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Guard Troops Not Right for Crime Duty

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: Once Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine sent our states’ National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, I felt it was my duty to speak out. President Trump has long associated urban crime with the distressed street corners home to low-income American inner-city youth. Dating back to the time he was a private businessman in New York City. The debate is now raging about whether someone has juiced the statistics on D.C., with both sides ...

The School Choice Option Nobody Talks About

Local Columns

In The Hunt Institute’s April 2025 article, “School Choice in the 2024 Election: Pros, Cons, and What Voters Want,” a key point was bulleted at the beginning of the article: Choice for some should not come at the expense of others. I just started my 23rd year of teaching, and I’ve been fortunate enough to teach every grade level from Pre-K through college. I had a brief stint in a private non-parochial school, and the rest public school. I’ve been to schools that are urban, rural, large, small, decently funded, and funded by the grace of Title I. I’ve found that my ...

Suspension Bridge Key to Downtown

Editorials

The new look of downtown Wheeling truly is coming into focus. All new streets and sidewalks, those odd (yet functional when it actually rains) bioswales that now are less weeds and more plants, and new and planned construction throughout Main and Market streets are leading to a level of optimism not felt in years. Yet one piece remains missing. The downtown Wheeling wants — no, in fact, the downtown Wheeling needs — must include a reopened Wheeling Suspension Bridge. The 176-year-old span stands as more than a historic engineering marvel — it is woven into the very fabric of ...

The Names of Sports Teams and More

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: President Donald J. Trump’s recently announced order to have names of professional sports teams that were changed during the Biden administration, as a result that such team names were considered by many to have been racially or ethnically insensitive and disrespectful to many, is ridiculous. Among those teams with name changes are the former Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball to the Cleveland Guardians and the former Washington Redskins of the National Football League to the Washington Commanders. Historically and for the record, the Cleveland ...

The State of America in the Year 2025

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: Everything is going to hell in a handbasket, a doctor my wife used to work for frequently observed. Well that’s an apt observation for Trump’s second administration. CONSIDER INFLATION: The price for everything is way up from when Biden handed over the reins to Trump. Food prices are up over 15%, beer is up 20%. The price for school clothes is out of sight. Forget about buying a new car or even fixing the old car — you can’t afford it. CONSIDER TARIFFS: Tariffs are fuel for Inflation. Why in the world are we beating down a great ally like ...

We Cannot Lose Another West Virginian to Suicide

Local Columns

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and here in West Virginia, the urgency couldn’t be higher. Our state is no stranger to hardship, but the current mental health crisis demands clear-eyed attention and bold action. In 2023, West Virginia’s age-adjusted suicide rate stood at 18.6 per 100,000 people, among the highest in the nation and significantly above the national average. That is 349 West Virginians we have lost in one year alone. Though this is slightly less than 2022, West Virginians deserve more. The numbers are more than data — they are human lives. In the ...