Breaking News

Opinion

Beat social media addiction

Editorials

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are running content very harmful to children. So said a jury in New Mexico that just slapped their owner, Meta, with a $375 million fine. The state accused the company of spreading pornographic images and helping adults contact vulnerable children. Meta faces thousands of suits, but in a landmark case decided in California on Wednesday, the company was told to pay 20-year-old plaintiff Kaley G.M. $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. Kaley blamed its products on a variety of mental health issues, including depression and dangerous ...

US needs strong guardrails to better rein in online gambling

Editorials

From professional sports to wars on the other side of the globe, online gambling has proven it can skew major events in dangerous ways. This industry is becoming a threat, and the United States should reign it in. Earlier this month, Emanuel Fabian of The Times of Israel reported on an Iranian missile strike. Shortly after, bettors pressured him to change details of the story, with some even making death threats. All that was apparently for the sake of a wager on Polymarket, an online platform that bills itself as a “prediction market.” The platform lets users buy and sell ...

Colorectal cancer screenings can save lives

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: Colorectal cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers in the United States, yet it is highly preventable and treatable when detected early. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 153,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and over 52,000 will lose their lives. When men and women are combined, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death nationwide. Alarmingly, it is now the leading cause of cancer death among adults under age 50. Colorectal cancer often develops silently. Many individuals feel completely ...

Sending in the clowns

Editorials

Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of economics should know that if you tax a business or individual beyond their level of tolerance they will pack up and leave the state for one with lower or no state income tax. Unfortunately, one can’t escape the long arm of federal taxes. Proof of this axiom comes from the IRS and its publication of the latest (2023) migration numbers. Unleash Prosperity, which touts its mission to “educate policy makers and the public about government policies that have been proven, in practice, to maximize economic growth and equitable prosperity ...

Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To Emily Metheny for her appointment last week as the Champion Local School District’s first woman athletic director in the history of the school system. Metheny’s robust background in Champion sports — soccer and track coach and soon to become assistant coach for flag football — more than qualifies her for this responsible, high-visibility yet challenging role. Metheny’s ascension to the ­­­director of sports programs breaks yet another glass ceiling for women in our region as only one-fifth of all school district ADs in the country are women, according to a ...

Free speech for me but not for thee

Editorials

Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the same reasons. This followed by one day a verbal attack on CNN by the Secretary of Defense who made known his bitter unhappiness with CNN's coverage of the Iran war. Yet, CNN is not regulated by the FCC, which only regulates broadcast media — not cable or streaming; and newspapers, thanks ...