Breaking News

Opinion

Manufacturing Matters

Editorials

Data centers are getting a lot of attention in Ohio, but one organization reminds us the backbone of the Buckeye State economy is still an industry with a more human touch. The Ohio Manufacturing Association released its 2025 Ohio Manufacturing Counts report Thursday, in which the analysis shows manufacturing is the largest private sector contributor to the state’s economy. Manufacturing supports jobs, income, exports and investment. The association says it also continues to make progress in efficiency and environmental metrics. “Manufacturing sets the pace for Ohio’s ...

Help Keep Seniors Safe From Scams

Editorials

Our region’s population is aging, and that growing older population is increasingly vulnerable to a number of abuses. Sometimes they fall victim to complex scams, in this digital age. Sometimes they fall prey to those on whom they should most be able to rely. WalletHub estimates elder abuse is an issue that costs more than $2.3 billion per year. But the human toll is incalculable. Certainly, policymakers do their best to put in place measures to stem everything from gross neglect and exploitation to financial abuse. But some parts of the country are doing better than others. ...

Streaming Meetings Right Move for Ohio County Commission

Editorials

Openness and transparency is the key to any successful governing body. The Ohio County Commission is taking a strong step forward in that arena by streaming its meetings online. The installation of an “owl camera” in the City-County Building will allow for so many more people to view each county commission meeting. The commission is starting slowly, testing things out through Zoom meetings, but they feel that they should be ready to roll out livestreams by the beginning of 2026. “We’re going to get there,” Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell said. “Streaming the ...

Keep Kids Safe Online

Editorials

A Pew Research Center study shows approximately 20% of teenagers report social media has damaged their mental health. Interacting with online platforms (this includes video games and chats, too) can create a host of ways for young people to endanger not just their mental health, but their physical safety, too. U.S. Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Thune, R-S.D., are joining Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in supporting the Kids Online Safety Act, which would help protect kids’ personal data on these online platforms AND give ...

Marling’s Service Lifted Communities

Editorials

In an era where public service too often feels transactional and overshadowed by political noise, the retirement of Bellaire Mayor Ed Marling serves as a reminder of what steady, local leadership can mean to communities. For 24 years, Marling has been a presence in eastern Ohio civic life — not for headlines or ambition, but because he believed the people of Shadyside and Bellaire deserved a leader that showed up, put in the work, and never asked others to do what he wasn’t willing to do himself. Marling’s long tenure in public service began nearly four decades ago, when he ...

Wheeling Right To Say No More Camps

Editorials

You’ve likely seen the photographs and aerial videos of the unacceptable mess that was made at the former exempted homeless camp on the city’s Peninsula. Following the release of those images to our reporter along with a full accounting of the cost to the taxpayers associated with the site’s cleanup, it has become much more clear that city leaders had no choice in their decision to close the camp. By the time the camp was closed on Dec. 1 and cleanup began the next morning, it was, in the words of City Manager Robert Herron, “an absolute mess.” And if there’s one ...