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Transformer plant good news for area

Our region received some good news Monday when Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to bring a new electrical distribution transformer production facility to Weirton. Set to begin operations sometime in the first half of 2026, the facility has a goal of employing 600 workers, with an investment of $150 million – including $50 million from the state. This will be an opportunity for many — but not all — of the 900 USW employees who lost their jobs with the idling of Weirton’s tin mill earlier this year to potentially return to work if they would so choose. That’s important, ...

988 making a great impact

Good ideas don’t always prove to be effective once put into practice. But the implementation of Ohio’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline two years ago has proved to have been worth every ounce of effort. According to a report from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office, the lifeline has responded to nearly 340,000 contacts during that time. Hundreds of thousands of people facing emotional distress or thoughts of suicide found support when they picked up their phones. “988 is saving lives,” DeWine said. “The lifeline is providing free, around-the-clock support to Ohioans in crisis by ...

Manchin’s concerns about party spot on

For a brief moment on Sunday following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election in November, Sen. Joe Manchin considered switching parties back to Democrat to explore running for office. That changed a short while later as support coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris, but don’t expect Manchin, I-W.Va., to sit on the sidelines and simply toe the line for any nominee the Democrats put forth. “I am not running for office,” Manchin said Monday on CBS, comments he reiterated several times through the day. What Manchin said he would like to ...

Let’s protect Ohio from SLAPP suits

Ohio lawmakers may be on summer break now, but when they return to work they’ll have a chance to remove the Buckeye State from the list of those favored by forum-shopping attorneys looking for a sweet spot to file their clients’ frivolous lawsuits. House Bill 637 and Senate Bill 237 are aimed at quickly shutting down SLAPP lawsuits, or strategic lawsuits against public participation. According to a report by the Dayton Daily News, the bills have support on both sides of the aisle. HB 637 was introduced by state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and Rep. Elliott Forhan, D-Euclid, ...

Ohio State Fair an iconic event

Other states may have well-known state fair attractions — North America’s largest traveling Ferris Wheel in Wisconsin, or Big Tex in Texas, for example — but there’s nothing that matches Ohio’s most famous attraction. Sculpting has already begun on the 2024 butter cow, in addition to a butter calf and other sculptures to be unveiled. There’s more to the fair than that, though. This year’s fair runs Wednesday through Aug. 4 at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair Grounds in Columbus. It has been showcasing the best of Ohio agriculture and providing entertainment for ...

OVAC game a sign football is back

If you are a fan of high school football, Saturday will certainly serve as a preview of what’s coming during the next few weeks. When the top graduated seniors from Ohio take on their counterparts from West Virginia in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference’s Rudy Mumley Charity All-Star Football Game, it will start the clocking ticking toward the third week in August and the opening of the 2024 high school football season. Of course, there will be bragging rights on the line in Wheeling Island Stadium when the 78th game in a series that dates back to 1940 gets underway at 7:15 ...