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Guest Column: Why we talk about teen mental health and why it matters now

Local Columns

West Virginia is at a pivotal moment when it comes to teen mental health. Across the country, young people ages 12 to 17 are experiencing rising levels of stress, anxiety and emotional distress. National surveys show that mental health challenges among adolescents are widespread and growing. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 have experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, and roughly 40% of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, well before adulthood and often affecting school performance, relationships and daily ...

We need to teach our children how to live

Local Columns

There is a quiet wisdom in the way a child watches the world. Their eyes are wide and not yet clouded by the cynicism of adulthood. Their hearts are constantly open, always believing in a way that most of us have forgotten how to do. Questions come tumbling out of their mouths like marbles spilled across a hardwood floor. But for some reason, we tend to take that precious innocence for granted. Instead, we spend so much of our time hurrying them toward the next milestone in life. We are continually preparing them for standardized tests, college applications, their future ...

Keeping the focus on job creation

Editorials

Though the usual suspects have tried again this year to get a few bizarre socio-cultural bills in front of lawmakers, the majority have displayed an impressive dedication to the goal set at the beginning of the session: put Jobs First — Opportunity Everywhere. In fact Senate Bill 1, the Small Business Growth Act, made its way to the governor’s desk unusually quickly. In a nutshell, the act establishes the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Program, with specialized growth funds collecting capital from investors to provide financing to eligible small businesses that ...

Go vote, let your voice be heard this election

Editorials

If you’re beginning to feel as though the stakes in this year’s elections are unusually high, you are not alone. Even a cursory glance at newspaper opinion pages or social media feeds will tell you there are strong feelings on many important issues — and plenty of people believe they must weigh in on the candidates who might address those issues. Here’s the problem. When it really counts — Election Day — those opinion pieces or social media posts will not move the needle. Your vote will; and primary elections are closer than you might think. According to the West Virginia ...

Honor Weirton’s dedicated residents

Editorials

When one looks at the names of those who have been enshrined in the Weirton Hall of Fame since its founding in 2008, they get the sense of the history and dedication behind the community we have today. From the city’s namesake, E.T. Weir, to the city’s first mayor, Thomas Millsop, to longtime community volunteers like Nick Tranto, Deb Witkowski, Dr. J.K. Luthra, Pam Makricosta and Jim Pauchnik, to businesspeople such as Vanessa Beaver, George Kondik, educators like Tracy Ohalek, David Reitter and Louis Kuntupis, and many more, each has left a lasting impression on the city, whether ...

Standing up for citizens’ privacy

Editorials

As West Virginia state officials have been doing for several years now, Secretary of State Kris Warner pushed back against federal overreach this week when he announced the Mountain State “will not volunteer the release of personally identifying information of every registered West Virginian to the U.S. Department of Justice. Warner said the Department of Justice has sent requests to almost every state seeking registered voters’ information such as ID numbers, Social Security numbers and other identifying information. His office was having none of it. “West Virginians entrust ...