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Summer concerts are here

No matter what style you like to listen to or your preference for performance, there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy live music in beautiful outdoor settings across the Tri-State Area during the next several months. The Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce helped to kick things off on Memorial Day with the launch of this year’s Monthly Monday Music Madness and a performance by Twice As Nice at Follansbee Park. Shows will continue June 16, June 30, July 14, July 28, Aug. 11, and Aug. 25, alternating between Follansbee Park and a spot near the log cabin in Wellsburg. The ...

Never forget their sacrifice

This weekend has become what is considered to be the start of the summer vacation season. The kids are out of or about to get out of school. The days are getting longer. The grills are out in full force. But this weekend in general, and Monday in particular, also must be a time to pause and consider those freedoms we enjoy as Americans - the things we too often take for granted, like living in a place where we can travel as we choose, read the newspapers and publications we want to, watch the movies and television shows that we prefer and enjoy picnics and good weather as harbingers ...

Protecting Ohio’s children

For Ohioans who care about making sure no child slips through the cracks in our system, data out of Franklin County is nothing short of appalling. The county’s Children Services agency has seen a horrifying FIVE child deaths in a little more than a year. According to a report by WBNS, state Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, has had enough. “It’s heartbreaking,” Jarrells told the news station. “It’s an opportunity for us to really have a hard conversation around our system of care.” To that end, Jarrells says his office is drafting legislation after hearing the ...

What comes next?

For whatever reason, one fast food restaurant in particular has made enough inroads with the federal government that the U.S. Secretary of Labor visited Delaware County Monday to help the company tout its additional 375,000 jobs for the summer — 20,000 of which will be Ohio, according to a report by WSYX. Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel was there, too, trying his best to turn the announcement into economic news. Perhaps state officials are smarting from the loss (or, rather, failure to materialize) of so many of the jobs promised by larger employers who never put their money where their mouths ...

Brownfield funds have been beneficial

It is good news, indeed, to hear more brownfield assessment funding will be making its way to our region. Officials with the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission announced Monday that the Brooke-Hancock Region IX Regional Planning and Development Council has been awarded a $1.2 million assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funds, which are eligible for use in Hancock and Brooke counties in West Virginia, and Jefferson County in Ohio, will assist with the costs of conducting an analysis of targeted properties – in this case, ...

Working to help Ohio shine

As we approach the unofficial start to summer, state officials hosted an event last week to celebrate Ohio Tourism Day. Hundreds of exhibitors and attendees gathered in Columbus as a kind of pep rally to kick off the season. “The experiences you’ll have in the Heart of it All are unmatched — and so is their impact,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “Whether you’re paddling through Hocking Hills, watching the sun dip below Lake Erie, or sitting down to a five-star dinner in Over-The-Rhine, you’re a part of something much bigger. Tourism brings serious dollars into Ohio and breathes ...