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Sticking together for the holidays

The holidays aren’t always a happy time for everyone. In fact, it can be a very lonely time for some of our residents who might not have family living nearby. A group of local organizations are, once again, coming together this week to bring some holiday cheer to some of those residents by providing a warm meal for them to enjoy. In its second year, the dinner is focused primarily on residents of the city’s high rise complexes, especially the local senior community, as well as shut-ins. These are residents most likely to not have anyone to share the holidays with, or unable to ...

Ensure mineral appraisals are correct

As December sets in, West Virginia mineral rights owners can be assured of one certainty: receiving a notice in the mail of their new mineral rights valuation. And just as it’s a certainty that notice will arrive, it’s also clear that the valuation, as far as anyone can tell, continues to remain either inaccurate or wildly out of bounds. That’s what you have to appreciate about government — make a major change riddled with mistakes and then put the burden on, in this case, the mineral rights owner to hopefully get it fixed. Or, as this issue also has taught us over the past two ...

Offering people a second chance

A day before President Joe Biden announced the largest act of clemency in one day in modern presidential history, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Cory Booker, D-N.J., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., celebrated the earlier passage of their Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2024. Both events are important acknowledgements of the need to support those who are paying the consequences for having made mistakes, but are ready to seize new opportunities to succeed. “The vast majority of people incarcerated today will come home to our communities at some point,” ...

Remember the giving of the season

Life is getting busy now, with the end of the gift-giving season staring us all in the face. We’ve started to get wrapped up in Christmas, from shopping to family get-togethers and other events that consume so much of our thoughts and time. But we ask again that you don’t let the hustle and bustle become overwhelming and take over this year. Instead, take a moment or two to reflect. Look at your family and friends, neighbors or even the average passerby. Some might be struggling through unemployment and could be finding it difficult to take care of their basic necessities. ...

Continue fight against elder abuse

It’s easy to pick out areas in which we wish Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were doing better for residents. The list is long and varied. But in one category, all three states are doing quite well. In WalletHub’s list of States With the Best Elder-Abuse Protections, the Buckeye State is fourth in the country, the Mountain State is ninth and the Keystone State is 15th. That’s not a bad showing. Given the age of the population across the Tri-State Area, those are important protections. Ohio’s 32nd ranking for prevalence (share of elder-abuse, gross-neglect and ...

Parks investment must continue

In one of the final acts of the current administration, Weirton Council on Monday approved an allotment of $350,000 to put toward completion of a new restroom facility at Marland Heights Park, with options to also fund improvements at the Brookline Street playground and possibly some other projects if any money is remaining. While it is a far cry from addressing every need the Weirton Park Board has cited in recent years, it will, at least, address a major one which we hope will serve as a jumping-off point for the next administration. The Margaret Manson Weir Pool was demolished two ...