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Opinion

Getting ready for football season

Editorials

Our annual football edition will be included with your Wednesday newspaper, marking the return of local high school sports for 2025. The high school football season, which officially opens this week in Ohio and next week in West Virginia, will be the topic of many conversations and will occupy the hearts and minds of fans from all parts of the region for at least the next 10 weeks — and, hopefully, beyond. With all of that in mind, members of our local sports staff, led by Sports Editor Andrew Grimm, have spent much of the past several weeks conducting interviews, taking ...

Security measures being increased

Editorials

It seems safety is on the minds of residents everywhere nowadays, whether you’re driving through your neighborhood or going on a lengthy journey. For many years, security measures have been established pretty much everywhere we go – many in response to major incidents and disasters – from airports, to hospitals, to even grocery stores. One of the more visible examples is when we visit our governmental offices, whether we’re greeted by a security guard watching a bank of monitors or made to walk through a scanning system. The City of Weirton is taking some new measures in an ...

Are we having a bit of a senior moment?

Local Columns

The possible sale of four state-owned long-term care facilities to a private company could be a win for West Virginia taxpayers, but questions remain. Last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that New York-based Marx Development Group (MDG) will purchase Hopemont Hospital in Preston County, Jackie Withrow Hospital in Raleigh County, John Manchin Sr. Health Care Center in Marion County, and Lakin Hospital in Mason County for $60 million. Once the sale closes on Tuesday, Sept. 30, the deal includes MDG replacing the facilities with between three and five new long-term care ...

Getting ready to go back to school

Editorials

It’s just a matter of days until area schools open for the academic year. That can be a stressful time, and that’s why area school districts, churches, nonprofits and businesses work to find ways to improve the overall experience for everyone involved. A big help is the back-to-school rally. They’ve now become a rite of late summer, with just about all districts and several organizations across the region holding one. The formula is simple — each event is filled with activities for students and their families, ranging from food trucks and other vendors to face-painting and ...

Counting down to the start of fall, y’all

Local Columns

West Virginia Tourism released its annual Fall Foliage Forecast Friday morning, providing predictions on when the change in tree coloration will be seen in the various parts of the Mountain State. According to their map, the first major change will be in late September and early October in much of the eastern portions of the state, including areas around Morgantown, Philippi, Elkins, Thomas and Davis, and moving south. The majority of the Eastern Panhandle would come next, in early to mid-October The Martinsburg area, the Northern Panhandle, and much of the southwestern part of the ...

The way grandparents love their grandchildren

Local Columns

As a grandmother, I feel it is my job, my duty, to share all of the precious moments I get to experience with my grandson. I mean, that is what grandparents do, right? We brag. We boast. We embellish. We show photos to anyone who will glance at them. I can remember long before cell phones were invented. People would pull their wallet out of their back pocket or purse and open it up to reveal an extremely long strand of plastic coverings. As the photos unfolded, the viewer would silently sigh, emit a plastic smile and await their fate. Having to look at people they ...