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Local columns

Look Back: From YMCA gymnasium to Parkersburg library

A Bit of History The growth of the Young Men’s Christian Association in this city has been remarkable. It was organized in August last with seven members; last October it had 17 members; in November 70 members, and now its membership is more than 230 and rapidly increasing. The Gymnasium ...

Editor’s Notes: Responsibility of pet ownership

On March 18, the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association made a post on social media that fired me up enough that I was immediately looking for what I could do about it. Short of adopting Waffles — who appears to be an adorable pit bull mix in his photo, and who looks large enough that I could ...

Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Corner: World Water Day

Last Sunday, March 22, was proclaimed by the United Nations as World Water Day. The theme this year was “Where Water Flows Equality Grows.” This year, attention was given to the plight of women around the world. Globally, more than 1 billion women lack access to safely managed drinking ...

Op-ed: Trump-era Republicans are terrible at paying the bills

A report in Fortune Magazine this week by Steve Hanke and David Walker begins with the sentence “The U.S. government is insolvent.” According to the Treasury Department’s consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, the federal government had $6.06 trillion in total assets ...

Op-ed: Coplin Health celebrates late 2025 community efforts

In 2026, we at Coplin Health Systems are proud of our commitment to serve the health and wellness needs of our communities. A big part of that commitment is our ongoing efforts to engage with community members while expanding our impact. While we look ahead to another busy year for Coplin, ...

Kiki’s Corner: Grateful for a wonderful weekend

Ahhhh… what a weekend I had last week… Busy, busy, busy! Life moves so fast for many people like me. I can’t believe three months are already gone from the year 2026. But it’s all worth it when you put in all your energy and everything goes great the way I was expecting. I’m talking ...