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Continue our focus on dental health

Mountain State residents grew up knowing there were certain jokes that would be made at their expense once a person from another state found out they were West Virginians. Some variation on the “but you’re wearing shoes!” or “but you look like you have all your teeth!” was not uncommon. And we laughed it off. But the reality is West Virginia HAS struggled for generations — and still does struggle — with making dental health a priority. That’s backed up by a recent WalletHub study, “2026’s States with the Best and Worst Dental Health,” in which West Virginia ranks ...

Some answers given, others still needed

Hancock County residents were able to get some of the answers sought over the last several months during Monday’s meeting of the county board of education. It was the first meeting of the board since the local school system was taken over by the state last month. Featured at the meeting was the long-awaited report from Jeff Davis of Education Consulting Team LLC and Uriah Cummings, school financial operations officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, who discussed some of their findings after reviewing Hancock County Schools’ financial books in an effort to find out ...

Income tax cuts must be sensible

Though Gov. Patrick Morrisey may have had the weight of Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist behind him on his recent visit to Parkersburg, the reality is unchanged: Lawmakers have already put in place a mechanism to reduce what West Virginians pay in income tax, and the state did not meet markers to trigger another cut as recently as August. Despite that, Morrisey has gone from pitching a 5% to 10% income tax cut to going all-in at 10%. “West Virginians deserve to keep more of what they earn,” Morrisey said. “We tightened the budget, made tough choices, and put ...

Silly debates only hurting West Virginia

The West Virginia Legislature is approximately three weeks into its 2026 session. Both the House of Delegates and Senate have brought several bills to the floor of their respective chambers. The House has already passed multiple bills in the “Jobs First — Opportunity Everywhere” platform it touted before the session even began. One updated the state’s financial support for industrial access roads, doubling it from $3 million to $6 million. Another increased the caps on microgrants for the West Virginia Business Ready Sites program. Were those earth-shaking advances? Probably ...

Looking for spring’s arrival

Regardless of what Punxsutawney Phil and his furry woodchuck pals said this morning, reality is on the calendar, and that indicates we have reached the midpoint between the end of fall and the start of spring. Groundhog Day lore relies on Punxsutawney Phil and his fellow forecasting groundhogs to tell us if there will be six more weeks of winter ahead or if we can expect an early spring. And it’s all based on whether or not the groundhog sees its shadow, according to the animal’s handlers. It’s great fun and a chance to relax a little and direct our attention to Gobblers Knob ...

Remembering all of our American history

Black History Month 2026 offers a chance to look at the impact Black Americans have made on our lives, and a special chance to reflect on an event that has been a part of the nation’s calendar for 100 years. “A Century of Black History Commemoration” is the theme that has been selected this year by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the founders of Black History Month. It’s a wide-ranging topic, and one that puts the focus on how the commemoration of Black history has evolved during the past 100 years, and the impact it has had on the status of ...