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Remember our nation’s foundation

Some 237 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 ...

More success, less bureaucracy

It’s hard to understand what the lawmakers who rode into office boasting of their aim to “right size” state government were thinking when they decided to turn the Department of Health and Human Resources into three new agencies (four if you count the Office of Shared Administration that supports the other three). Maybe they really did believe the change would provide better, more efficient service for Mountain State residents. But surely they knew enough about bureaucracy’s ability to serve itself to know that improvement wasn’t going to come easily. Now, more than two ...

Remain vigilant, Ohio Valley

Across the Tri-State Area, school districts fell under siege last week. Threats were received in Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, as reports from multiple media outlets suggest there has been a wave of such frightening situations since the deadly school shooting in Georgia Sept. 4. In Jefferson County, a juvenile is being held in connection with threats of violence that disrupted Buckeye Local Schools. The juvenile, according to Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr., has taken responsibility for threats that were made Monday morning and Tuesday evening through the social media app ...

Putting names, faces with the numbers

West Virginia’s myriad challenges — poverty, substance abuse and unevenly distributed resources, to name a few — have been affecting our children for generations. Measures in place to mitigate the damage done to those who will forge our future are facing their own challenges. As the need grows for families willing to adopt or foster children in state custody, the number of those willing families seems to be shrinking. But organizations are coming up with new ways to reach out. Mission West Virginia is launching the West Virginia Adoption Resource Exchange. It is a web-based photo ...

Fair weekend brings fun, tradition

Our region’s county fair season is winding down, but that doesn’t mean there’s still not time to savor the experience. That includes this weekend, when the annual Brooke County Fair will be held at Brooke Hills Park. The event, scheduled to run from 5 p.m. Friday through 5 p.m. Sunday, once again will serve as a reminder that county fairs offer something that just about everyone can enjoy, including a wide variety of games, food, activities and entertainment. There will be wrestling and a demolition derby, a rodeo and information about Revolutionary War re-enactors. ...

We must never forget that day

Nineteen committed people can change the world. That is the frightening reality that we learned 23 years ago today, after Americans and the world watched as civilian airliners were used as piloted cruise missiles to rain terror in New York and Washington, D.C., and on the people who fought back aboard an airliner that crashed into a peaceful farm field east of Pittsburgh. Sept. 11, 2001, is receding in time, but not in effect. The world has accepted wars, seemingly without end. It has accepted that madmen bent on using violence as a political statement will forever be with us. ...