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NBA champs? It's the New York Knicks... finally!

Editorials

It has been 53 "short years" or "just" 19,698 days (May 10, 1973) since the New York Knicks were NBA champions. Richard Nixon was president, dealing with the Watergate scandal at the time. The Paris Peace Accord all but ended the Vietnam War as major combat troops were exiting the region. Baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the man who integrated sports, had died just seven months prior. Spiro Agnew became the first vice president to plead guilty to a criminal offense and resigned, with Congressman Gerald Ford being selected as Nixon's new vice president. I was in my sophomore year of ...

A Republic or an Empire?

Editorials

The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, embraces two value sets. The first is natural rights, and the second is limited government. After 250 years, neither value has survived, and the opposite of each currently prevails in America. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration in three days while staying at a rooming house in Philadelphia. He had been greatly influenced by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke is the godfather of the theory of natural rights, which he extrapolated from the natural law teachings of Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) ...

Not Following the Example of President James K. Polk

Editorials

A president orders the onset of hostilities -- war -- without authorization of Congress and without much in the way of making a case with the public. His troops win important victories and decapitate large parts of the government of the enemy. But in the enemy capital, no one surrenders or will even negotiate seriously. That leaves the president with the unhappy choice of launching a new military attack on the central focus of the enemy, one riskier and less certain of success than those before, or of declaring an incomplete victory, well short of his essential objective, and just ...

Craig Howell: Remembering a life of public service

Local Columns

While I knew his health had not been good in recent months, it was still a shock when I learned Tuesday afternoon about the passing of George Ash Sr. George died June 3 at the age of 75. He was probably one of, if not the, longest serving members of Weirton City Council, having a combined 30 years in office. He first took office in 1991, representing the residents of Ward 4 until 2024, with the exception of one term in the early 2000s. George and I didn't always get along. In fact, we had our share of conflicts, especially early on in my journalism career. We butted heads on a ...

Julie Gomez: Checking In on the Men Who Always Show Up

Local Columns

Every community has them. They are the men who show up. They coach the little league team after work. They help a neighbor with a home repair. They volunteer at their church. They work long hours to provide for their families. They care for aging parents. They support their children through challenges. They lead businesses, organizations and communities. They are fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, veterans, first responders, teachers, miners, construction workers, healthcare professionals and caregivers. They are often the people others turn to when something goes wrong, but how often ...

Weirton zoning case establishing a precedent

Local Columns

When my email pinged Wednesday afternoon, and I saw something from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals pop up in my inbox, I didn't think much of it initially. I regularly receive notifications from the courts with a list of a handful of rulings. Most of the time, they involve cases in the southern areas of our state. Occasionally, there will be something from Wheeling. So, it was a surprise to see not only that the email contained an announcement on only one case for that day, but also that it involved Weirton. In its ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the City of Weirton ...