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John McCabe: With Ohio County Schools' Start Time Discussion, The Proposal Is Wrong, But The Objective Is Right

Local Columns

Three things became clear during this past Monday’s Ohio County Board of Education meeting, where possible changes to school start times appeared on the agenda following a proposal from the district’s school start time committee. First, the proposal presented to the board of education truly is not a workable solution. Simply moving all the schools back 30 minutes doesn’t benefit anyone, particularly parents of elementary school-aged children. Asking working families — many of whom may not have family support — to figure out how to get their children to school for a 9:40 a.m. ...

One Year After The Ohio County Floods, We Remember

Editorials

On June 14, 2025, lives changed forever in Triadelphia, Valley Grove and throughout our region. In a matter of minutes late that Saturday evening, a catastrophic flash flood tore through neighborhoods, swept away homes and vehicles, and left devastation unlike anything that community ever had experienced. When the water finally receded, nine people were gone. Dozens of families faced the heartbreaking task of rebuilding not only their homes, but their lives. A year later, that pain remains. There are empty seats at family gatherings. There are birthdays that arrive without a ...

WVU Baseball A Hit Thanks To Support

Editorials

On Friday, the West Virginia University baseball team will clear a new horizon ­— the Mountaineers will play its first College World Series game in program history. To understand the importance of this moment is to understand from where this program came. In 2012, disbanding that program was an option legitimately on the table. Hawley Field, the Mountaineers’ former playing grounds, was nothing worthy of a power-conference baseball team, much less one that would play in the Big 12. Scholarship allotments were rarely at their maximum. WVU had a baseball team, but it was debatable ...

Make Public Schools A Top-Line Choice

Editorials

We can argue about funding and vouchers, transportation and transparency, but West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty is right. There is no going backward from school choice in the Mountain State. His message last week to public school systems in the state was blunt. “You might not like what I have to say, but I don’t really care. School choice is here to stay,” Hardesty said. “Our 55 county superintendents and boards need to understand that. We are one of the school choice options. We need to make our option more accommodating to parents and ...

Politicizing Our Healthcare Hurts

Editorials

Politicizing healthcare — from vaccines to research and safety net funding — has led to some dangerous changes in public health in this country. Among them is the surge in measles and whooping cough cases. Vaccine hesitancy fueled by intentional misinformation and disingenuous religious freedoms outrage has resulted in significant increases in the two potentially deadly illnesses. Across the country, there have been 1,983 measles cases in the first half of this year, according to an Ohio Capital Journal report that used U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The ...

Building Trust And Sustaining It On W.Va.’s Highways

Local Columns

The State of West Virginia’s transportation system is funded not only by tax dollars, but by trust. Every mile of paved roadway, every bridge rehabilitated, every slip or slide repaired, and every safety improvement delivered is made possible because taxpayers believe those investments will be used wisely, efficiently, and transparently. For those of us in the construction industry, that trust is not assumed—it is earned on every project, every day. That responsibility has taken on even greater importance as conversations around future transportation funding continue to evolve. ...