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Guest column/There’s no reason any veteran should go hungry

Local Columns

According to U.S. government data and recent policy studies, nearly 25 percent of America’s veterans live either below the federal poverty level or paycheck to paycheck, with little margin for unexpected expenses. To get by, many adopt emergency-level budgets. But even the harshest austerity measures may not be enough. Life at the bottom still costs money. Mortgages and rent must be paid. Vehicles are needed to reach work or medical appointments. So, what can be cut? Too often, it’s food — eating less or sacrificing nutrition. Tragically, many veterans and their families face ...

Library still a special place

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: I was pleased to see the successful renewal levy for the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County. I was not pleased to see the close vote. I was raised in Follansbee and my mother would routinely bring us across the river to the downtown library. She believed there was a whole world to discover and imagine while reading books. The building itself was magical to us. The stone steps leading to the main entrance seemed huge and the stairway outside leading down to the kids’ section felt secretive and special as a child — a magical place that was open to ...

The tragedy of a life lived in lowercase

Local Columns

There is a quiet kind of tragedy that doesn’t make the headlines. You will not hear about it on the evening news, nor will you read about it in your morning newspaper. You will not even locate it in the obituaries section on a funeral home’s website. Why? Well, because technically, she never really died. She just never quite lived. Hers was merely a life lived entirely in lowercase. She worried too much about what everyone thought rather than how she felt or what she wanted. And in time ... she forgot she mattered. She forgot how to live. She forgot how to ...

Guest column/Vote shows public trust in the library is fading

Local Columns

On Nov. 4, Jefferson County residents voted on whether to renew a tax levy which provides about a third of the funding for the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County. The last time it was on the ballot, the library tax levy passed by a margin of 41 points. The margin this year? Four points. The vote was telling. Twenty of Jefferson County’s 57 precincts voted against the levy, including the precincts representing much of LaBelle, Pleasant Heights and the North End in Steubenville, as well as the South End of Toronto and numerous townships and villages across the county. ...

Holiday spirit ready to shine

Editorials

We’re solidly into November, and, while the weather has offered a few hints during the past week, the calendar reminds us that the spirit of the holiday season is ready to shine brightly in communities throughout the Tri-State Area. Area activities got underway Thursday in Weirton, when the annual North End Christmas Tree Lighting was held at the corner of Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. That spirit will continue to shine in Weirton on Nov. 22, with the Christmas on Main Street event. Scheduled to run from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. in front of the Millsop Community Center, it will ...

What’s behind GOP humiliation?

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: After listening to plaintive responses as to why the GOP lost elections held in New York, Maryland and Virginia, I’m at a loss as to why these frustrated elephants can’t fathom the real reason for their humiliating defeats. The elections I speak of are the mayorship of New York city and the governorships of Maryland and Virginia. Repeatedly and ad nauseam we hear flawed messages from GOP political strategists, viz., a less-than-expected turnout on the part of their constituents, not to mention voting irregularities favoring their opponents. These claims might ...