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Critical need for tree watering

Letters to the Editor

Combined lack of rainfall and excessive temperatures leave recently planted trees stressed for survival. Any trees planted in the past three years chances of survival are increased by those willing to insure young trees get five gallons of water per week. The late Marilyn Ortt always reminded the community members of the young trees’ needs during hot, dry periods. Trees cool or community, provide oxygen, shade, habitat among dozens of other necessary features for our survival. Trees, children, animals and drinking water depend upon responsible people for their survival. ...

Congrats to Dougherty on her appointment

Editorials

In a unanimous decision, Marietta College’s Board of Trustees has chosen to keep Kathleen Poorman Dougherty’s steady hand at the helm — no longer as an interim leader, but as president and chief executive officer of the institution. She’s been provost and dean of faculty since 2023, and interim president since the beginning of this year. Her forward thinking and instinct to meet challenges head-on has earned her the confidence of trustees and the campus at large. “The entire Marietta College community is grateful for Dr. Dougherty’s exceptional operational leadership and ...

No more political games

Editorials

The story is becoming too familiar. Lawmakers who support spending cuts, then call for their reversal. Lawmakers who want to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, just not in the program that is politically beneficial to them. U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., has joined several Senate colleagues in a letter that seeks the disbursement of already-approved Community Development Financial Institutions funds. To be fair, some of the federal actions seem designed to force elected officials to beg for the help they pledged to their constituents. In this case, $324 million from the fund was ...

Too many children suffering

Editorials

Buckeye State residents generally think of Ohio as being a fantastic place for children to grow up. But perception does not always match reality, as WalletHub’s “2025’s States With the Most Underprivileged Children” suggests. Believe it or not, Ohio is ranked 18th on the lists of states with the most underprivileged children. Many of us might not have expected the state to crack the worst 25, let alone be ranked that poorly. But a look at the metrics tells the tale. Ohio is 16th for the percentage of children in households below the poverty line, 26th for the percentage of ...

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

Local Columns

This is an oft-quoted line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” A sailor is adrift at sea and runs out of drinking water. Though surrounded by water, he can’t drink it because it’s salt water. Williamstown WV faced a similar situation on December ...

The ‘Atom Bomb’ fell 80 years ago this week

Local Columns

Eighty years ago this week our country did something that had never been done before or since. They exploded an “atom bomb” over a populated area – the horrific result shocked the world. The Times on Aug. 8, 1945 reported the Aug. 6 attack — 100,000 KILLED BY ATOM BOMB ...