Breaking News

Editorials

Celebrate the season with a parade

Communities throughout the Tri-State Area will have a little extra sparkle during the next couple of weeks as parades help to celebrate the Christmas season. Parades offer an opportunity for families and friends to gather and celebrate the season, while giving communities a chance to show off the good things they each have to offer. Floats, marching bands, dancing schools, homecoming queens and members of local service organizations will be joined by vehicles representing police and fire departments and other first responders. The highlight of each parade is the arrival of Santa Claus, ...

Lighting up our communities for the holiday season

The special glow that comes with the Christmas season once again will be seen as communities across the Tri-State Area hold their light-up events. Those evenings help to create a sense of joy and anticipation as they bring residents together to celebrate and enjoy a festive atmosphere where camaraderie always is on display. Celebrations began on Nov. 13, when the Christmas tree in Weirton’s North End was lit. That led up to Saturday’s Christmas on Main Street in Weirton. The annual event, presented by the Weirton Festival Committee, included vendors and family-oriented activities, ...

Do the right things for schools, even if it’s difficult

Paul Hardesty hit the nail on the head last week regarding lawmakers who say they want to avoid school consolidations and/or see smaller schools for our students. “Well, guess what … they have the ability to effectuate the change,” he said. Hardesty is a state board of education member and legislative liaison. He is the previous state school board president and a former Democratic state senator from Logan County. His point was focused mostly on the money made available to county school systems. “We are hemorrhaging population loss in public schools. It’s going to get ...

Consider the source

During an age in which a universe of information is at most people’s fingertips, it is no surprise to learn some are changing their approach to how they consume what they consider to be news. In fact, Pew Research Center analysts, with funding from the Knight Foundation, reported earlier this week a study showing approximately 20% of Americans say they regularly get what they consider to be news from digital influencers — most of whom (85%) are found on Elon Musk’s social media platform X. Only a slightly higher number of those who responded said they were Republicans than ...

Time for WVSSAC to clean up its mess

It came as no surprise Tuesday when the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission’s autonomy in managing high school sports. The first round of the West Virginia State High School Football Championships will kick off on Friday, with the season now set to reach its finale in Charleston on Dec. 13-14 when the championship games are held. “It is beyond question that the WVSSAC had the authority to reclassify under West Virginia Code of State Rules 127-3-10,” the Supreme Court’s order states. “Upon our review, we find ...

Take it one step at a time, commit to quit

This Thursday is a good day to clear the air, so to speak. It’s the annual Great American Smokeout — marked on the third Thursday in November — when smokers, hopefully, will make the commitment to stop smoking for the day. The goal is to convince smokers that if they can quit for 24 hours, they can quit for good. You don’t have to stop smoking in one day. Start with Day 1, literature from the American Cancer Society reminds. It’s a great first step to stopping an extremely bad habit that could lead to dire consequences. Like with most efforts, there is good news and bad ...