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Guest Column: Tri-share model not going to solve child care

Local Columns

With $5 million in West Virginia’s proposed budget earmarked for expansion of the Tri-Share child care program, it’s time for an honest conversation about whether this is truly the best path forward for our state. West Virginia is in the midst of a child care crisis. Families are struggling to find affordable, high-quality care. Providers are fighting to keep their doors open amid rising costs and workforce shortages. Employers are feeling the strain as workers leave jobs because they can’t secure reliable care. The need for action is urgent. But urgency does not justify ...

There are a lot of difficult changes ahead

Local Columns

Change can sometimes be one of the most difficult, and also most rewarding, experiences of our lives. Our area has experienced much change over the year. The loss of the steel industry is one such change which has affected us all in one way or another. What once was the lifeblood of the Upper Ohio Valley and much of the surrounding region has almost completely disappeared, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and an exodus of people from our communities. The effects are still being felt, even as there are those who continue to look for ways to build toward a new, and hopefully ...

Local food highlighted with Restaurant Week

Editorials

Area residents should take the opportunity to pick up a meal or two next week from a local restaurant. Weirton Restaurant Week officially begins Sunday, with more than 20 local restaurants set to take part with offers of special, limited-time menu items and discounts for all to enjoy. For the second year, the observance has been organized by the Top of West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce as a way to highlight some of the many locally owned restaurants and eateries we have available in the Weirton area, and also to encourage residents ...

Vape bill all smoke and mirrors

Editorials

Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, chose a soft target with his Vape Safety Act — House Bill 5437 — perhaps hoping state House of Delegates committee members would not look too carefully at the language he wielded or be affected by the dog whistles he was blowing. First, it is important to acknowledge the vape shop industry SHOULD be better regulated in this state. McCormick knows most elected officials will understand that. So, if one does not get past the basics of the bill, it might seem like something that should earn a stamp of approval. HB 5437 would require all specialty ...

‘Maz’ remembered as a humble legend

Editorials

It has been said to “never meet your heroes.” Those who met Ohio Valley legend and Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski during his 89 years on this earth will tell you that isn’t true. Wheeling born and Tiltonsville raised, Mazeroski reached the supreme heights of his sport, his walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series forever etching him into baseball lore. Yet he never abandoned his local roots. He anchored himself with them, returning to the valley countless times for fundraisers, charity events and personal visits. If you had something for him to sign, ...

Dysfunction in the people’s business

Editorials

The recent ordinance concerning the potential dissolution of the Hancock County Parks Board is further evidence of ongoing dysfunction in local government. On Feb. 12, commissioners voted 2-1 on the first reading of the ordinance which would get rid of the board as it is, replacing it instead with a form which would allow local residents or organizations to apply directly to county commissioners for a share of the county’s hotel and motel tax revenue to put on events. The vote was followed last week by a “work session” held at 8:30 a.m. Friday in which the issues of the ...