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Opinion

Treatment access remains important

Editorials

With increasing talk about a growing sense of anxiety and fragile mental wellbeing, it makes sense that some Ohioans are seeking needed mental health care. For most of them, finding timely care is a challenge. Health Policy Institute of Ohio says 75 of the state’s 88 counties are mental health shortage areas, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal. “We also did some focus groups with parents and caregivers of children needing mental health services and just asked about their experiences and some of them talked about wait lists two years long to get into a certain ...

Hancock schools facing questions

Editorials

The next couple of weeks could very well determine much of the future for Hancock County Schools. A meeting held Tuesday between local officials and the West Virginia Department of Education included discussion as to whether the district will receive an advancement of funds to meet payroll; an issue Superintendent Dan Enich said was the result of a late drawdown of $475,000. On Jan. 26, members of the school board — and anyone else attending the board’s regular meeting — are scheduled to hear from Jeff Davis (not the former Hancock County commissioner) of Educational ...

Take steps to keep information safe

Editorials

As political season ramps up, election filings begin, tax preparation is underway and any number of 2026 tasks come to mind at the start of the year, residents are reminded to beware of phishing campaigns and other cyber crimes in which deceptive website addresses and other techniques lead people to believe they are dealing with a state agency when they are not. Generally, the goal is to gain login credentials or other personal information — maybe even money. Criminals do so by creating web addresses that look as though they came from state agencies, or send e-mails from ...

Act would help working families

Editorials

Working families who are supported by federal benefits can sometimes find themselves in a difficult spot when a potential promotion or raise at work is not cause for celebration, but sparks worries about falling off the benefits cliff. Those receiving federal public assistance can see a complete loss of federal resources after even a small increase in income. But the Upward Mobility Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is meant to change that. Better still, it would help streamline some of the bureaucracy that feeds off such programs. It would create a five-year pilot ...

Legion Auxiliary event was special

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: On Dec.11, members of American Legion Auxiliary Unit No. 33 held their annual Christmas party for our American veterans residing in our nine local nursing homes. They were served a luncheon, and they were entertained by line dancers, a group of ukulele players and the children from the Wells Academy. They sang Christmas carols, and even did a song in sign language. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus gave the children a candy cane filled with candy on their way back to school. Steubenville Police Chief Ken Anderson and many of his officers; also Chief Robert Ribar of the ...

Guest column/Why are we fracking Ohio’s only national forest?

Local Columns

The acreages that make up the Wayne National Forest in Southeastern Ohio are a patchwork of land parcels which lie in 12 Ohio counties. In the 1800s, the region was heavily logged to supply wood for 46 charcoal furnaces used for iron smelting. Farming also damaged the landscape as the remaining areas were cleared for agriculture, causing destructive soil erosion. Nature, time and help from the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s helped restore the second-growth forests we see today. Sadly, the oil and gas industry is seeking to frack parcels within the wooded areas, possibly ...