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Is West Virginia gambling on Hope?

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but on first glance it sure seems like both the Senate and House Finance Committees are sending messages to Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Perhaps the message is this: You can have a 10% personal income tax cut, or you can have the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program, but to have one, you’re going to have to accept changes to the other. Morrisey’s general revenue budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 beginning July 1 is $5.493 billion, which is roughly 3.2% more than he proposed last year and the Legislature passed for the current fiscal ...

Project a step toward meeting housing needs

It’s no secret that Weirton, and for that matter much of our area, is in need of housing investment. Every comprehensive study or development plan of Weirton for the last 15 to 20 years has cited a lack of proper and available housing, not only for current residents but any potential future residents. Speaking with several local Realtors in recent years, many have cited the issue of either not having enough housing stock to market, or when they do have something it’s sold quickly (sometimes before they even have a chance to post it.) There have been some efforts in recent years, ...

Guest Column: Why we talk about teen mental health and why it matters now

West Virginia is at a pivotal moment when it comes to teen mental health. Across the country, young people ages 12 to 17 are experiencing rising levels of stress, anxiety and emotional distress. National surveys show that mental health challenges among adolescents are widespread and growing. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 have experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, and roughly 40% of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, well before adulthood and often affecting school performance, relationships and daily ...

We need to teach our children how to live

There is a quiet wisdom in the way a child watches the world. Their eyes are wide and not yet clouded by the cynicism of adulthood. Their hearts are constantly open, always believing in a way that most of us have forgotten how to do. Questions come tumbling out of their mouths like marbles spilled across a hardwood floor. But for some reason, we tend to take that precious innocence for granted. Instead, we spend so much of our time hurrying them toward the next milestone in life. We are continually preparing them for standardized tests, college applications, their future ...

It’s all downhill from here in Charleston

Last Thursday marked day 30, the halfway mark of the 60-day annual legislative session. It’s all downhill from now to midnight on Saturday, March 14, when the regular session adjourns sine die. At the beginning of the session, I had a hard time predicting whether this session would be a flurry of action or be slow, but it appears slow and steady wins the race. That’s not terribly surprising given that this is a midterm election year. Lawmakers want to do enough to look like they’re doing something, while also not doing things to avoid rocking the boat. The House of Delegates ...

Paying for the decisions of our forefathers

Last August, this newspaper published an editorial, under the “Our Opinion” banner, titled “The water bill will come due, eventually.” Well, it’s looking as if that time is approaching. At the time, the Weirton Area Water Board was working with Thrasher Engineering to develop a plan for the replacement of 147,500 linear feet of cast iron and galvanized water lines within the distribution system. It’s all part of the order given last summer by the West Virginia Public Service Commission following last winter’s water woes, with an initial focus on some of the worst ...