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Fix Prison Staffing Issues

Editorials

According to a recent report by the Dayton Daily News, the Ohio state prison system was short more than 500 corrections officers at the end of last year. The Daily News conducted its investigation because Dayton Correctional Institution has the highest rate of openings, at 18.8%. Lebanon Correctional Institution has a vacancy rate of 11.5% and Warren Correctional Institution has a vacancy rate of 2.4%, the newspaper found. Those numbers are an improvement over the worst period in 2022, but still a significant problem for the system. Of course, state officials were eager to put a ...

Public School Issues Need Solved ASAP

Editorials

There are plenty of words that can be used to describe the revelation of major financial issues that led to the West Virginia Department of Education’s takeover of Hancock County Schools. Alarming. Disturbing. Embarrassing. According to the department’s investigations, the school district’s finances were in such disarray that district officials were contacting the state department for help just to make payroll. When was the last time a public school district in West Virginia needed help to simply pay its teachers and staff? Has it ever happened? According to Delegate Pat ...

Celebrating Dr. King Transcends Boundaries

Local Columns

On July 18, 1957 Evangelist Billy Graham, a white minister from North Carolina, a native southerner was holding services at Madison Square Garden. He noticed over the first two months that the audiences were not mixed. In his efforts to have more of an integrated audience, his team invited a 28-year-old, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. to lead the prayer at the crusade. Dr. King had just led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. The two shared the pulpit that night, when he gave the opening prayer. He prayed for a “warless world’” and a “brotherhood ...

From Rock Bottom to Remarkable for Wheeling Hospital

Local Columns

When WVU Medicine assumed leadership of Wheeling Hospital in 2019, the headlines weren’t flattering. The state’s oldest hospital — a 170-year pillar of the Northern Panhandle — was under federal investigation, financially unstable, and struggling to retain its workforce. Quality scores had slipped, critical investments had stalled, and morale across the campus reflected the uncertainty of its future. At the same time, the Northern Panhandle, and Ohio Valley at large, was reeling from the uncertainty left in the wake of both Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional ...

Helping Spur Job Growth

Editorials

West Virginians know our state is full of pieces of land that would make fantastic locations for new employers to build … except you can’t get there from here. Infrastructure isn’t our strong suit, and site readiness efforts are often about not just utilities and maybe even having a pad poured, but building roads for potential industrial sites. Lawmakers this week demonstrated they understand that, and are serious about working toward jobs first and improving opportunity everywhere, with a committee substitute for House Bill 4007. The bill, which proposes updates to the ...

Get Your House Ready for Cold

Editorials

While there still might be some uncertainty as to how much snow the Ohio Valley might get from the incoming storm this weekend, one thing is for sure — it’s going to get cold. Very, very cold. Forecasts have low temperatures in the valley falling to 0 degrees Friday, in the teens over the weekend and negative numbers on Monday. Local residents can stay indoors, bundle up and turn on a heater to keep from freezing. Their water pipes can’t. A burst water pipe in weather like what is coming this weekend can be a nightmare, and forecasts are predicting conditions that create a ...