and DOES still bring a lot of good to our kids is Vacation Bible School. Mid-Ohio Valley congregations work as hard today ...

Dunham Township volunteer firefighter Dusty Schwendeman died 17 years ago, but his family at the fire station is still paying tribute. This Saturday, a new addition to the station will be dedicated to Schwendeman, who was killed in an accident on an icy road while responding to a fire. ...

Across the country, one in 167 pregnancies ends in a stillbirth. That translates to a fetal mortality rate in the U.S. of about 3.98 per 1,000 pregnancies. But in Ohio, the rate is 4.39 per 1,000. Ohio’s Department of Health is working to do something about that, and has partnered with ...

What a difference a year makes. In 2017, an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction report found few problems at the Cuyahoga County jail. A year later, U.S. marshals termed conditions there “inhumane.” In 2018, eight inmates died at the jail. There are now FBI investigations, ...

Of all the alarming statistics about the frequency of elder abuse, there’s another stat that is just as alarming: only an estimated one in 14 cases of elder abuse is even reported. With no report, there is often no one to step in and help and the abuse, whether it be emotional, physical or ...

Beneath the perfectly manicured lawns and under the pines and elm trees at the Normandy cemetery lie 9,388 Americans who died during D-Day or in the liberation of France that followed. Among them is a most unlikely combatant, a 56-year-old Army officer who was a wounded veteran of World War I ...

WASHINGTON — The abortion issue is more divisive than ever, thanks to extreme anti-abortion legislation recently passed in some states and, lately, to Democratic presidential candidates seemingly vying to be the most pro-choicest. The newest controversy swirls around the 1976 Hyde ...

Service and charitable organizations exist because people who wanted to do more for their communities found a way to organize other like-minded folks for the common good. They work hard, they do not receive much thanks ... and sometimes they are the victims of ... other service ...

Our region is criss-crossed with railroad tracks. We get used to the sites and sounds ... sometimes the waiting in traffic. But a tragedy this week reminds us those trains that have become so much a part of the background cannot be forgotten. Last year alone, 21 pedestrians were killed by ...

The next Washington County prosecutor and at-large council member will be appointed, not elected, but that doesn’t mean residents shouldn’t play a role in the decision. The Marietta Times published in Wednesday’s paper the full list of the committees making these decisions, which are ...

Appalachian Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Valley have seen a toll taken by the substance abuse epidemic of the last several years from which it may be nearly impossible to recover. Nearly everyone has been affected in some way. And for years now we have understood one of the sparks for that epidemic ...

Over the weekend, children in Marietta had a chance to participate in Story Time at the Armory, presented by the Kiwanis Club. It was a typical summer weekend program —snacks, giveaways, prizes, storytellers and smiling kids. And while the Kiwanis Club’s program is a fantastic one, and we ...

Legalizing dangerous fireworks was a bad idea when it was done in West Virginia in 2016 — and it is no better now for Ohio. A bill in the Ohio state Senate, SB 72, would legalize consumer use of most pyrotechnic devices, including some powerful enough to blow a child’s hand off. Any one ...

While plenty of students see the beginning of summer as a temporary freedom from the rigors of the academic year, there are too many young people in the Mid-Ohio Valley who know summer means insecurity, a loss of the knowledge that at least for those precious hours five days a week they were ...