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Safe Haven

If you’re going to talk the talk in West Virginia about valuing the lives of babies and their mothers, you’d better walk the walk. One organization is helping communities do that in a way that provides support to parents facing the impossible, and is saving lives. Safe Haven Baby Box officials work with communities to give parents a way to anonymously hand over their infant to another person. The most recent one was installed in collaboration with the city government in St. Albans, at that city’s fire department central station. “This is just another option or another tool in ...

Tops in WV

Last weekend, The Inter-Mountain was named the Newspaper of the Year during the 2024 West Virginia Press Association Convention Awards Banquet in Charleston. This is a great honor for this newspaper, but the award also honors the entire local community, for The Inter-Mountain represents, and mirrors, the residents in the community it serves. The award serves as a thank you to all the service clubs, non-profit entities, church groups and parents organizations who submit photos and information for publication in this newspaper, and who invite us to come and cover their events. It ...

WV PATH

Regardless of headline-grabbing tragedies, lawsuits and bureaucratic identity crises, no one would argue West Virginians don’t care about ALL our children and want the best for them. So, while there is a great deal of work to do, it is encouraging to hear from the state Department of Human Services that implementation of WV PATH has been completed. West Virginia People’s Access to Help is the first in the country to offer a comprehensive child welfare information system. In this case, child welfare refers to the various supports available for children and families through state ...

Holidays

Although much of the national attention is ­– and will continue to be — focused on developments related to the Nov. 5 presidential election, the world beyond the political front is far from being in slumber mode. For example, on the retail front, merchants are not sitting back, intent on waiting until after Halloween to make important decisions associated with the busy Christmas shopping season. Many merchants already are “knee deep” in planning for the products with which their shelves will be stocked in the weeks leading up to Dec. 25. Also on their mind and capturing ...

Shortage

Despite the drum beat of month-after-month pleas for blood donors to help the American Red Cross meet a desperate need, the organization’s supply has actually plummeted more than 25%. Consider what that means for those who rely on the Red Cross to supply blood and blood products that could save their lives. “The American Red Cross is experiencing an emergency blood shortage as the nation faces dangerous levels of heat and people head out for final summer travel plans,” the organization said Monday. “Since July 1, the Red Cross national blood supply has fallen by more than 25%, ...

Distractions

Gov. Jim Justice has remained popular in West Virginia even with a long list of business issues dogging him in recent years. On one hand, the Democrat-turned-Republican Justice has overseen a span in which significant economic growth has taken place and new ventures have been announced. The state budget — which was anything but stable in 2016 — has been stabilized. Revenues have been so strong that Justice and the Legislature have been able to make significant tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. And the personal property tax we pay on our vehicles is now available to be ...