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Book challenges concerning issue

If the pen is mightier than the sword, it makes sense that those who are afraid of ideas, questions and critical thinking have chosen libraries as their battleground. According to a report by Axios, the American Library Association says that fight is intensifying across the country. In Ohio, there was an increase in the number of book titles challenged between 2022 and 2023. Last year, there were 40 formal complaints filed in the Buckeye State, challenging a total of 235 books, based on library association data. By contrast, in West Virginia — where much has been said about the ...

Patience a must in bridge work zone

The barrels have officially returned to the Veterans Memorial Bridge (though some never left) following the announcement of yet another lengthy maintenance project on the span. It’s a scene we’ve become accustomed to during the last few years, but this time there is an additional complication as the W.Va. Department of Highways also has closed the exit ramp leading from the bridge to state Route 2 south. According to the official announcement, the work is scheduled to run through May 31, but these maintenance projects have been extended by days and even weeks in the past, ...

License suspensions need a closer look

Ohio’s economy has a lot going for it, but there are weak spots. Among those problem areas is the number of people with suspended driver’s licenses. We’re not talking here about those whose licenses have been suspended for driving-related failures. These are suspensions because of legal debts such as unpaid fines and fees, child-support delinquencies or court judgments. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, approximately 1.7 million Ohioans per year have their licenses suspended, and 60 percent of those are not because of bad driving. A study by the Federal Reserve ...

Dangerous situation along the Ohio River

No one likes to hear “I told you so,” but officials in Martins Ferry are hearing that and more as a fracking waste recycling facility is facing a complaint filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in Belmont County Common Pleas Court. Filed March 25, the complaint requests a temporary restraining order against Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services, which is accused of illegally storing excess quantities of brine and drilling waste. More specifically, Yost’s office said its chief concern is “the plant’s proximity to the Ohio River (about 500 feet) and to a drinking ...

Cummings to share his talents abroad

You will be hard-pressed to find a more giving soul in the Ohio Valley than Bishop Darrell Cummings. He leads his flock at Shiloh Apostolic Faith Assembly in Weirton and Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in Wheeling; he feeds the hungry during the holidays; Christmas for many is made brighter through his works; youngsters go back to school with all the supplies they need thanks to the efforts of Cummings and others; he provides spiritual direction through a regular column on our pages that he’s contributed for more than 30 years. He truly is a light that shines upon all that is good in our ...

Easter story is timeless

Some 2,000 years ago, an itinerant preacher in the Middle East was crucified for, as his executioners put it, claiming to be a king. There was no immediate worldwide news coverage of the event. There were no live images beamed to televisions, tablets and cell phones around the world, no tweets, no texts, no Facebook posts carrying the news of his execution at the hands of the powerful Roman state at the request of the Hebrew state under its control. There were no 24-hour news channels and no grim-faced anchormen and women providing background, and there was no analysis from ...