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Troubling

Being truthful and committed to good intentions and promises-made plants the right seed for new accomplishments, positive achievements not heretofore realized, attracting the support of others and, even, establishing protections for one’s self as well as one’s best interests. Too bad Norfolk Southern Railroad has chosen to deviate from full support of such a strategy and, instead, has opted to take a step backward, as an Associated Press article published Nov. 7 revealed. Under the headline “NS railcar inspection rule sparks safety concerns,” the article reported uneasiness ...

Awareness

With each month comes a new designated awareness, as advocates seize the opportunity to inform people in new and creative ways. Though it can be hard to keep track, the tactic is a good one. If, for example, there is an uptick in those seeking the various means of screening for cancers after October, the effort is well worth it. Important, too — particularly for West Virginia residents — is November’s Diabetes Awareness Month. According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 16% of West Virginians have diabetes, while approximately 12.6% of Ohioans are diabetic. But ...

Book It!

Remember the Book It! program that kept many of us interested in reading through our formative years? It is still alive and well — turning 40 this year, as a matter of fact, and has spun off into supporting a National Young Readers’ Week each November. It is billed as “the perfect opportunity to introduce our young ones to the incredible world of books.” Surely parents and teachers are already doing that, but it never hurts to use a special occasion to hammer home the point. Children who are encouraged to embrace reading are better learners and thinkers. They have expanded ...

Priorities

Across West Virginia, boards of education are showing students where their priorities lie — and the rest of the country can see it, too. Movement to address chronically low performance — bottom of the barrel in a significant number of categories for so many years that it has become a running joke — has come at a pace that gives lawmakers time and reason to expand access to charter and non-public schools. Meanwhile, some could argue the flurry of legal filings that has led to this week’s mess in high school sports could have come at the beginning or at any point in the season. ...

Playoffs

Chaotic. Is there a better term right now to describe the situation with high school sports in West Virginia, where the start — and the matchups — of both the football playoffs and the small-school volleyball tournament remain in doubt? Who would have imagined that, in 2024, local judges would be asked by county boards of education to order the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission to not only change its rating system to determine the playoffs pairings, but also to determine exactly which teams make postseason play? Who would have imagined that these judges ...

Morrisey

“We had faith that through hard work and perseverance, we could achieve so much,” Republican Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia’s governor-elect, said during his victory speech late Tuesday in Martinsburg. “I am committed to serving each and every single West Virginian … I’m going to stand by you. “To every West Virginian who can hear me tonight: I see you, I hear you, and I’m no different than any of you. You deserve respect and dignity and (a) path for a better life. I’m going to help you find that. I will fight to protect your freedoms and eliminate all the barriers ...