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Determined

Members of the state House Health and Human Resources Committee did the right thing this week by voting down House Bill 2007, which would have repealed the certificate of need program that helps make quality healthcare accessible to all West Virginians. But on this matter, Gov. Patrick Morrisey is determined. “The fight to repeal Certificate of Need is not over,” Morrisey said in a post on social media Monday evening. “West Virginia currently pays more for hospital services than all but one state – while experiencing the worst healthcare outcomes. We must reduce the ...

Education

Charleston is full of people who want their constituents to believe they are there to do what is best for West Virginia. Though their priorities may come across as addressing anything but improving our quality of life and ability to attract and retain new residents, a few of them are truly working to address the state’s real challenges. Some education-related bills are already being discussed, but a recent study shows there is a monumental amount of work to be done. WalletHub’s “Most and Least Educated States in America (2025)” places the Mountain State in a familiar spot — ...

Trust Issue

It was somewhat of a shock on Friday (Feb. 21) when Coastal Carolina University — in Conway, S.C. — announced that West Virginia University’s next president would be Michael Benson. This happened a day after WVU’s Board of Governors, in a self-imposed cone of silence as it sought a new leader to replace departing president E. Gordon Gee, announced it had chosen its finalist — but failed to disclose the candidate. Benson, who was Coastal Carolina’s president officially until this weekend, has accepted the job. He appears to be an excellent fit for both WVU and Morgantown, ...

Education

It should take no time at all for a proposed bill by the West Virginia Association of School Administrators to find a sponsor. After all, state lawmakers have become acutely, sometimes tragically, aware in recent years of the cracks in our home- and micro-school monitoring through which some children can slip. Tracking homeschool students and monitoring their academic growth is essential — both to ensure they are receiving the education they deserve and keep an eye on their safety. “Regrettably, the level of reporting is an insufficient check and balance to ensure the safety and ...

Connection

Recent editorials have focused on cancer’s link to alcohol and that doctors and researchers currently are studying gut health in their probe of cancer’s causes. “There’s no question we’re missing something” was the comment of a California gastrointestinal oncologist quoted in a recent piece under the headline “Doctors eye gut health as part of cancer probe.” The doctor was lamenting about the cancer mystery of why cancer rates have fallen for older adults in recent years, but gastrointestinal cancers, across the globe, are increasing among people under ...

Cancer

Those living in Appalachia have long been accustomed to the idea there are greater risks to our health here than in many other regions. New research from the American College of Surgeons confirms that, while cancer diagnoses and deaths are decreasing in Appalachia, the numbers are still significantly higher here than in other parts of the U.S. And where are we at greatest risk? The central subregion — a small part of southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia — has the highest rates of cancer incidents and deaths among the larger Appalachian region. “The ...