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Act II of U.S. autocracy

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: In a world filled with divisive rhetoric, it’s easy to seem like just another alarmist voice. However, I truly believe that we are no longer in the Trump wants to be a dictator phase anymore. We’re in the he already is, and we’re in Act II phase. Since April, the White House has: • Seized control over independent agencies once meant to check presidential power. • Purged civil servants for ideological disloyalty. • Turned internal watchdogs into punching bags. • Used the courts and the Department of Justice like political target practice. ...

Guest column/It’s time to make tariffs work smarter on steel

Local Columns

Here’s something the global elites and the Biden White House still refuse to admit: Tariffs work. President Donald J. Trump proved it. For decades, foreign governments played us for fools and suckers. They subsidized their industries, manipulated their currencies, slapped trade barriers and tariffs on our exports and laughed when they dumped their products into our markets. Washington bureaucrats looked the other way. The result? Empty factory floors. Broken towns. Families left behind. Trump ended that nonsense. He stood up to China and the globalist elites. He leveled the ...

Where’s action on redistricting?

Editorials

If watching Congress has not been enough to make you wonder whether elected officials worry about doing any real work, or remember who they serve, Ohio lawmakers seem eager to answer with “No, not really.” They missed their first deadline for congressional redistricting on Tuesday, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal. Despite Buckeye State voters demanding action when they passed a constitutional amendment in 2018, members of the General Assembly appear to have decided they’d rather not bother to work together to pass a bipartisan map in the allotted time. They ...

Enjoy autumn at Applefest

Editorials

A tradition that has brought residents of the Tri-State Area together for nearly 50 years will be renewed this weekend. It’s the 45th Wellsburg Applefest, which will run Friday through Sunday along several blocks of Charles Street and the Wellsburg Town Square. The festival celebrates the town’s connection with the Golden Grimes apple, which was discovered in 1832 on a farm owned by Thomas Grimes that was located along Washington Pike. Seeds for the apple, which is related to the Golden Delicious, West Virginia’s state fruit, were first planted, legend has it, by Johnny ...

Vigilance needed to fight trafficking

Editorials

In naming its latest statewide human trafficking operation, the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigations Commission chose Operation Next Door as a way to bring home the message that the people committing these crimes are not distant strangers. They may, indeed, live right next door. With the help of more than 100 law enforcement agencies, 135 people were arrested for seeking to buy sex — some of them from minors, according to state Attorney General Dave Yost’s office. Included in those 135 people was a 45-year-old man from Weirton. In total, 103 were arrested ...

Ohio’s parks tops across the nation

Editorials

When you hear Ohioans brag about the state’s natural beauty and recreational opportunities, it might sound like hyperbole to hear we are the best. But an award from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association backs that up. Ohio won the 2025 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. “Our state parks protect Ohio’s natural resources while providing incredible opportunities for people to explore, learn and connect with nature,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “From protecting natural ...