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Protect Child Care Services

Groundwork Ohio is among the organizations that has signed on to a letter from child care groups across the country, asking the federal Administration for Children and Families to continue funding the Child Care Development Block Grant and other resources. Though a federal judge has temporarily blocked a funding freeze to Minnesota, California, Colorado, Illinois and New York, there are still worries other states will have to defend their own child care systems and oversight. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, the letter says fraud “at any level is unacceptable and ...

King’s Legacy Is a Lesson for Youth

The celebration in the Ohio Valley of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King through this past weekend and into Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday was inspiring, especially in the way that so many celebrations invited our community’s youth to participate. The Belmont County NAACP honored middle schoolers within its county at a Saturday luncheon, choosing students who their teachers and counselors believed best exemplified the leadership qualities King espoused. In Ohio County on Monday, students were honored for their winning work in West Virginia’s Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday ...

Keep the Judiciary Neutral

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and lieutenant governor Maureen O’Connor is certainly not resting quietly in her retirement. Though she left her seat on the court in 2022 because of age limits, she is still active in matters such as redistricting and protecting the judiciary from politicization. It’s easy to understand why that is important to her. When she was on the court, she repeatedly stood with the majority in rejecting clearly unfair and unconstitutional redistricting maps. For doing so, she faced insults and threats of impeachment from fellow Republicans — for not ...

Small Businesses in West Virginia Need Help

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses generate 44% of U.S. economic activity, though that contribution has gradually been declining as small business growth has slowed in recent years. It takes brave entrepreneurs to launch a small business. Some states are better environments than others, and according to at least one study, West Virginia has an enormous amount of room for improvement. In WalletHub’s “Best and Worst States to Start a Business (2026),” the Mountain State ranks 44th. For business environment, we rank 46th; ...

Making Sure King’s Dream Isn’t Deferred

For those enjoying a three-day weekend in observance of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is important to also honor the memory of a civil rights leader who died working toward a dream that in many ways still has not been fulfilled. Honor King by looking around — at your community, at your state, and at this country — and doing some honest thinking about how far we have to go. We are approaching 60 years now since King was murdered for believing that one day “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by ...

Moving West Virginia Forward

If Gov. Patrick Morrisey is looking for a West Virginia comeback, it’s a good indication he understands the struggle has been overwhelming for far too long and hope is still hard to come by for too many Mountain State residents. But during his State of the State address Wednesday, Morrisey was determined to focus on “a West Virginia we can be proud of,” for our children and grandchildren. As he rightly pointed out, that means being honest about the fact that many in our state are still struggling to make ends meet. They are dealing with “sky-rocketing grocery bills, crushing ...