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Forging a new future for West Virginia

West Virginia is fortunate to have (for now) elected representatives in Washington, D.C., who have not only the experience and connections, but the willingness to find support for projects that will propel our region into a more prosperous, cleaner future. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was in Ravenswood recently for the announcement of more than $100 million for Constellium Ravenswood. U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Infrastructure Senior Advisor Brian Anderson was there, too, in addition to state and community officials. To be clear, that $100 million includes ...

Take precautions in work zones

A tragic trend is emerging at West Virginia’s roadwork sites. Rather than paying more attention as we approach work zones, we seem to be paying less — with deadly consequences. Last week, the West Virginia Department of Transportation said a woman was killed while working as a flagger for the construction company working on the U.S. 340 widening project in Jefferson County. According to a news release from the DOT, the flagger had stopped traffic when a car sped into the work zone, swerved to miss the traffic and instead hit her. Though bystanders reportedly were able to lift ...

Decision a sign of neglect for W.Va.

Most West Virginians have a pretty good idea what the federal government and its partner agencies think of us. (We also know that SOME of our reputation is earned.) But while we were busy bracing for reported tornadoes, derechos, heavy rain and flooding that has demanded our full attention for days, the U.S. Postal Service made an insulting and damaging move. On April 2, the U.S. Postal Service went ahead with its decision to convert the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center into a Local Processing Center. Now, rather than being distributed from Charleston, all the state’s ...

The importance of the gift of life

April is National Donate Life Month, and that offers a reminder that it’s important to consider registering as an organ donor. It’s likely you know someone who has received a transplant, whether it was a heart, a liver, a kidney or a cornea. And while those operations can be life-saving, the sad reality is that 103,801 people in the United States are waiting on transplants. Of those, 58,789 are active waiting list candidates, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Included on those lists are just under 10,000 people in our region, the Health Resources and Service ...

Studying the effects of state licenses

Researchers at West Virginia University have put together a database that shows what most of us already know — that hundreds upon hundreds of occupations for which practitioners are required to get a license are hampered by the subsequent professional obstacles and necessary price hikes those licenses create. The WVU Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics had a paper published in The Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy that introduces the database as a way to look at how occupational licensing impacts the workforce. The ...

Practice patience in bridge work zone

The barrels have officially returned to the Veterans Memorial Bridge (though some never left) following the announcement of yet another lengthy maintenance project on the span. It’s a scene we’ve become accustomed to over the last few years, but this time there is an additional complication as the DOH also has closed the exit ramp leading from the bridge to West Virginia Route 2 South. According to the official announcement, the work is scheduled through May 31, but we’ve seen these maintenance projects extended by days and even weeks in the past, depending on weather and other ...