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Letters to the Editor

Reader: New school is ‘no small miracle’

In the fall of 2024, residents of the Harman community urged members of the Randolph County Board of Education to keep Harman School open. In January of 2025 in a 4 to 1 vote, the Board of Education gave the school a brief reprieve from closure. However, only 10 months later in October of 2025, members of the Board of Education voted 4 to 1 to close Harman School. That decision was followed by the State Board of Education’s vote on December 10, to affirm the Randolph County Board’s decision to close Harman School. The State’s decision seemed like the death of a school, the ...

Look at the names on the ballot

Donald Trump’s name will not appear on our ballots come this November, but he asks that we pretend that it does and cast our votes for those Republican government officials who have loyally supported and enabled him and his policies over the past two years. I hope that we will all think carefully about that as we decide how to cast our votes in the upcoming election. If we are happy with gasoline at $5 a gallon, unaffordable groceries, expensive and inadequate healthcare, failing schools, a costly and illegal war, graft and corruption on a scale never before imagined, protection of ...

American Legion offers fundraising option

The American Legion Post 29 at Elkins is in the continuous habit of helping the community of our citizens and our veterans. But it takes a concerted effort on all our parts to help everyone. We have devised a way for you to help us help the community and our veterans and at the same time help you. In your home, in your yard, at your business, do you have old metal that can be recycled? If so, and you took it to Elkins Iron and Metal and disposed of it there, you could ask them to donate it to the Post 29 American Legion account. Those are monies that allow us to help the public ...

Protecting W.Va.’s natural resources

I am an avid supporter of local reporting but I was disappointed to read the Sept. 19 editorial section titled “With recent announcements, W.Va. is making this a ballgame” which touted data centers as a solution to West Virginia’s economic woes. West Virginia has a long history of out of state individuals and companies extracting its resources. While the short term jobs and payouts are tempting, the vast majority of wealth inevitably flows out of state while leaving West Virginian’s to deal with the environmental and economic fallout. Historical examples of the timber, ...

Soaring national debt must be addressed

An open letter to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Sen. Jim Justice, Congressman Riley Moore and Congresswoman Carol Miller: On Aug. 19, the United States surpassed the incredible milestone of $40 trillion of debt. It is not something that anyone should be proud of. We now pay more to service this debt than we do for National Defense. Passing continuing resolutions instead of doing the actual work of funding the government through the budget process laid out in the 1974 Congressional Budget Act is kicking the can down the road for the next generation to deal with the excessive spending and ...

Getting out the vote

As the November elections approach, we are reminded that democracy depends on active participation. Voting is one of the most important ways citizens can make their voices heard and help shape the future of our country. But civic engagement should not stop at casting of our own ballots. Each of us can play an important role in motivating others to vote as well. An effective way to do this is by sending postcards out to registered voters who don’t always participate in elections. An easy way to do this is by using Activate America to send postcards to prospective voters. The ...