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Sharing your opinions

No one is quite sure when the first letter to the editor appeared in a newspaper. While opinion pieces have been around since the first words were recorded, the letter to the editor in the form we recognize today has been a part of printed publications since, well, the beginning of printed publications. They seem to really have caught on in the mid-1700s, as printing presses became more common and writers looked for ways to share their thoughts with a wider audience. Whenever they actually started, they’ve continued to grow and evolve, even as the way we communicate with each ...

Guest column/Restoring faith in government starts with term limits

Americans have less trust in their government today than at any point in modern history — even lower than during Watergate. That is a stunning and troubling reality. A nation founded on representative government now views its own institutions with deep skepticism, frustration, and cynicism. While many factors contribute to this erosion of trust, one issue consistently rises to the surface: a political system dominated by entrenched, career politicians who treat Congress not as public service, but as a lifetime job. In Ohio, we understand the value of accountability. We expect ...

Do some reflecting on your resolutions this year

I have never been someone who believes in the “New Year, New Me” mentality. Actually, if I am being honest with myself, the “Old Me” is usually just trying to do the best she possibly can to make it through the day. And yet, every year, as the calendar page turns to January, and the echoes of “Auld Lang Syne” fade into winter’s chill, I find myself sitting at my kitchen table … a notebook and very ambitious pen in hand. Usually, these resolutions look more like a laundry list of things I believe I should be doing. I don’t do this every year. Why? Because ...

Guest column/The time has arrived to power up W.Va.’s future

Nearly a century ago, our grandparents built the transmission lines that lit up West Virginia’s farms, homes, and towns. Their grit and vision pulled us out of the dark and gave us the foundation for a thriving state. Today, we face a new challenge: those same transmission lines are aging, overloaded, and breaking down. They simply weren’t built for the demands of modern life. The result? More outages, higher costs, and missed opportunities for West Virginia families and businesses. If we don’t act, things will only get worse. But if we step up, just as our grandparents did, we ...

True hall of famers

There are some people who you can watch play and know right away they are true hall of famers. Consider, for example, some of the greats that many of us have cheered in Pittsburgh. Watching Roberto Clemente, for instance, always was a magical experience. You could sense his greatness as a player and as a person by the way he carried himself on and off the field. He remains one of the greatest defensive right fielders to have ever played the game, and his arm was one of the strongest — and most accurate — ever. He won 12 Gold Gloves — a number which ties him with another ...

Guest column/May your beloved traditions never fade

I’ve been on this planet, barreling around the sun for nearly six decades. My people, the so-called Generation-X, were the last to experience the low-tech, analog world, and the first to experience the explosion of digital technology and its pervasive encroachment on everyday life. As a member of this gap-bridging generation, I can say, without a doubt, that technology ruined Christmas. At least part of it. And it’s not the simple rose-colored glasses of childhood memories. It really did ruin it. Recently, through the magic of the Roku streaming service, my wife and I ...