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‘Transform the future’

The future is looking bright for our region’s history, as ground was broken last week on phase one of building a new facility for the Ohio River Museum. For nearly 50 years, the museum has taught visitors about our region’s past, and importance in the development of not just the Mid-Ohio Valley, but the state as a whole. The Ohio River has been the lifeblood that runs through our past, present and future — it brought members of the Ohio Company to the confluence with the Muskingum, where the settlement of Marietta was established; it (and the transportation it offers) helped our ...

Our region provides plenty of weekend fun

Last weekend was a wonderful example of the joys of living in our Mid-Ohio Valley communities. Easter parades (one in Parkersburg, one in Belpre) and fishing derbies (in both City Park and Southwood Park) provided just some of the activities that brought families together. For 15 years now, the Mid-Ohio Valley Easter Parade has wound its way through downtown Parkersburg to bring in the season and remind us of the celebration to come. “It was awesome and wonderful,” said event organizer Kiki Angelos. “It was everything that we wanted. We had beautiful weather, which made it ...

Decide to be a difference-maker

Most of us have the luxury of not thinking much about organ donation. But we should. “It’s one of the most profound gifts we can give, that transcends all boundaries and … saves lives,” said Brenda Hooper, intensive care unit clinical nurse manager at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and the hospital’s organ donation liaison. During an event last week at the hospital with Lifeline of Ohio, Ben Burns recounted his own realization after learning of the difference his father’s donation had made for a single mother in Texas. Now, he is an advocate — mentioning ...

Cheap, competitive transportation

It was a small thing. Just $25,000 included in this year’s state budget to let Ohioans know its elected representatives support the idea of real passenger rail transportation options for the state. The money will let the Buckeye State join the Interstate Midwest Passenger Rail Commission, according to a report by WBNS. That, in turn, will lead to conversations with Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration and others. A representative of All Aboard Ohio told WBNS there is work being done on a rail line that would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton. There is ...

Something we should be past

It doesn’t take long at all for a single case of the measles to turn into a genuine outbreak. In Ohio, the number of cases in Ashtabula County alone had grown to 11 by the end of last week. There were seven in Knox County and one each in Allen and Holmes counties. It takes even less time, it seems, for irresponsible political rhetoric and misinformed (or just plain dishonest) social media nonsense to spread in a way that is just as dangerous. By mid-April of 2025, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024. There are outbreaks in Ohio, Texas ...

Vote yes on issue 2

Off-year spring ballots can be full of significant decisions for voters — often the kind that affect us in ways that hit closer to home than what is happening in Washington, D.C. In Ohio, voters will be asked in May to decide on Issue 2 — renewing and increasing the state spending cap for its public works projects. Since 1987, Buckeye State voters have renewed the Local Public Infrastructure Bond Amendment three times, and more than 19,000 grants and loans have been funded for projects all over the state — roads, bridges, retaining walls and other public works. The program allows ...