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Safety first while you trick-or-treat

As children prepare to make their annual costumed trek through most parts of the Tri-State Area on Thursday evening, we ask parents to make safety a priority this Halloween. Following some common-sense rules will ensure a safe and happy Halloween for everyone. Parents should always accompany young children or make sure an adult or responsible teenager is with them when going door to door. Local police and law enforcement agencies will be patrolling, but they can’t be everywhere. Youngsters should be reminded of a few rules before they go out trick-or-treating. Make sure they ...

Distracted driving law shows results

After a year, Ohioans now have clear data to show the benefits of the state’s new distracted driving law. According to a report by the Columbus Dispatch, the law is being credited with an 11.6 percent decrease in crashes, a 19.4 percent decrease in fatalities — and many more tickets issued. During the past year, troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol have handed out 25,310 tickets for distracted driving. That’s a 263 percent increase over the previous year. That last data point might not sound like a good thing, but it is fantastic news. Before implementation of ...

Prevention levy deserves support

Since it was founded in 1963, the Jefferson County Prevention and Recovery board has gone about its mission of planning, coordinating, funding and evaluating quality mental health and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery support services for all residents of the county. The board has used dollars collected from a 0.5-mill levy that was first passed in 1976 to help support that work. Officials with the agency are asking voters around the county to approve a 10-year replacement of that levy when they cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 General Election. They should vote ...

Attention to detail apparently missing

Ohio voters were not the only ones to raise an eyebrow at an announcement by state Attorney General Dave Yost earlier this week. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley had something to say about it as well. It turns out, one of the six green card holders indicted for allegedly voting illegally — Ramesh Patel, 68, previously of North Royalton, Ohio — has been dead for two years. The last time Yost’s office was accusing Patel of having voted illegally was in 2018. Despite Yost’s attention-getting effort, according to WOIO-TV in Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County ...

Panhandle Trail an area asset

At more than one local government meeting in recent weeks, the topic of completing the paving on the Panhandle Recreational Trail has been brought up by area residents. The Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation started the paving about two years ago following several years of fundraising efforts. Contributions came from local governmental entities, charitable nonprofit organizations and the West Virginia Department of Transportation. Even with those funds, the project hasn’t been completed and approximately 1.25 miles remains with a layer of crushed rock. The trail, which follows ...

Wintersville police deserve ‘yes’ vote

For many years now, Wintersville has been considered to have a police department that ranks among the best for communities around the region. Village residents have the chance to help ensure that will continue when they cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 election. They are being asked to approve an additional 5-mill continuing levy to help pay for police protection. It’s important that they say “yes.” Passage of the levy will help ensure residents will continue to receive the 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week protection from the department and service they have come to expect. ...