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Living united in the Upper Ohio Valley

The United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley kicked off its campaign this week with a couple of big events. Thursday evening saw the organization’s Jackpot Jubilee, with food, games, and more, at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. Then, during Saturday’s football game on the campus of West Liberty University, when the Hilltoppers take on the Seton Hill University (Pa.) Griffins, the United Way was set to be well represented, with the WL team running through a United Way sign, representatives taking part in the coin toss, with a 50/50 drawing and field goal contest planned as well ...

Guest Opinion: We cannot lose another one

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and here in West Virginia, the urgency couldn’t be higher. Our state is no stranger to hardship, but the current mental health crisis demands clear-eyed attention and bold action. In 2023, West Virginia’s age-adjusted suicide rate stood at 18.6 per 100,000 people, among the highest in the nation and significantly above the national average. That is 349 West Virginians we have lost in one year alone. Though this is slightly less than 2022, West Virginians deserve more. The numbers are more than data — they are human lives. In the ...

Guest Opinion: Some information about carbon capture

I’ve lived in the Ohio River Valley for 70 years, in Jefferson and Harrison counties. For decades, the residents of the Ohio Valley have been paying for the aftermath of extractive industries. That “beautiful clean coal” Presidnet Donald Trump refers to took lives, and left a legacy of mine shafts and acid mine run-off. Taxpayers continue to foot the bills to plug orphan oil and gas wells and clean-up un-reclaimed strip mined lands. Recently, the Ohio River Valley was targeted to become a carbon capture and sequestration hub. This hub will consist of a series of pipelines and ...

Guest Opinion: The executive secretary’s office

I can think of few things that pass through the Public Service Commission, coming in or going out, that aren’t touched by the executive secretary’s office. This office handles all of our mail, whether coming in or going out. If a utility files a case with the Commission, that must be made through the executive secretary and must be addressed to the executive secretary. Those filing documents are processed in her office. From that office, new cases are disbursed through the building. In fact, a case cannot get started without the executive secretary giving it a formal tracking ...

Life is based on certain once upon a times …

Once upon a time ... there was a 19-year-old girl. One Friday, she decided to go to her local mall with her best friend. She didn’t know why, but there was something inside this girl that told her she had to get to the mall as quickly as possible. Again, she wasn’t sure why she had ...

Avoiding the potential political malaise

Herbert Hoover was well-liked in his day, praised for his engineering prowess which he used to tackle major worldwide problems following World War I. He was a natural choice for president in 1928. But then the 1929 stock market crash happened, followed by the Great Depression. None of these things were exclusively the fault of Hoover, and frankly most of what his successor – Franklin Roosevelt – did to end the Great Depression worked until World War II broke out and we flexed our production muscles. But Roosevelt is remembered for ending the Great Depression and Hoover is ...