Breaking News

Editorials

Leadership

During this week’s legislative interim meetings, lawmakers got a glimpse at the drive — and success — of Chelsea Ruby, who was reappointed as cabinet secretary for the Department of Tourism by Gov. Patrick Morrisey after having already served in that capacity for eight years under Gov. Jim Justice. During those years, Ruby has guided the department through changes in the tourism industry and state government’s approach to it as a priority. “I will say that the mission of the Department of Tourism has changed over the years,” Ruby said. “You’ve seen over the last eight ...

Broadband

Despite a pause in March, progress has restarted with some of the broadband expansion projects on which 10 West Virginia counties had been waiting. Money from the American Rescue Plan Act will go to CityNet, Comcast, Digital Connections Inc., Spruce Knob Seneca Rocks Telephone and Micrologic — $34 million for Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Lewis, Jackson, Mason, Putnam, Preston, Pendleton and Grant counties. A big deal, right? But it is just the start of what was meant to be a much larger effort in West Virginia. West Virginia was awarded $1.2 billion through the Broadband Equity, ...

Derailment

An Associated Press article about the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said the accident prompted a national reckoning with rail safety and calls for reform, although proposals for new industry rules stalled in Congress. Unfortunately, though, with each new development related to the 2023 accident, that well-intentioned reckoning still underway seems farther from completion than it was just days before. A new development, reported June 4, provided ample testimony to that. According to that article, a specialized plane equipped with advanced ...

Picking Up

As the weather makes it easier for many of us to get out and about to explore our beautiful state, it may shine even brighter thanks to the work of West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection workers and volunteers. In fact, more than 6,000 of those volunteers took part this spring in cleaning more than 140 tons of litter from roads, streams, public lands and trails. All that work was made possible through the Make It Shine and Adopt-A-Highway programs. “Protecting our environment starts at the community level, and this year’s cleanup efforts show just how deeply West ...

Assessment

Gov. Patrick Morrisey appears determined to turn around West Virginia’s hideous statistics when it comes to our health. Whether it be food dyes, the Mountaineer Mile or improvements in the ways SNAP recipients can access fresh produce, there have been plenty of announcements to indicate a desire to improve our health and health outcomes. But according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, the Mountain State is still ranked a pitiful 47th in the country for overall health system performance. That assessment comes before the effects of any possible changes to Medicaid that might make ...

Rate Increase

It’s always jarring when those representing corporations on which so many of us depend display their total disconnect from the real world most of us must navigate. Those of us who have to budget for utility payments — whether it be for a household or an industrial facility — could only laugh at Appalachian Power President and CEO Aaron Walker’s assessment of a 72% increase in residential customers’ rates since 2018. “I don’t think I’d say substantial. I don’t know what you mean by substantial,” he said during a West Virginia Public Service Commission hearing this ...