In the current climate of fake news and alternative facts, it is absolutely essential to continue fighting for government transparency.

As parents, many of us are forced to prioritize many things — finances, professional concerns, family time — and we tell ourselves we do it all for our children.

In the wake of the city of Westminster rejecting the golden parachute offered by Oconee County to take over its fire department, we learned in Thursday’s edition the city now plans to ask the county next year to help with some of the program costs for its recreation department that it was forced to cut in lieu of the offer.

From time to time, we like to use this space to remind readers how valuable they are to the dialogue that takes place every day in this newspaper and how exactly to go about joining the conversation.

On the day before he expected the United States to formally declare its independence, Founding Father John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that he expected the occasion to be “the most memorable epoch in the history of America.”

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and there are plenty of ways to balance a budget, too.

Unlike many news outlets these days, we still focus first and foremost on our print product, with online offerings provided as a secondary service and courtesy to our subscribers. Thus, it’s not always readily apparent from online traffic and social media buzz which stories are generating the most public interest.

The decisions made by members of Westminster City Council on Monday night in order to balance their budget left us almost at a loss for words. Almost.

Clemson residents spent more than two hours this week sharing with their elected officials concerns about the city’s future, many of which you can read about on today’s front page.

We hope you have been reading our ongoing coverage of the bill passed in Columbia requiring a 7-percentage-point increase over six years in employer contributions to the state retirement plan.