Even as President Barack Obama was bragging in December 2011 about withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq, skeptics warned the pullout was ill-advised - and far from complete. Thousands of Americans, including about 5,500 at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, remained in harm's way.This week, Obama ...

Wood County Schools' director of federal programs, John Merritt, is to be commended for helping to secure Title I designations for two more schools - Worthington and Waverly elementary schools. The funding and support will mean each school will get a Title I instructor who specializes in ...

It does not take a very careful look through this newspaper to find the evidence of our region's struggle against the onslaught of substance abuse at epidemic proportions. From methamphetamine labs to prescription painkiller rings - with a little heroin thrown in to keep police forces on their ...

One Parkersburg resident learned the hard way last week about scams that are increasing in frequency and creativity, across the country. She is certainly not the only person in our area to have fallen victim to such a scheme, but her example was full of red flags that could keep others from ...

Another week, another list of states - this time the list of "most stressed out states in the country," from a real estate blog. In this list, factors such as length of commute, number of hours worked, population density, unemployment, percentage of income spent on housing and percentage of ...

UP: To Edison Middle School's F.O.R. Club, which recently hosted a luncheon for county firefighters, police officers and EMTs. Members wanted to do something for the first responders because they are constantly serving others. Members of the Vienna, Parkersburg, Eastwood, Mineral Wells fire ...

Here we go, again, in Iraq. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has taken over the country's second-largest city and is threatening a greater takeover. Iraq's military and police forces appear to have rather easily given up, though they claimed a victory when they maintained control of Tikrit, ...

Politicians, take note: Listen to your constituency. You are their public servant, and if you do not do the job they expect of you, they will fire you.U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., learned that lesson the hard way this week, as he was soundly defeated in a primary election by a Tea Party ...

Americans this week got a look at the report of an audit of Veterans Affairs facilities sparked by an investigation into criminal violations that may have included secret waiting times, falsified records, destruction of documents and other potential offenses against our nation's military ...

Nature Conservancy scientists are collaborating with Dow Chemical Co. to develop a plan that would help solve several environmental problems with one effort - plant more trees. As a way to reduce the need for expensive equipment to capture pollutants, this partnership suggests working to ...

Wood County Board of Education members will meet this evening to discuss, among other things, a plan by incoming superintendent John Flint that would not only reorganize the central office, but create a new position - another layer in the bureaucracy.In addition to replacing the outgoing ...

United Way board of directors members have a huge task ahead of them, as they work to fill the post Joyce Mather will leave in September. It will be difficult to find anyone with the energy and dedication to match what Mather has poured into her post as executive director of the United Way ...

UP: To the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation for the nearly $147,000 in grants awarded Tuesday. The grants, part of the PACF's spring grant cycle, went to groups and service organizations in an 11-county area for projects that benefit the communities. The PACF is a vital part of the area ...

Proposed legislation in the Ohio General Assembly would tie the hands of judges who now have room to make reasonable decisions when it comes to dogs that have been ruled vicious. The bill, which also would create a statewide registry of nuisance, dangerous and vicious dogs - and their owners, ...

For as much good-natured ribbing as supporters of West Virginia University and Marshall University give each other, most of us are able to abandon such feelings of rivalry once we have left the athletic arena. In reality, our state is incredibly lucky to have two outstanding institutions of ...

Residents across the 1st Congressional District may be envious of Wood County's potential new cracker plant, but local officials are right to understand there is a great deal of work to be done if we are to make the most of such a development.It was a bit of a surprise to learn there are still ...

Studies have shown only one of every 100,000 votes cast in federal elections, and one of every 15,000 votes cast at the state legislative level "mattered in the sense that they were cast for a candidate that officially tied or won by one vote." At first glance that might reinforce the idea that ...

When President Barack Obama's Veterans Affairs secretary, Eric Shinseki, announced his resignation last week, the president said "the VA needs new leadership," in order to address the systemic failures that have been fatal for at least 40 veterans.Shinseki appears to have turned a blind eye to ...

West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection has a big problem, when it comes to implementing new rules that require above-ground storage tanks to be registered by Oct. 1. The DEP has no idea how many tanks are in our state.When crude MCHM leaked into the Elk River a few months ago, ...

UP: To the support among area fire departments during emergencies. This cooperation was on display Tuesday when lightning started a fire at a home on Wyndemere Drive. Vienna and Williamstown volunteer firefighters responded to the scene to assist Parkersburg firefighters on the scene. ...