By the Standard-Examiner Editorial Board

Who deserves praise, criticism in Northern Utah this week?

THUMBS DOWN: It’s not that far into the school year yet and weird things are happening. This week Weber High School students were evacuated after several randomly started falling ill from an unknown substance. While the others might have enjoyed getting out of school early that day, it’s unu…

Who deserves praise, criticism in Northern Utah this week?

This week residents of this great nation have mourned the death of former presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain, with statements and gestures of honor coming from all kinds regardless of party or camp.

THUMBS UP: It’s important that Ogden City Council continue to work on and plan for Ogden’s future water needs and the infrastructure that will require. According to a Standard-Examiner report, since Ogden’s last culinary water plan was adopted in 2012, construction of a new water treatment p…

THUMBS UP: It’s great to continue to see Utah’s economy performing well, and that unemployment rates, specifically in Northern Utah counties, are improving year over year as well. Morgan County saw a jump of employment increases by 11.5 percent!

Like many businesses, the Standard-Examiner has ebbed and flowed with the changes of time since its inception in 1888, but its commitment has always remained married to the community.

WASHINGTON -- President Trump took to television Tuesday to "clarify" his position on alleged Russian meddling in our 2016 presidential election, as stated at the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. The only thing he clarified was his astonishing ability to make matters worse for himself.

The new rising star of the Democratic Party is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The 28-year-old former bartender doesn't know much about politics -- this week, she bungled her way through an interview answer by referring to Israeli "occupation" of Palestine and citing her lack of expertise on the i…

The Trump administration revived calls for privatizing air traffic control services last month as part of a broader proposal to reorganize and modernize the federal government.

The indictment of a dozen Russian spies explained, in great detail, the extent of their interference in the 2016 election. Americans learned about the depth and extent of the Russian operation to interfere.

Want to sip a refreshing beverage this summer?

First it was Republican Congressman Jim Jordan. Now it's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

As the political season heats up, Donald Trump is ramping up his lies through three amplifiers: his rallies, Fox News and his Twitter account.

Bad politicians do not translate automatically to bad policy. Scott Pruitt was not an acceptable administrator of President Donald Trump’s environmental policies — but that does not mean Trump should change them.

In a scene in the 1933 film "Duck Soup," the character played by Chico, the most underrated of the funny Marx Brothers, is dressed like another character, and when the other man leaves the room, the woman who remains is surprised to see Chico. She tells him she saw him leave. Chico's respons…

A fascinating series of controversies erupted this past week, and they had nothing to do with Donald Trump or Robert Mueller.

What a blessing to finally have a president who's looking out for us, the American taxpayers, versus kowtowing to globalist elites and NATO members who've been exploiting the United States by failing to pay their fair share in military defense spending.

The U.S. economy continues to show strength in the wake of tax reform and deregulation, but the downside of robust growth is that Donald Trump thinks this means he can dabble at trade war with impunity. He ought to look at the signs that growth would be even stronger if not for his border-ta…

Twelve boys and their adult coach trapped in a dank, oxygen-deprived cave in Thailand riveted the world's attention for two weeks. Why, people ask at times like this, are we so focused on these individuals when half a million Rohingya refugee children are in danger of starving on the Banglad…

In these warm Ohio months, when my daughter was an infant, I'd strap her into the stroller most evenings and take her for a long walk before bedtime.

U.S. President Donald Trump limbered up in the bullpen for his meeting with NATO alliance leaders this week by riffing on one of his favorite themes: getting ripped off.

In an era of partisan polarization, it is rare to get agreement on anything, but about this there should be a consensus: The Supreme Court is an undemocratic institution whose power should be carefully circumscribed.

Warren Farrell was once considered a feminist leader. He hung around with Gloria Steinem and wrote about why men and women should break out of rigid old gender roles.

A man I have known since grade school changed his name, years ago, to an Arabic one. He told me he rejected Christianity as "the white man's religion that justified slavery." He argued Africans taken out of that continent were owed reparations. "From whom?" I asked.

Each week the Standard-Examiner hashes out issues large and small and takes a thumbs-up, thumbs-down stance. Have a thumbs-up or thumbs-down you’d like to give? Email a submission of 100 words or less to jmccabe@standard.net.

Summer is meant to be a time for family, friends, fun and relaxing. However, as several recent events have shown, it also can quickly turn into a time of tragedy, which is why safety must be paramount in all outdoor activities.

As we enter into what surely will be another contentious confirmation process for a new Supreme Court justice, let's consider underlying realities that deeply divide us and make it so hard to agree about how our Constitution should be interpreted and applied.

For customers in Farmington served by the Benchland Water District, it’s time to say goodbye to that lush lawn adorning your home that you spend hours watering each day, as keeping the grass green this summer could become very costly.

A recent editorial cartoon by artist Gary Varvel features what appears to be a biracial couple at the maitre d' podium at an upscale restaurant. The pompous-looking greeter's line has stuck in my mind ever since I saw the cartoon in my local newspaper: "Dinner for two ... liberal or conserva…

This week, amid widespread Democratic tumult regarding the selection of a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, alleged comedian Michelle Wolf paid tribute to the most important facet of American life: abortion. On her Netflix show on Sunday, Wolf dressed up in red, white an…

The recent July 4th holiday found us in the mountains with about a million other Americans celebrating the nation’s independence with kids, dogs, ATVs, and various shelters—everything from simple tents to colossal homes on wheels with 6 pop outs, front porches, and double showers.

Unlike his Singapore one-on-one with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, slated for July 16 in Helsinki, doesn't suggest history in the making. Trump and Putin have already met — twice. Russian and American leaders have been…

If Mitch McConnell's Senate can confirm his new nominee for the Supreme Court, D.C. federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump may have completed the capture of all three branches of the U.S. government for the Republican Party.

If you’ve ever wondered what complete shock looks like on the face of either commissioners Bill Lee or Nathan Ivie, just look to last Tuesday’s Utah County Commission meeting.

There are many definitions of patriotism. Mark Twain said patriotism means supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.

WASHINGTON -- Last Wednesday, on the 242th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, television and the Internet were dominated by views of a woman protester climbing the base of Lady Liberty in New York, protesting the separation of small children from their asylum-seeking immigrant mothers.

The Wall Street Journal on Mexico electing former Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador to a six-year term as president:

The New York Times, borrowing Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's language from her dissent in last week's Janus v. AFSCME case, purported in a June 30 article to explain "how conservatives (have) weaponized the First Amendment."

It's a big deal, as a journalist, to work for The New York Times, The Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal.

A column by syndicated columnists Cokie Roberts and Steve Roberts clings to the same tired argument of those who favor open borders — mainly the belief that crimes committed by illegal immigrants are not enough of a concern to support reasonable immigration laws.

July started with a lull. On the Monday before Independence Day, the news network morning shows led with the oppressively hot weather. The normal feverish panic about living in Donald Trump's America was missing for a few hours.

Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th-century British prime minister and writer, shrewdly advised that to be a successful political leader, a man (even though it was the Victorian era, it was still a man's game) must first know himself and then know and understand the times in which he lives.