WASHINGTON — A future trivia question and historical footnote, the spectacular 10-day flameout of Anthony Scaramucci qualifies as the most entertaining episode yet of the ongoing reality show that is the Trump presidency. (Working title: “The Pompadours of 1600 Pennsylvania.”) But even as ...

The administration rolled out its new immigration policy at the White House Wednesday during a week when nothing has gone well for the president. President Donald Trump has failed at health care reform. His poll numbers have slipped to 33 percent approval in a new Quinnipiac poll and 36 percent ...

Centre Market Improvements Coming Wheeling’s unique shopping and entertainment destination will soon see some improvements, as the Centre Market complex will receive new sidewalks and a new restroom. The funding will come from sales tax revenue generated within the city. The sidewalks ...

For some time now, we have been urging the federal government to get serious about helping communities and regions that are suffering worst from the substance abuse epidemic. Finally, it appears to be happening. On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Justice ...

With its budget zeroed out for 2017-18, and the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention likely to be reduced from an eight-person staff to one, there are people, particularly in Charleston, pointing to the office as a prime example of the evils of budget cuts. People will lose their jobs ...

Garbage collection has not changed much in many years. In general, it involves workers who pick up garbage bags and throw them in trucks, or empty refuse cans into them. That is about to change in Steubenville. There, a $1 million sanitation collection modernization initiative is being ...

A package of emergency funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs was approved by the U.S. Senate this week. It includes $2.1 billion for a special program to ensure veterans are not kept waiting for health care treatment at VA facilities. Meanwhile, the agency continues to spend in ...

At some point, the long drug-fueled crime wave afflicting our area will come to an end. That needs to be kept in mind by Belmont County officials trying to find ways to cope with overcrowding at the county jail. At one point last month, the jail, designed for 144 prisoners, held 185 of ...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is well aware of the powerlessness of leaders in this country and others upset about his ongoing repression of his own people. Despite enormous oil reserves, Venezuela’s economy is a shambles and Maduro’s regime is in the process of making liberty no ...

Thrill rides reopened at the Ohio State Fair on Sunday, to the delight of some attendees who did not seem worried about the accident that killed one man and injured seven others last week. Given the fact both amusement company workers and state inspectors spent several days giving the rides ...

The realities of politics and human behavior being what they are, it is time for U.S. senators — and President Donald Trump — to take a break from attempts to reform health insurance. Emotions are running far too high to expect that holding lawmakers’ noses to the grindstone would result ...

MS-13 is one of the most vicious criminal organizations in history. All one needs to know about MS-13 is that its preferred method of killing is to use machetes, axes and knives to hack victims apart slowly. Not infrequently, the group’s targets are children. Last week, President Donald ...

Republican hopes to repeal Obamacare are all but officially dead, at least for now. This isn’t just a failure, this is an epic failure. But how did it come to this? When Republicans took power in January, they controlled Congress and the presidency, Obamacare was hugely unpopular with ...

Unfortunately, the most valuable assets convicted drug dealers have often seem to be controlled substances. Obviously, the authorities cannot auction them off to help pay the bills for incarcerating the pushers. Those bills got out of hand years ago in East Ohio. County officials reacted ...

Flash flooding claimed two local residents’ lives July 23, while also causing substantial property damage in our area. In less than a week, heavy rain returned and, if anything, the destruction was worse. Last Friday’s devastation was bad enough to convince Gov. Jim Justice to declare a ...

What Follansbee volunteer firefighter Paul Digiacinto and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Lamantia did last week took more than a little bit of courageous compassion. A distraught woman owes them her life. On Thursday night, Lamantia responded to a call about a woman who appeared to ...

From where I normally sit in France (I’m currently visiting Canada), the ongoing Trump-Russia fever dream that has played out in the U.S. over the last year barely even qualifies as background noise. I guess the world has more important things to worry about than whether Russian ...

Did you see the $2 million dollar bathroom? That’s what New York City government spent to build a “comfort station” in a park. I went to look at it. There were no gold-plated fixtures. It’s just a little building with four toilets and four sinks. I asked park users, “What ...

Rarely do the politicians make major economic development announcements without having to concede that tax incentives were needed to make them happen. It happens frequently at both the local and state levels. But are taxpayers getting our money’s worth? Or are we just padding the profits ...

Wheeling City Council members were urged a few days ago to increase diversity on the city’s police force. Just one of the 66 officers falls into the black or biracial category, officials were told. And, they were urged, more diversity training is needed for officers. The latter is ...