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Economy

West Virginia’s Republican supermajority in the House of Delegate and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw gave residents a peek at their intentions for the upcoming legislative session in January, with what — on the surface — is an impressive plan to focus on job creation and economic development. Jobs First — Opportunity Everywhere, sounds promising, with priorities including workforce-ready education, a job-creating business climate and responsible economic growth. “We have the perspective of every West Virginian represented here in the front of the room today. And that means ...

Drive Sober

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% ...

Safety

’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% ...

Progress

West Virginia’s Department of Human Services has its work cut out for it as it attempts to respond to a federal audit of Child Protective Services, but there seems to be a good plan in place. Department Secretary Alex Mayer told the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resource Accountability his agency takes seriously the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report on West Virginia’s compliance with child abuse and neglect requirements. “These are children’s lives, families’ futures, and the credibility of state ...

Protection

Nearly all of us have been on the receiving end of an attempt to scam us out of our hard-earned money — particularly in the digital age. Utility scams are fairly common, and many of us probably think we know how to sniff them out. Still, according to American Electric Power — which does business as Appalachian Power in West Virginia — more than 2,000 scam attempts have been reported to that company alone so far this year. That’s 2,000 the company knows about. Who knows how many have gone unreported, or who might have fallen victim? AEP was issuing its reminder on Utility Scam ...

Shameful

On Sept. 18, a school aide at McNinch Primary School in Moundsville reportedly witnessed a horrifying incident in which a teacher grabbed a 6-year-old girl — nonverbal and on the autism spectrum — by the neck with both hands and squeezed. That aide took the girl to the nurse’s office, where photos were taken of red marks on the girl’s neck. Then, the aide took the correct next step: reporting the incident to the school’s principal. After that, it seems, Principal Jane Duffy and Erin Cuffaro, district director of special programs, did not have the sense of urgency or desire to ...