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Credit card debt a sign of what’s to come?

When it comes to economic indicators, the big national metrics don’t always reflect what is happening in ordinary households. But families certainly understand what it means for them if they are forced to rely more on credit cards to get by. According to WalletHub’s States with Largest and Smallest Credit Card Debt Increases, released this month, Ohio has the eighth-largest credit card debt increase in the country in the second quarter. In the Buckeye State, the average credit card debt hit $40,748,707,089, an increase of $858,373,603 from the first quarter. The average household ...

Vaccine battle sets us on wrong path

Two of the state’s top political leaders — Sen. Jim Justice and Gov. Patrick Morrisey — are now taking jabs at one another over the efficacy of vaccinations, with Justice, the state’s former governor, standing firmly behind the science. It is getting hard to understand Morrisey’s position on this matter — particularly at a time when he is working to make the state more attractive to business and more competitive with its neighbors. Morrisey’s executive order expanding religious exemptions for school vaccination requirements represents a worrisome departure from ...

Be wary of tick-borne illnesses

If you consider yourself to be a carnivore, the West Virginia Department of Health has given you yet another reason to be vigilant about avoiding ticks. Earlier this month, the agency reported multiple cases of the tick-borne Alpha-gal Syndrome, which can cause a variety of symptoms as a result of allergies to meat and meat products caused by the disease. This one is carried by lone star ticks — larger than deer ticks and with white spots on their backs. Worry over the disease is severe enough that the state health department issued an advisory Sept. 11, making AGS a reportable ...

Focus on needs, and do it fast

“The program tackles the root causes of rural health care failure. It gives states the tools to design solutions that last, not Band-Aids that fail.” That was Dr. Mehmet Oz, on the speedily unrolled Rural Health Transformation Program that will make available $50 billion — a possible $10 billion per year to states — each fiscal year from 2026 through 2030. Four years of potential federal funding, half of which is to be distributed evenly to all 50 states IF they apply for it; and half to be distributed based on health care metrics. Federal officials have given states until ...

The bedrock of our nation

Some 238 years ago, a contingent representing the states of the newly independent United States of America gathered in Philadelphia. There to reform the Articles of Confederation, they came up with this familiar grouping of words, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” That carefully worded ...

Bootcamp series to help grow businesses

Have you ever considered opening your own business, but not known where to start? The Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with the City of Weirton, the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle, and First Microloan of West Virginia to offer an educational series to help those new entrepreneurs, as well as long-time business owners who may be looking to grow their operations. The “Business Bootcamp” educational series kicks off this Thursday with “Where Do I Start? Licensing Requirements for Weirton and West Virginia.” As part of the session, ...