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Guest column/Shortage of rural vets endanger nation’s food supply

America is faciang a food system shortage. Livestock veterinarians are the new endangered species. Farmers are losing access to the experts they need to keep our food supply safe. More than 500 U.S. counties across 46 states are federally designated veterinary shortage areas. Just 1.3 percent of registered veterinarians specialize in food animal practice. This frontline workforce is fraying at a time when U.S. farms produce more than 94 percent of all red meat and poultry Americans consume. Addressing this growing concern will require sustained industry investment in education that ...

History in the Hills: Snow day at home

This past Tuesday was a snow day for my kids. It was fun for them to be home on a regular day when we didn’t have to run out for a game, doctor appointment or meeting. In a day and age where one is constantly running from thing to thing, a quiet day is a wonderful thing. And what better way to make a kid happy than a snow day. Today, kids find out about a snow day because we get a recorded call from the school. Ours came at 6 a.m. Tuesday. When I was in school, I would wait in front of the TV with the WTOV-TV morning news hoping that Hancock County schools would flash canceled on the ...

Guest column/Vaccines don’t cause autism — here’s how we know

As the parent of a nonverbal child with autism, the condition is not one that I watch from the sidelines; it’s one that defines my family’s experiences every day. Every time public figures revive false narratives about vaccines and autism, it reinforces stigma and undermines the incredible progress we’ve made in advocating for acceptance and evidence-based care. False narratives stem from a common statistical misunderstanding: The correlation-causation fallacy, the mistaken belief that if two trends rise in tandem, one must be causing the other. Our brains are hardwired to spot ...

Chamber hits milestone

Running a chamber of commerce is never an easy assignment, and it can get even more complicated when the organization has been built through the merger of two longtime groups. When you consider the accomplishments of the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce, however, you have to say that the organization has gotten off to a pretty good start. “This evening, we are all seated at the same table — a table of opportunity connection and growth,” said Sandy Kemp. “It’s wonderful to see so many familiar faces, and so many new ones at our table tonight.” Kemp, the director ...

Guest column/Remembering a time when Martin’s voice filled the street

The Polar Vortex is coming — it is going to be a real old-fashioned Christmas season. Who can forget rushing downtown from store to store and spending time looking at windows decorated at the Hub? The magical festive season, which greeted big-eyed children the same way they had welcomed googly-eyed great-grandparents and grandparents years earlier, who had traveled on icy train tracks, then on a streetcar, eating hot roasted peanuts. It was a time of second-hand trees, and homeless men holding a cup of soup from a gurgling, crackling cauldron gathered in the Steubenville train yard in ...

Guest column/A look at greed and loyalty in athletics

Well, folks, it seems to me that amateur athletics is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Greed has now reached even the middle school level of sports. The vast majority of state athletic associations have approved that students can receive money for their athletic prowess. With the introduction of the NIL (name, image and likeness) profit program, we are witnessing a point where even seventh- and eighth-graders can turn pro. There’s no doubt in my mind that NIL will even reach the youth level in years to come. That’s sad because youth athletes are pressured enough to win ...