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Staying safe at work

While, these days, we’re all used to efforts to keep workers safe, no matter the environment, we also remember that it wasn’t always that way. Today, April 28, is observed as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, and it would be good for all of us to take time – today and every day after – to remember the efforts to protect ourselves and our coworkers, and just how far it’s all come. We live in an area prized for its industrial past, where steel mills, glass factories, potteries and more dotted the landscape. Weirton Steel, along with its successors, has witnessed ...

End the school year safely

It’s that time of year again, when many families start planning their prom, after-party, graduation, graduation party schedules. As they do so, the Ohio Department of Commerce and the Ohio Department of Public Safety have joined forces to remind them these accomplishments and milestones can be celebrated WITHOUT alcohol. In fact, the departments included liquor permit holders in the wide net they cast to address those who can help kids safer this season: “Addressing underage drinking requires a united effort from all members of the community, including parents and schools. By ...

Dispose of unused pharmaceuticals

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration calls our country’s substance abuse epidemic “a clear and present public health, public safety and national security threat.” No one needs to tell those living in our region that. We see it every day. And most of us wonder whether there is anything WE can do about it. There is. Among the ways we can combat the problem is taking advantage of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to remove unneeded medications from our homes, preventing the possibility they might fall into someone else’s hands. The DEA calls it a “measure of ...

Trail opening to make history

A project 10 years in the making will finally be unveiled to the public this weekend with the grand opening of the Hellbender Preserve and Recreational Trail. This new recreational trail, set to be a link in the Great American Rail Trail and the first multi-use trail in Jefferson County, will join the various recreational offerings of our region, while also helping to showcase some of the area’s history. Located in Bloomingdale, the trail features the Lincoln Bridge, a sandstone structure built under order by Abraham Lincoln, as well as train tunnels from the 1850s. As with many of ...

Vote yes on Ohio Issue 2

Off-year spring ballots can be full of significant decisions for voters — often the kind that affect us in ways that hit closer to home. In Ohio, voters will be asked in May to decide on Issue 2 — renewing and increasing the state spending cap for its public works projects. Since 1987, Buckeye State voters have renewed the Local Public Infrastructure Bond Amendment three times, and more than 19,000 grants and loans have been funded for projects all over the state. The program allows municipalities, counties, townships and other governmental entities to apply for money that lets ...

We can all do something

Today is an important day for our planet — it’s Earth Day. The theme of this year’s recognition is “Our Power, Our Plant,” with a focus on uniting around the efforts to grow renewable energy and the goal of tripling the amount of electricity generated by renewable sources by 2030, according to Earthday.org. The Washington, D.C.-based organization notes that, in 2023, the U.S. produced more solar power than ever before, led by projects in California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. Texas, the organization reports, leads the nation in wind energy ...