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Letters to the Editor

Reader opposes bills before Legislature

Dear fellow West Virginians, The 85th West Virginia Legislature will soon be voting on very important bills: House Bill 2715 and Senate Bill 318, which will probably affect your life in some way. This bill will eliminate the publication of legal notices in newspapers, and place them on a government controlled website. I oppose this because: 1) Many people in West Virginia do not have tech access, or knowledge thereof. I want to know of items which affect my life. One very important example would be utilities seeking rate raises from the West Virginia Public Service Commission. ...

Current events prompt questions from reader

Last week, March 11, I endured 20-plus minutes of the most agonizing blathering I have ever experienced. Our wonderful president stood in front of that TV camera and told one whopper after another and didn’t bat an eye, so to speak. The only people who believed his lies were those who fawned over him from day one and those who would vote for Satan himself as long as he was a registered Democrat. Do any of you readers know anybody like that? Perhaps a neighbor or someone who works with you? This country is in a lot of trouble, more than I ever imagined. I am not a conspiracy ...

Grateful to volunteers

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers who have made the COVID vaccines possible at the Phil Gainer Center in Elkins. Whether you were behind the scenes, a parking lot attendant, a greeter, a table sanitizer, kept the paperwork, or gave the shots, it could not have been done, or run so smoothly, without you! Thank you for your willingness, care and concern for the people of Randolph and surrounding counties. May God bless you. Jill Snyder Harman

Should state elections be under federal control?

In February, the U.S. House of Representatives began consideration of House Resolution No. 1 (H.R. 1) that would establish federal mandates in the administration of state elections. Last week, I joined other Secretaries of State from throughout the nation in a letter to members of Congress opposing H.R. 1. H.R. 1 is a dangerous overreach by the federal government into the administration of state elections. I believe that each state legislature, not the federal government, should have the freedom and flexibility to determine practices that best meet the needs of their respective states ...

Considering income tax elimination

First let me say, all taxes are bad because they distort economic activity. This suggests to me that to maximize human happiness, a.k.a. prosperity, governments should remain as small as possible and tax in the least distorting way possible. Everyone hates paying taxes. So why don’t we all live in one of the nine states without an income tax? But, of course, no state is perfect. Those states without an income tax still have to pay for roads, schools and public service, so residents still have to pay other taxes to keep the state running. And most often those other taxes can be ...

Bill would work toward equal pay for equal work

Despite national legislative efforts of the past, persistent gender pay inequity continues to negatively impact West Virginia’s economy. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “If employed women in West Virginia were paid the same as comparable men, their poverty rate would be reduced by more than one third.” A West Virginia woman could put two years’ worth of food on her family’s table with the earnings she loses every year because of this pay gap. It’s essential that we adopt state legislation to help eliminate the pay gap for West Virginia women ...