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Morrisey’s punching down helps no one

Local Columns

At what point does one quit trying to keep winning the last political party primary? At one point does one stop trying to play to the perceived whims of a base and simply just govern? Gov. Patrick Morrisey won the 2024 GOP primary with 33.3% of the vote in a six-person primary. Albeit Morrisey didn’t win a clear majority and his closest competitor – former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito – was only about five points behind Morrisey, but he did win. Turning to the general election, Morrisey carried the state last November with nearly 62% of the vote – a more ...

Don’t make our health worse

Editorials

Gov. Patrick Morrisey appears determined to turn around West Virginia’s hideous statistics when it comes to our health. Whether it be food dyes, the Mountaineer Mile or improvements in the ways SNAP recipients can access fresh produce, there have been plenty of announcements to indicate a desire to improve our health and health outcomes. But according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, the Mountain State is still ranked a pitiful 47th in the country for overall health system performance. That assessment comes before the effects of any possible changes to Medicaid that might make ...

Enough is enough

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor, I’m sure a lot of people saw the blatant and disrespectful behavior of the Weirton Water Board on June 12 on local television news. The insulting behavior of the board toward Karen Mentzer was appalling. Not one person had the decency to answer her question about accountability over the city’s water problems. However, I know personally what that treatment feels like. For me my treatment was with the previous council administration, when I asked, not once, but on three separate occasions, why the city had to double the water and sewer system with a declining ...

Guest column: Real West Virginia men do mental health check‑ins

Local Columns

We’ve all heard it: “Real men don’t cry.” It’s become a badge of toughness but it’s also a barrier. Too many men learn to internalize pain and stay silent. At the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) in West Virginia, we say something different: real men check in. They check their blood pressure. They check on their families. And they check in on their mental health. June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month and West Virginia needs us to talk. Our state’s adjusted suicide rate is 18.3 per 100,000, above the national average of 14.3, and men make up nearly ...

History in the Hills: The power of objects

Local Columns

I love how these articles develop. Sometimes I think about a topic for days and nothing comes together and finally in the course of a conversation, a word or phrase will hit me, and I have a topic just like that. For instance, this week’s piece came together in a similar way. I spoke to someone about something and wham — topic. In this case, the topic was discovered while talking about one of my favorite things — antiques. I love antiques, and the more the merrier, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes though, practicality and space is a concern, not to mention money. With that ...

Guest column: Beware — scammers are on the prowl

Local Columns

We have all heard that there are plenty of scammers out there, but we don’t usually know when they are zeroing in on us. Alice was in the midst of selling vintage family clothing on a free website that listed items for sale. It was easy to use, and she was happy to think of making some money. One morning she got a response about selling a lightweight lady’s jacket. A person named Paul Harton said it was a very good price, and he wanted to buy it. She wondered why a man would want the jacket, but didn’t ask him. When Alice replied that she could meet in a public ...