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Reading Between the Lines of Year-End Piece

Local Columns

Steven Allen Adams’ December 27 article reports on three big things in a very casual tone, and none of them are comforting for West Virginians. Here’s what’s not being said: Power changed hands, but priorities didn’t Yes, there are new titles and shuffled chairs, but the people running West Virginia and representing it in Washington are all long-time insiders. The article celebrates positions and rank, not results. What’s not being said: Despite seniority, committee assignments, and “influence,” there is little evidence that everyday problems such as affordability, ...

Remain Sober, Focused Behind the Wheel

Editorials

Winter can make driving more challenging anyway in our region, but West Virginia Department of Transportation officials suggest drivers are also having a hard time navigating worksites and the presence of non-civilian vehicles. Between Dec. 12 and 19, the department reported five separate accidents in which civilian motorists were at fault when they hit DOT vehicles. “If you’ve been out in the last couple of weeks you’ve seen the traffic, you’ve seen the congestion. If you couple that with any kind of impaired driving, reckless driving, speeding, or distracted driving, it ...

Protecting Ohio Waters

Editorials

Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency has extended the public comment period to Jan. 16 as it considers fast-tracking a general wastewater permit for new data centers in the Buckeye State. Right now, the state EPA’s draft permit includes “a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state associated with granting coverage under this permit necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio.” But among the questions such a statement raises are WHY it is necessary. WCMH spoke to water quality advocate Amy Swank, of Dublin, who said ...

Resolve to Grow In the New Year

Editorials

As we wrap up one year and look hopefully ahead to the next, most in our region are looking forward to the possibility of peace, prosperity, success … all the good things that are possible when the blank slate of an entire year stretches out before us. Sure, we take some accountability by assigning resolutions to ourselves — improvement plans to which we say we will stick for 365 days. (On the other hand, some eat their pork and sauerkraut and hope for the best knowing they’ve done their part.) But it is worth asking ourselves: What do we truly want for ourselves, our families, ...

Restore Funding Now

Editorials

Ohio’s elected representatives in Washington, D.C., are doing their best to understand and overcome a bizarre federal decision to suspend the state’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership award. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, along with U.S. Reps. Max Miller, Michael Turner, Robert Latta, David Joyce, Mike Carey, Michael Rulli and David Taylor, all R-Ohio, sent a letter earlier this week to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, asking him to restore the flow of funds to the Buckeye State program. This is in addition to a letter Husted sent to Lutnick on Dec. 11 asking for ...

A Deserving Teacher of the Year Winner

Editorials

Wheeling Middle School special education teacher Tiffany Barnes recently received a big check, literally and figuratively, for her triumph as West Virginia Teacher of the Year. The Horace Mann Education Corp. came to her school right before holiday break with an oversized check in the amount of $5,000. (She got a smaller, actual check, too.) And what was she planning to do with that new found financial boost? As always, Barnes was thinking about her students. That money was going to a sensory room Barnes is designing for her students. It’s another way that Barnes is looking out ...