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Justice made right call on vaccine bill

Gov. Jim Justice had a lot on his plate this past week, as he scrambled to handle the hundreds of bills that crossed his desk for a signature, veto or to remain untouched. In the midst of it all, Justice made an important decision — and one that was absolutely correct. Justice vetoed House Bill 5105, which would have eliminated the vaccine requirements for public virtual schools, private schools and parochial schools. He ignored the insanity coming from those lawmakers who genuinely seem to be working against West Virginia residents these days, and instead listened to the input ...

Remembering the resurrection

Some 2,000 years ago, an itinerant preacher in the Middle East was crucified for, as his executioners put it, claiming to be a king. There was no immediate worldwide news coverage of the event. There were no live images beamed to televisions, tablets and cell phones around the world, no tweets, no texts, no Facebook posts carrying the news of his execution at the hands of the powerful Roman state at the request of the Hebrew state under its control. There were no 24-hour news channels and no grim-faced anchormen and women providing background, and there was no analysis from hundreds ...

Some ‘eggs-celent’ Easter activities

Easter egg hunts bring a sense of joy to children and adults each year. They serve as a marker for the season of renewal and as a way of welcoming spring. While many egg hunts were presented last weekend by area communities and organizations, there are several scheduled to be held Saturday. Formats can sometimes vary, but they all offer the chance for children to find eggs that are filled with candy and other prizes. The rites of spring also have become more inclusive during the years. An example was the second-annual Special Connections Eastern Egg Hunt held Sunday at the ...

Time to cap orphan wells

Among the legacies of our region’s boom-and-bust reliance on fossil fuel industries are the hundreds of thousands of orphan wells that dot Appalachia. According to a report by The Center Square, the federal government has counted approximately 127,000 orphan wells nationwide. The Center Square noted there are 27,000 in Pennsylvania, 20,000 in Ohio, 12,000 in Kentucky and 6,000 in West Virginia. Those are just the ones we know about. There are an estimated 300,000 undocumented orphan wells in Pennsylvania. Imagine how many there must be across the rest of our region. It’s a dangerous ...

Baseball is back

Thursday will be one of those rare days when all things seem possible It’s opening day for Major League Baseball. That means fans of each of the 30 teams are looking ahead to the long schedule and are sure that, with the right break here or there, their team will have the chance to contend for a spot in the World Series. It’s that sense of optimism that makes the start of the baseball season such a special time. There are some fans — and we use that term loosely — out there who don’t understand the magic of this week. They take the near-sighted view that Opening Day is ...

Wildfires ravaging parts of the state

Eastern West Virginia is on fire. Days of dry, windy weather supported wildfires that have burned thousands of acres, particularly in Berkeley, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan and Pendleton counties. According to Assistant State Forester Linda Carnell, who spoke with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, there are local fire departments in all affected counties and some neighboring counties fighting the blazes. Of course, Division of Forestry employees are there, too. Carnell described significant structural damage, in addition to the damaged forest land. “It’s been pretty ...