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FAFSA Day

Pursuing a higher education is a financially daunting task for many West Virginia students. Yes, there are lot of avenues for getting financial assistance, but the process seems complicated — sometimes to the point of leading students and their families to give up. Certainly the federal government hasn’t helped in recent years with its gyrations regarding the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, but there are plenty of people willing to help students navigate the system. West Virginia FAFSA Day is Feb. 6. It is a partnership of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy ...

Top Priority

Mountain State residents have had just about enough of the rough road conditions lately. Cold, snow, overnight freezes and other hazardous conditions are bad enough; but we are also dealing with a perpetual cycle of potholes and road work, right? Imagine being one of the individuals whose job is go out in those nasty road conditions and try to conduct the road work or fill the potholes. It’s a vital but thankless and dangerous job. Last weekend a West Virginia Division of Highways road worker was struck by a truck while trying to make emergency repairs to a pothole on West Virginia ...

‘Golden Age’

A “golden age,” one in which the United States of America can aim even higher than the moon, was proclaimed Monday during President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration speech. And while Elon Musk may have thrown his hands in the air to cheer the goal to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,” and “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” ordinary Americans were more likely to find a common reason to cheer in Trump’s promise to seek a broad government effort to reduce inflation and reduce prices. Though he must be careful to avoid the executive overreach that ...

Opportunity

Think about how many times, during your elementary school years, an adult asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up. For many of us, there were the standard shoot-for-the-moon answers (sometimes maybe literally), but also a real beginning of pondering what was possible. That’s why opportunities such as the 2025 SMART529 “When I Grow Up” student and teacher essay contest are so important. West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack has announced essays can now be submitted, and the deadline for the contest is Feb. 28. For students, there is the chance to win as much as ...

March On

Today may be the official celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., but Jan. 15 marked the 96th anniversary of his birth. Though King wasn’t yet 40 years old when he was gunned down in Memphis, he and others of his era inspired generations to continue the fight for civil rights, for change, for us to be the best version of ourselves. And each year, on the official holiday honoring his legacy, we are reminded of how very far we have to go. The National Constitution Center says Martin Luther King Jr. Day “honors the total legacy of King; focuses on the issue of civil ...

Tobacco

As mid-January tests New Year’s resolutions across the region, many may be weakening in their resolve. Certainly that must include some who vowed this is the year to give up smoking. To add a little incentive to the effort, WalletHub took a look at the true cost of tobacco use. The dollar amounts are eye-opening for the 46 million people in the U.S. who still use tobacco. Total lifetime cost per smoker in West Virginia was estimated to be $3,210,116. Think about that for a moment — particularly given that those who live in rural areas and have lower incomes are statistically ...