Columns/Editorials

Columns/Editorials
A time of change for the community
By From JT Staff Reports 
March 23, 2026
This community is going through a period of transition. We say transition because long gone are the days of needing enough rooftops to attract restaurants and development so now it seems like the resi...
Columns/Editorials
A house divided no good for the nation
By From JT Staff Reports 
March 23, 2026
A few years before elected President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate to represent Illinois. During a debate in 1858 with his opponent, incumbent Stephen A. Douglas, the s...
Columns/Editorials
Mike Drops: Mister, can you break a $10,000?
By Michael Williamson 
March 23, 2026
Americans love variety. We have it for everything, food items, electronics and even toilet paper. At one time, we apparently even had it for currency. I was reminded of this fact when I recently finis...
A Word to the Wise: My yearbook, writing a wrong
Columns/Editorials
A Word to the Wise: My yearbook, writing a wrong
By Chad Williamson 
March 23, 2026
A few years before I stepped onto my path as a professional writer, I sat down to cook up the first collection of words that I knew would exist beyond my lifetime. The memories you record below your s...
Feed your head: A Fairbanks full-circle moment
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head: A Fairbanks full-circle moment
By Kyle Meddles 
March 23, 2026
Since a group of Fairbanks students visited the newsroom on Thursday, I have had a strange full-circle feeling regarding where I am in life now and my high school alma-mater. Over seven years ago, I w...
Columns/Editorials
Mike Drops: Movie a celebration of local drug courts
By Michael Williamson 
February 16, 2026
Last week, I had the unique opportunity to watch Union County , the feature film set here in Marysville and Logan County, as part of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. If you’ve read my...
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head: Pulling the plug never easy
By Kyle Meddles 
February 16, 2026
I have reported on Richwood Council for the last two years. During that time I have seen many efforts to save the Opera House fall short while we all hear the metaphorical death rattle of the 136-year...
Columns/Editorials
The changing tastes of society
By From JT Staff Reports 
February 16, 2026
It’s tax season in the U.S. which occurs annually at this time of the year, but this time people seem to be struggling financially more than normal. The next time you are in the grocery store, just lo...
Columns/Editorials
Chip Hubbs has cemented his legacy in the community
By From JT Staff Reports 
January 20, 2026
When people talk about the local car business having the worst month of November in 10 years and bars closing their doors permanently because drinking has now jumped the shark, we can be thankful in o...
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head: ICE tactics need reformed
By Kyle Meddles 
January 12, 2026
I think U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is beginning to operate more in line with Nazi Gestapo agents than an American law enforcement agency. This Wednesday, a 37-year-old woman was sho...
Columns/Editorials
A Word to the Wise: Reporting the news as it happened
By Chad Williamson 
January 5, 2026
The story of newspapers over the last 20 years is less about how the news is delivered and more about how it is consumed. The days of people waiting for bundles of papers to be dropped at newsstands t...
Columns/Editorials
Mike Drops: Reading resolution proved a success
By Michael Williamson 
December 29, 2025
This time last year, I challenged myself to think more critically about how I used my time and to try and be more present in 2025. I can’t say I accomplished that completely, but I did manage to use m...
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head – Endless content: Doom or dawn?
By Kyle Meddles 
December 15, 2025
Going into next year I would like to worry less that the sky is falling and instead learn to accept the possibility that it already has. One of the worries that has been at the forefront of my mind re...
Columns/Editorials
Online info starts with newspaper stories
By From JT Staff Reports 
December 15, 2025
Everyone gets their news on the internet right? For some that could be true, but locally we would point out that information shared usually originates from a Journal-Tribune newspaper story to start t...
Columns/Editorials
A Word to the Wise: War on drugs enters missile phase
By Chad Williamson 
December 8, 2025
The United States is playing a low-rent game of Battleship with drug boats, but the goal is more about making cool videos than saving American lives. We have to be better people, because this isn’t ho...
Columns/Editorials
Newspaper staff embraces the grind for quality coverage
By From JT Staff Reports 
November 25, 2025
Thanksgiving always provides a break in the calendar to reflect on the past year and look forward to what is yet to come. On the horizon, we see a different landscape for newspapers compared to TV or ...
Columns/Editorials
Residents already taxed too much
By From JT Staff Reports 
November 17, 2025
Looking at the recent local election results is sometimes like taking medication that can be cyclical in nature. Consider someone who takes pills that cause a side effect that in turn creates the need...
Columns/Editorials
Jack of all trades – In defense of daylight savings
By Jack Christian 
November 17, 2025
Hey everyone, you might’ve seen my name in the paper these last few months. My name is Jack Christian, a life-long Marysville resident who is in my first couple of months on the job here at the Marysv...
Columns/Editorials
Letters to the Editor: Fifth Street changes much needed
By Michelle Cunningham 
November 10, 2025
Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the Oct. 25, 2025 editorial, “Tighten your seat belt on Fifth Street,” which raises concerns about the addition of bump-out curbs along West Fifth Street in Ma...
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head: Lucid dreams and angry characters
By Kyle Meddles 
November 10, 2025
Last week I had my first lucid dream and told one of the characters in it that they were not real. I have come to find out that was a mistake. As defined by the National Library of Medicine, lucid dre...
Columns/Editorials
A Word to the Wise: Picking the perfect candy to hurl
By Chad Williamson 
October 27, 2025
You simply must put some thought into your candy. Being so close to Halloween, you might think I’m referring to trick or treat offerings - but I’m talking about parades. Having watched the Marysville ...
Asking Congress to protect original work
Columns/Editorials
Kevin Behrens, publisher of the Marysville Journal-Tribune, talks with U.S Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee in the photo above at the News Media Alliance dinner held this past week in Washington DC. Behrens was part of a group of newspaper publishers at the nation’s capital to discuss various issues with members of Congress. Artificial intelligence (AI) was one of the topics of conversation. Unfortunately because of the shutdown, there was no official testimony before Congress. (Photo submitted)
Asking Congress to protect original work
By From JT Staff Reports 
October 13, 2025
It’s no secret that original content is being scraped from newspaper websites by AI bots for advertising streams. That theft is akin to a musician’s song being repurposed for profit without their perm...
Columns/Editorials
Mike Drops: Surely we have to be better than this
By Michael Williamson 
September 29, 2025
In troubled times, I turn to the past. Through history and through art, I find a kind of wisdom and foresight that can usually tell us something about ourselves and maybe how to go forward. Whether it...
Columns/Editorials
Feed your head: FM radio brings character to trips
By Kyle Meddles 
September 23, 2025
With news headlines dominated by divisive topics and overwhelming negativity, I wanted to detach and talk about a little piece of Americana that still exists in many corners of the country. A few year...
Columns/Editorials
A Word to the Wise: I’ve got gnus for you
By Chad Williamson 
September 15, 2025
Sometimes when I write a column, I dig down into a local or national issue, trying to reason it out on the page. The goal being that whether the reader agrees or disagrees, they will think deeply abou...
Columns/Editorials
County in a position to provide tax relief
By From JT Staff Reports 
September 8, 2025
Commissioner Tom McCarthy recently spoke up about tax relief ideas at the regular county commissioners meeting-which is much needed. He talked about the state budget and wanting to wait to see what Oh...
Columns/Editorials
Mike Drops: All income levels welcome in true community
By Michael Williamson 
September 8, 2025
I heard some comments last week that not only made an impression at the time, but are still rattling around in my head a week later. The one that left the biggest impression was one that I also occasi...
Columns/Editorials
Results guide puts a ribbon on the fair
By Kevin Behrens 
August 18, 2025
The Union County Fair just wrapped up its 179th year making it the oldest entity in the county, even older than the Marysville Journal-Tribune. The fair has always been about showcasing the best of th...