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Letters to the Editor

Thomas Left Her Mark on Library

Editor, News-Register: In a few short weeks, Dottie Thomas, director of the Ohio County Public Library, will vacate her current professional post and enter retirement. Being one who is exceptionally competent, but not wont to blow her own horn, Ms. Thomas departs quietly but leaves the legacy of a library with strong ties to the local community, commitment to outstanding public services, dedication to exploration and promotion of our community’s heritage, custodian of important and noteworthy artifacts, and promoter of information and knowledge. Physically, the library just looks ...

Sen. Manchin Should Support Bill

Editor, News-Register: Although I have qualms about spending trillions more dollars to expand the social safety net at a time that the national debt is soaring and inflation is raging, there is a tragic component to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin serving to single-handedly kill the president’s Build Back Better bill, which contains many features that are popular with wide swaths of the American people. I wonder if the residents of West Virginia, one of the most impoverished states, recognize how inordinately they would have benefited from the legislation and whether they will be ...

Don’t Hamper Energy Growth

Editor, News-Register: With abundant natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, West Virginia has become the nation’s sixth-largest producer of natural gas and fifth top-producing energy state overall. Over 80,000 jobs are supported by the natural gas and oil industry in West Virginia and billions of dollars are generated every year for the state’s economy. Thanks in large part to increased use of natural gas in the power sector, the United States has considerably cut carbon dioxide emissions — now at the lowest levels in a generation. West Virginians also ...

Supporting Our Essential Workers

Editor, News-Register: As we’re facing yet another strain of COVID-19, healthcare workers around the world continue to feel the effects of the pandemic both in and outside of the workplace. And while nursing shortages date back to the early 1900s, none have quite compared to the magnitude of the current shortage, which has exacerbated burnout and compassion fatigue among nearly all healthcare professionals within West Virginia. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing shortage is anticipated to reach 1.1 million by next year. With the demand for nurses on the ...

Joe Manchin Key to Nation’s Future

Editor, News-Register: As I reside in your neighboring state of Maryland, I can witness to the sky-high taxes and crime, laws restricting our use of arms, and a quality of life damaged from decades of leftist policies. But it wasn’t always this way, so please take my warnings seriously. As the far-left policies of Maryland are now being pushed nationally, your state of West Virginia will not be immune to its destructive force, just as it wasn’t with Obama’s War on Coal, which crippled the state’s economy a decade ago. So, the question remains, why is Sen. Manchin the ...

Child Tax Credit Coming to An End

Editor, News-Register: While families are counting down to the holidays, many are also anxiously watching a different clock — the one that is running out for the Senate to take meaningful action to address hunger and poverty in communities here in West Virginia and nationwide. Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, families will get their last monthly check this month through the enhanced Child Tax Credit, one of the programs of the Build Back Better Act now under consideration in the Senate. This benefit has been a lifeline for families, helping them afford ...