Breaking News

Local Columns

Election season heats up

With the Jefferson County Fair wrapping up this weekend and area schools scheduled to open for the coming year during the next week or so comes the annual realization that the fall campaign season is just around the corner. This year’s election will not have the interest that the 2024 vote had or the 2026 vote likely will have, but, in may ways, it is even more important. That’s because it’s an off-year election where many of the available positions are those that have the greatest impact on our day-to-day lives. According to the Jefferson County Board of Elections, each of ...

Guest column/Ohio will pay a price for the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

In his recent op-ed, Republican Sen. Jon Husted praises the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” as a “gift” to working Ohioans (“Why budget law is tailored to help Ohio families,” Aug. 3.) Please let me set the record straight. This legislation isn’t beautiful, it’s brutal. It’s not for working families, it’s for billionaires. It doesn’t strengthen our communities; it hollows them out. And BBB leaves our most medically vulnerable without the medical insurance they need. The BBB is cruel, lopsided, and a budget buster. As dean of the Ohio delegation and a lifelong ...

Guest column/A 50th high school reunion and memories of the past

This summer, I crashed a 50th high school reunion that wasn’t mine. It could have been but I changed school systems and the kids I grew up with and I went in different directions. I’m hard pressed to think when we ever crossed paths during our high school years while living in the same town. I grew up in the Catholic system in Weirton, attending St. Paul’s Grade School, but after seeing and experiencing a few abuses, though they were few, I’d had enough of uniforms and nuns and went off to Weir High School; plus, I didn’t want my parents paying another extra cost for my high ...

The way grandparents love their grandchildren

As a grandmother, I feel it is my job, my duty, to share all of the precious moments I get to experience with my grandson. I mean, that is what grandparents do, right? We brag. We boast. We embellish. We show photos to anyone who will glance at them. I can remember long before cell phones were invented. People would pull their wallet out of their back pocket or purse and open it up to reveal an extremely long strand of plastic coverings. As the photos unfolded, the viewer would silently sigh, emit a plastic smile and await their fate. Having to look at people they ...

History in the Hills: Digging in the past

Here in our area, we have been known for many different industries over the centuries. Some of the earliest industries we have been noted for are agriculture, woolen products, glass, pottery, oil and iron products, among others. Industries that thrived here have had their day of prominence in our history, such as the woolen industry, as an example. There were so many woolen factories in Steubenville at one time, they called the city Jeans Town because of all the clothes being made here. This industry was big in the first half of the 19th century, and by the Civil War, only a few ...

Streaming numbers

When it comes time to sit back and enjoy a game, watch a movie or just relax for a couple of hours, it seems like the options can be almost endless. Just look at the number of streaming services that are available: The list includes Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Pluto, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, HBO Max (or whatever it goes by these days), Peacock, SNP360, Tubi, Paramount+, the Roku Channel, YouTube — it seems like there’s no end to places you can turn to when it’s time to watch something. And, while it can sometimes be confusing about where you can go to watch a ...