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Editorials

DHHR Split

It’s hard to understand what the lawmakers who rode into office boasting of their aim to “right size” state government were thinking when they decided to turn the Department of Health and Human Resources into three new agencies (four if you count the Office of Shared Administration that supports the other three). Maybe they really did believe the change would provide better, more efficient service for Mountain State residents. But surely they knew enough about bureaucracy’s ability to serve itself to know that improvement wasn’t going to come easily. Now, more than two months ...

Boos & Applause

Applause to the many volunteers who came out to support the community and lend a hand during the sixth annual Tygart Valley United Way Day of Action on Sept. 6. Local volunteers made their way to the Randolph County Humane Society, the Randolph County Homeless Shelter, Tyrand Ministries, the Randolph-Tucker Children’s Advocacy Center, the Randolph County Senior Center and Meals on Wheels. Project work was also conducted in Elkins City Park. For the first time ever, a Day of Action service project was scheduled and completed in Tucker County, as volunteers helped with improvements at ...

Threats

Across the region, school districts are under siege this week. In West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, threats are being received — and some of them are dealing with real incidents. Reports from multiple media outlets suggest there has been a wave of such threats and frightening situations since the deadly school shooting in Georgia Sept. 4. Preston High School dismissed students early Thursday due to a threat. Central Preston Middle School was on a “precautionary hold” Thursday due to a threat. In Tennessee, a gun was confiscated from a 6-year-old; in Nebraska, one high ...

IRS

COVID-19 was a nightmare for the Internal Revenue Service, and the IRS still is experiencing plenty of “hauntings” from the pandemic. It will be interesting to follow how the federal agency finally exits the continuing “horror show” affecting businesses. One thing is certain: It is not going to be an easy pathway. According to an Aug. 5 Wall Street Journal article published under the byline of the writer Richard Rubin, the federal tax agency erred in rejecting numerous COVID-era claims, tax advisers allege. The tax advisers in question allege that in the IRS’ first big ...

Accident

Last week, we lost another West Virginia coal miner. Though his home was in South Williamson, Ky., Gary Chapman did his work at the Mountaineer II Mine near Sharples, W.Va. He is the fourth coal miner to have died on the job in West Virginia just this year. That is half the national total for coal mine deaths. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, on May 16, in Wyoming County, the classification for the fatal accident was “machinery;” on July 12, in Wyoming County, the classification for the fatal accident was “powered haulage;” on ...

Voting

Most Mountain State residents will agree the upcoming November general election is among the more important we’ve been asked to decide over the past several years. Yet according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there is a good chance a small percentage of West Virginians will be making those decisions for all of us. West Virginia had the second-lowest voter turnout rate in the country in 2020 — behind only Arkansas. Back then a mere 55.3% of registered voters in West Virginia turned out to vote in the general election. This time around, only 30.49% of registered voters participated in ...