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Craig Howell: Spirits of community, volunteerism were on display for holiday

Local Columns

Independence Day is a time to remember the nation's history. It's also about community. Our Ohio Valley communities show this each year with a variety of special celebrations, from grand fireworks displays to live musical performances, to street fairs, contests, and more. Typically, I find myself focusing solely on activities in Weirton, but some adjustments made in recent months resulted in my bouncing around a few of our local cities the weekend of July 4. That started in Weirton July 3, with the annual performance by the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. Usually, I enjoy this ...

Gary Franks: Lightning will not strike twice in Maine as Platner steps down

Editorials

Thank God lightning will not strike twice the same spot - in reference to the character issue. Maine's Graham Platner was a seriously flawed Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate despite first being the choice of many Democratic leaders in the state and in Washington. It took repeated charges of sexual abuse to get Platner to step down as the party's candidate. Yet there was a part of me that "did" want him to be the Democratic nominee. It would show once again that the obvious was, well... obvious (like former President Joe Biden's declining cognitive abilities while in office). My ...

Michael Barone: Dropping candidates is not a sign of strength

Editorials

It's beginning to be a habit. It, in this case, is the messy business of center-left political jettisoning one leader suddenly deemed unelectable and, without resort to the usual rules or democratic procedure, designating a replacement. It's the process that came fairly close to giving Americans President Kamala Harris in 2024. It's happening not just here but all over the Anglosphere. While the American political firmament post-July 4 was preoccupied with demands for the ouster of Maine's Democratic nominee for the Senate, Graham Platner, our cousins in Britain were witnessing the ...

Let's live up to what the Founding Fathers wanted

Editorials

As our country celebrates not just any Independence Day, but the 250th anniversary of one of the boldest declarations in human history, the festivities give us an excellent opportunity to look back on two-and-a-half centuries of this American experiment and check ourselves against what the founders hoped they were setting in motion. Draped in red, white and blue and surrounded by flags and fireworks, it is easy to forget how we got here and why we are free to celebrate as flamboyantly as we’d like. Richard Henry Lee made the motion to declare independence in June 1776, but ...

The battle to establish, and keep, our country

Editorials

As we move through this weekend full of fireworks, parades, food and the battle over political ideologies, let’s not forget what July 4 means. It was 250 years ago that a group of men representing the 13 American colonies agreed to declare their independence from the British Empire. On July 2, 1776, members of the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, with the finalized draft of the Declaration of Independence adopted (not signed) two days later. It was never an easy decision. Members of the Continental Congress did not go to Philadelphia with the goal of issuing ...

A relaunch of public art in the Ohio Valley

Editorials

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the encouragement to install murals throughout West Virginia as part of the state’s America 250 observances, with the Department of Tourism providing each county with $5,000 toward such projects. Hancock and Brooke counties jumped right on the program, with one piece of artwork created and installed on the wall at Blue Cat Coffee along Main Street in Weirton, to represent Hancock County, and another along Charles Street in Wellsburg to represent Brooke County. To see these pieces of art be developed and go up was an exciting experience, but ...