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North Star deserves praise and grace

Editorials

While plenty of politicians claim they are pursuing the agendas they do because they want to protect children, organizations such as the North Star Child Advocacy Center are actually doing just that. And in the first half of 2025, they are seeing an increase in the need for their work. Serving Wood, Wirt, Ritchie, Pleasants and Calhoun counties in West Virginia — as well as doing some work for other counties in the Mountain State and in Ohio — North Star has conducted 14 more forensic interviews between January and June 2025 than during the same period the year before. So far ...

Assessing the risk of serving or not serving

Local Columns

By Mark Wilmoth People don’t assess risk very well. Ask folks to list dangerous occupations and you’ll hear about folks in the military and about first responders who risk their lives on behalf of others. In fact, though, firefighters’ risk of death is only 3.4 per 100,000 and in Fiscal Year 2021, the last date for which statistics have been published, the on-duty ground Soldier fatality rate was 1.3 fatalities per 100,000 Soldiers. By comparison, the fatality rate for trash and recycling collectors is 34.9 deaths per 100,000 and being a truck driver is actually 4 times riskier ...

Vaccines are still important

Editorials

As political chatter raises questions about vaccines and legal requirements for them, some news close to home should remind us of their importance. According to the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, a measles outbreak was confirmed in the county on Aug. 29. Three children from the same family — all unvaccinated. And while those children are reportedly improving at home, the health department’s task now is to work with the family “to identify and follow-up with any exposure and contacts, and help where needed.” The Ohio news made its way into a report by the ...

Community efforts should include everyone

Editorials

September is the start of many things: football season, the school year for some, spooky season if you ask the right people … But this is also Hunger Action Month. Note the difference between this “month” designation and many others. This is not just about awareness; this is about action to “provide nutritious food to neighbors facing hunger,” as Feeding America puts it. The idea is to come together with food banks and volunteers in communities “to build a nation where everyone has the food and support they need.” But that doesn’t happen if YOU don’t take ...

Buckle up for driver training

Editorials

Get ready. At the end of this month, Ohio drivers aged 18, 19 and 20 will be required to take an approved driver training course and complete 50 hours of driving practice supervised by a licensed adult to get their driver’s license. This is training that is already in effect for those 16 or 17 years old, but it may come as a surprise to older new drivers unfamiliar with the “Class D” training, which must be completed before a driving test can be scheduled. Gov. Mike DeWine has been working to find ways to improve driver safety in Ohio. “We know that somebody who’s had ...

“Calm-down kits” support students

Editorials

Switzerland of Ohio Local School District representatives delivered 300 “calm-down kits” to students at Elm Grove and Middle Creek elementary schools and Bridge Street Middle School. Those schools in Ohio County serve the areas hit hardest by deadly flash flooding in June. Kits included items such as fidgets, candy, lip balm and hand sanitizer — which provides “tactile grounding” for students, according to school counselors. There were also stickers and notes of positive affirmation for students in the kits, even some full letters of encouragement. Imagine the impact of ...