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Drive Sober

Editorials

Tis the season … for the potentially nasty combination of holiday parties and weather-affected roads. And while we should bear in mind Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over all the time, local law enforcement agencies will be increasing efforts to stop impaired driving over the next few weeks. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, there are some disturbing trends in West Virginia, where there were 58 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2023. Of the DUI arrests in the state since Jan. 1, 2025, 43% were double the legal limit or higher, 21% were 0.20 or higher and 1.6% ...

They’ve lost the plot

Columnists

On the day the Justice Department arrested several men for trying to smuggle NVIDIA chips into China, the president announced the United States would permit NVIDIA to sell its advanced graphics processing units to China. The United States, by most estimates, right now has a computing advantage over China of 32 to 1. Giving China these chips will reduce the advantage to 1.3 to 1. When the Justice Department announced the arrests, the lawyers made the point that this is a national security issue. Whoever controls AI development will control the future. China has more power plants and ...

Bill would take away local control

Letters to the Editor

House Bill 2014 that is currently being considered by the West Virginia House of Delegates hands over almost all decision-making about data centers and microgrids to the state, while shutting out the local communities that will have to live with the consequences. In the interest of West Virginia’s rural communities, it should be quickly defeated. Industrial development may bring new jobs to a community. it may also harm existing business and subsequently result in the loss of existing jobs. The locations chosen for these new power plants and massive data centers will almost ...

Trees event will help teach math

Columnists

Santa will be at Kump Education Center for a Centennial Celebration with a curious collection of 100 Christmas trees on Sunday, Dec. 21 from 1-3 p.m. at the 100-year-old brick house across from Kroger in Elkins. The next Sunday on Dec. 28 everyone is welcome to visit without Mr. Claus, to again enjoy tea with holiday treats, watch a magical toy train, and make a silent auction bid on one of ten Christmas trees. This event was inspired by two needs in our community. One is the need for a better landscape plan to help manage water at Kump Education Center owned by the City of ...

Safety

Editorials

’Tis the season … for the potentially nasty combination of holiday parties and weather-affected roads. And while we should bear in mind Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over all the time, local law enforcement agencies will be increasing efforts to stop impaired driving over the next few weeks. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, there are some disturbing trends in West Virginia, where there were 58 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2023. Of the DUI arrests in the state since Jan. 1, 2025, 43% were double the legal limit or higher, 21% were 0.20 or higher and 1.6% ...

Recognize the shift

Columnists

Probably the best indicator of how MAGA has reverted to traditional Republican orthodoxy from Populism is Scott Bessent’s remark on how people could approach the affordability crisis. He suggested they move from a blue state to a red state. It is reminiscent of Ohio Senator Robert Taft’s observation in 1946 when he recommended that food prices could be ameliorated by reducing their consumption — “eat less,” which would bring expenses down. Trump’s economic team is divided between hard-line conservative Republicans and the MAGA right. Bessent follows the lead of Elon Musk ...