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Be aware when walking

Local Columns

There are plenty of benefits to be had from walking more. That simple exercise can help you lose weight, while improving your cardiovascular health. It can help you sleep better and improve your body’s strength. A brisk walk can help reduce joint pains and has been found to help the survival of those who have been stricken with cancer. But with all those benefits comes risk — so much so, in fact, that it can be deadly. That was the case for the 7,148 people in the United States who were struck and killed in 2024, according to preliminary numbers released by the Governors ...

History in the Hills: Happy birthday, baron

Local Columns

As a historian, I enjoy commemorating the past. Events such as anniversaries, birthdays, dates of battles and the like, always have grabbed my attention and have been of particular interest to me. These events give us a good excuse to bring to mind our past. I am sure if one tried hard enough, every day could be a day that has some special historical significance. The very first commemoration one celebrates, is none other than a birthday. This month, we celebrate a very important birthday of an American hero and the namesake of the city of Steubenville, Friedrich Wilhelm August ...

Name change not a good idea

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: The “Innenstadt” is the center of Vienna, Austria. It is encircled by a beautiful tree-lined boulevard, the Ringstrasse. On the southeastern segment of that boulevard is a magnificent huge building with dozens of likenesses of famous generals from the days of the monarchy. The joke in Austria in those days, since the building was named das Kriegsministerium, i.e., the ministry of war, was that if you have a ministry of war, the folks working there are obviously eager to get something to do to underscore their purpose, as in the name of their ministry — see ...

Guest column/October presentation will remember witch’s Halloween

Local Columns

I am not sure how many families in the Upper Ohio Valley can claim documented proof of a witch’s spell being cast. This Halloween Thursday, Oct. 30, between astronomical twilight and midnight, the veils between the spirit world are thin in the darkness. The apparitions that make their way into your home can be found in stories told in front of ancestors’ hearths that date back centuries. I will be presenting a program at 5 p.m. in the Vincent Room of the Brooke County Library in Wellsburg. I am under a generational witch’s spell cast under the celestial clock of the late ...

Guest column/Here’s why companies should start from the inside out

Local Columns

I recently received a call from the vice president of sales at a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar corporation headquartered in Houston. He was calling on behalf of the CEO requesting advice on their current public relations strategy and business development efforts. Before the discovery call, I was given a quick rundown: Contracts were slipping, customers were pulling back and the company’s reputation was beginning to erode. It didn’t take long before I knew exactly what was going on. This wasn’t a surface-level messaging issue. It was a full-blown culture crisis and what ...

Unfair maps illegal in Ohio

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: When it comes to redistricting in Ohio, the issue is not about Democrats versus Republicans. It is about something much bigger: The health of our democracy. When political maps are unfair, it is the voters who lose, regardless of their party. Right now, the way Ohio’s legislative and congressional districts are drawn do not reflect the actual balance of our state. In 2024, Donald Trump won 55 percent of Ohio’s vote and Senate candidate Bernie Moreno won barely over 50 percent. Yet Ohio’s congressional delegation is 67 percent Republican as is the General ...