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Charter schools testing well

We are a couple of years into West Virginia’s experiment with public charter schools, and a look at the results of the Statewide Summative Assessment for the 2023-24 school year revealed at least the two most established charter schools are making positive strides Thursday, members of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board got the details of each school’s performance so far. For the two schools with results from the previous year to compare with the most recent results, there was noteworthy improvement. Morgantown’s West Virginia Academy and the Eastern Panhandle ...

Exercising our electoral responsibility

Most Mountain State residents will agree the upcoming November general election is among the more important we’ve been asked to decide over the past several years. Yet according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there is a good chance a small percentage of West Virginians will be making those decisions for all of us. West Virginia had the second-lowest voter turnout rate in the country in 2020 — behind only Arkansas. Back then a mere 55.3% of registered voters in West Virginia turned out to vote in the general election. This time around, only 30.49% of registered voters participated in ...

Program a benefit for our veterans

This month, the West Virginia Veterans’ Home Loan program launches, after passage of state Senate Bill 261 earlier this year. The program will help eligible veterans purchase their first homes. In this real estate climate, any help they can get will be significant. Republican State Treasurer Riley Moore, state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and representatives of the West Virginia Housing Development Fund were on hand to talk about the Sept. 12 launch in Weirton earlier this week. (Moore is running for the U.S. House West Virginia 2nd District seat in November, and Weld is unopposed in ...

Let’s talk about preparedness

Floods, nasty storms, high winds, fires, ice storms, power outages … nature can be rough on us here in West Virginia. But those are just some of the emergencies and disasters for which state agencies hope residents will come up with an action plan, as part of National Preparedness Month. This year’s theme is “Start a conversation,” and the West Virginia Departments of Health, Health Facilities and Human Services are hoping we’ll do just that. If it feels a little awkward or pessimistic, that’s OK. Start the discussion little by little, anyway. “Engaging in these ...

Remember the gift of life

Those looking to this space for perspective on the pressing issues of the day may wonder why it contains yet another appeal for blood donors and support of the American Red Cross’s mission. It is because the need is that urgent, and only growing more so. Over the weekend, the Red Cross issued a plea for help, as the blood shortage that had already presented a challenge is getting worse. Severe weather including the remnants of Hurricane Debby has canceled a significant number of blood drives that might have helped fill that gap. “The American Red Cross continues to experience ...

Take pride in the fruits of our labor

While Labor Day continues to serve as the end-of-summer holiday (it was moreso when the schoolchildren returned to the classrooms on the day after the first Monday in September) it should be about more than firing up the grill one more time. As we prepare to celebrate that holiday on Monday, it’s appropriate to take a moment and remember that people fought for protections for workers in a time not so long ago. Those battles led to safer workplaces, the rise of the middle class and benefit packages that helped build a nation. In our region, it is clear that change has arrived for ...