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Reporter’s Notebook: Tackling CON, by appointment only?

Continuing on from last week’s column on the certificate of need repeal drum beats, Gov. Patrick Morrisey added new appointees to a board that makes decisions regarding certificate of need applications submitted by current and potential health care providers for new services. Last Tuesday, Morrisey appointed former lawmaker Heather Glasko-Tully, former West Virginia Republican Party chairman Doug McKinney, and former Attorney General staffer Robert Cheren to the state Health Care Authority. According to State Code, the Health Care Authority – created by the Legislature in 1983 - ...

Trail paving a step in the right direction

A promise years in the making has been completed with the final stretch of paving to the Panhandle Recreation Trail. Managed under the auspices of the Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation, with support for many years from a group of dedicated volunteers who have provided much of the labor and maintenance, the trail was established on a former rail line (something which has been done in many communities across the nation over the last 30 years or so). I grew up, and still reside, near the trail, and can still recall seeing the train traveling along that particular corridor in my ...

Sometimes we need to do more than donate

There aren’t too many things that make my heart happy. And no, I’m really not that hard of a person to please. Too much sadness in the world, I suppose. However, something that I absolutely love to do, whenever the opportunity arises, is to write an article about the Jefferson County Humane Society. Especially the stories that revolve around donations. As was the case this week. I love the fact that some people in this area still possess such compassion toward animals that they want to contribute some of their hard-earned money just to help keep this nonprofit agency ...

History in the Hills: Weirton’s lost treasure revisited

I have been doing these articles for a while now — almost six years to be exact — and I have really enjoyed it. Spending time researching stories in our area and finding out little-known facts has been a blast. This article this weekend will be the 150th article in my little series, and I thought it would be fun to reprise an article that so many have complimented over the years. It is one of my favorites. Most children are excited by buried treasure, and my son, Paulie, is no exception. There is something exciting about hearing a story, finding a treasure map and following it to ...

Reporter’s Notebook: I’m getting that sense of Déjà vu…again

Here we go again, the merry-go-round that simply will not end. If it seems like I’ve written a whole column on the efforts by some to eliminate West Virginia’s certificate of need law, I did back in March. Remember, I got to shoehorn in a Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan reference. But supporters and detractors of CON repeal were back at it last week. Once again, many health care services are required to apply for a certificate of need from the state, which can approve or reject it based on many factors, such as the availability of similar services in the region. Gov. Patrick ...

Summer concerts are great, no matter their form

The summer season is still a couple of weeks away, but the summer concert season is in full gear in the Upper Ohio Valley. Memorial Day saw the first of the seasonal concerts with a performance in Follansbee by Twice as Nice in Follansbee Park. The Monthly Monday Music Madness series, organized by the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce, is actually twice monthly, and will alternate its events between Follansbee Park and a site next to the log cabin near the Brooke County Courthouse in Wellsburg. The Historic Fort Steuben Concert Series made its return this past Thursday, with ...