Breaking News

Opinion

Efficiency effort worth considering

Editorials

Lawmakers who were sent by voters to Columbus to cut wasteful spending and unnecessary layers of government have an interesting idea in front of them in state House Bill 520. The measure, now sitting in the House Local Government Committee would “establish and convene a Blue Ribbon Committee in each county to review and assess each taxing unit within the county and each county program or department to identify duplication of services and generally to streamline and improve county efficiency and effectiveness.” One could point out the irony of attacking inefficient, multi-layered ...

Quality food becoming less available

Editorials

Food insecurity may seem to many of us like a problem for someone else, somewhere else. For others, it is an urgent and very personal worry. A map produced by the Institute for Local Self Reliance shows there are food deserts in every state. In Ohio, they are growing. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the institute defines an urban food desert as a low-income census tract with at least 500 people or 33% of the population living a mile or more from the nearest supermarket, large grocery or supercenter; rural food deserts have the same parameters with the exception of ...

Partnership creates needed opportunity

Editorials

Two local education powerhouses are teaming up to provide more options for students. Washington State College of Ohio students will now be able to get a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity by taking classes through West Virginia University at Parkersburg’s Innovation and Technology Center. “We know what this will bring to this community,” said WVUP President Torie Jackson. “It brings a lot of excitement, a lot of innovation and a lot of opportunities for new partnerships. We are very thankful for Washington State College of Ohio and what that partnership can mean for ...

Impressions of Turkey

Features

The Shale Crescent USA Team is part of a U.S. Commercial Services Roadshow to Turkey. Lynnda and I, along with SCUSA President Nathan Lord, arrived in Istanbul last Sunday. We were in three Turkish cities for Roadshow events, meeting with companies interested in investing in the USA. Most Turks guess the actual number of people in Istanbul, the nation’s largest city, to be in excess of 20 million people and still growing. Homes and businesses take up almost every available space. Not much green space. There are buildings as far as the eye can see. Not high rise steel like in Tokyo ...

Baby Boxes save lives

Editorials

We don’t hear about them often — because the decision to give up a child is an excruciating one, and does not often result in their use — but another Safe Haven Baby Box HAS been used to legally surrender a baby in Ohio. This one was at the Delhi Township Fire Department, where firefighters responded in less than a minute to deliver care to the infant, according to the Safe Haven organization. Founder Monica Kelsey took to social media to make the announcement, saying “We’ve had another baby surrendered legally in one of our Safe Haven Baby Boxes. This time down in the ...

The Right Path: Promoting healthy youth development

Letters to the Editor

What better time than now to finally share how grateful I am for all of you and for our youth and families that we serve. 2025 was a wonderful year filled with youth markets, pool parties, backpack giveaways, free haircuts, new partnerships, videos, youth voices project x’s2, cardboard boat races, Grief and Overdose Walk, Fentanyl Awareness banners, Recovery Day, 5k Walk, Youth Leadership Summit, Medication Take Back days, Spagna’s Spaghetti Dinners, moving Handle with Care forward, WC Sheriff’s Office and Marietta PD’s support, OPATA and CIT speaking engagements and new ...