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Letters to the Editor

Is it the Candidate, Or Is it the Party?

Editor, News-Register: Johnny Haught’s recent column declaring that “independent” is no longer a bad word skips an uncomfortable possibility: sometimes the party didn’t fail the candidate. Sometimes, voters simply rejected the candidate. That possibility seems strangely absent from the post-election analysis of Haught and Dave Cantrell. Both suffered overwhelming defeats in 2024. Yet rather than asking what they personally could have done differently, we increasingly hear about everything that supposedly failed them. There is plenty to criticize about our current ...

Third Grade Success Act Bad for Our Kids

Editor, News-Register: I have been up most of the night deeply concerned about what is about to happen in local schools in West Virginia — particularly as the Third Grade Success Act reaches implementation this coming 2026-27 school year. It is very much modeled on the Mississippi Miracle in reading, which recent reports claim to be smoke and mirrors. Mandatory third-grade retention and reading laws carry several negative effects, primarily centered around emotional harm, social disruption, and long-term academic risks. Emotional and Social Impacts Lower self-esteem: ...

Trump Should Not Have Accepted Plane

Editor, News-Register: Recent news reports described the security problems of the Air Force One airplane given to Trump by the Emir of Qatar. Trump responded with accusations, "who leaked the story about its security inadequacies?" Reporters focused on us taxpayers having to pay $400 million to upgrade the plane's security, in addition to the $400 million we've already paid. But no one is focusing on what happens to the airplane after Trump leaves office. It should not become his personal possession. That would be a prohibited bribe which the constitution calls an ...

Government Carrying Out the Lord’s Work

Editor, News-Register: Matthew 25: 34-40 (Revised Standard Version, King James Bible) "Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we ...

We Must Work to Save the Post Office

Editor, News-Register: What would my life be without the Post Office? I would have to spend more money on gas to pick up my prescriptions, pay my bills, send greetings to friends and family who live miles from me As a kid growing up in the late 1940s, the Post Office was our way of living. Now and for the past several years, it has been the goal of some to privatize the Post Office. Having lived on a farm in three counties in Ohio I was spoiled by great postal workers. I have lived in several cities in Ohio and now in West Virginia. We need the postal service which does a ...

Letter: Give the Public a Say In Oglebay’s Future

As Wheeling celebrates the 100th anniversary of Earl W. Oglebay's gift, there is one principle that deserves as much attention as the park's history: public assets should have public involvement. Everything written about Col. Oglebay's legacy emphasizes that he donated Waddington Farm to "the people of Wheeling and the vicinity" for public recreation. Those words matter. The property was not given to a select group of business leaders, political appointees, donors, or commissioners. It was given to the people. That distinction is important because ownership carries responsibility. If a ...