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Measles

It doesn’t take long at all for a single case of the measles to turn into a genuine outbreak. It takes even less times, it seems, for irresponsible political rhetoric and misinformed social media nonsense to spread in a way that is just as dangerous. By mid-April of 2025, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024. There are outbreaks in Ohio, Texas — 505 cases (with two deaths, children ages 6 and 8), New Mexico, Indiana and Oklahoma. Those are just the states where the spread is now being labeled an outbreak. There are also cases in Alaska, ...

Strategies

Members of the West Virginia First Foundation are not taking a “mission accomplished, time to call it a day” approach to recent data that shows a continued decrease in drug overdose deaths in the Mountain State. Instead, they are working to understand the data and build on each victory. Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Board spoke on WAJR about the launch of a New Horizons Committee that will explore strategies for implementing the best methods, research and innovations in substance abuse treatment, according to a report by WV MetroNews. “We want to bolster those efforts, ...

100 Days

Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s stop in Wheeling Thursday served to highlight the changes he will help lead in the Mountain State. Chief among those is an willingness to move away from the “that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality that has ruled Charleston for decades and instead approach running our state efficiently and effectively — with a vision toward the future. Morrisey, in marking his 100th day in office, highlighted his successes from the 2025 session, particularly in getting the microgrid bill completed in the session’s final hours. He also noted 12 of the 14 bills ...

Save Lives

Most of us have the luxury of not thinking much about organ donation. But we should. “It’s one of the most profound gifts we can give, that transcends all boundaries and … saves lives,” said Brenda Hooper, intensive care unit clinical nurse manager at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and the hospital’s organ donation liaison. During an event last week at the hospital with Lifeline of Ohio, Ben Burns recounted his own realization after learning of the difference his father’s donation had made for a single mother in Texas. Now, he is an advocate — mentioning ...

Cleanup

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration calls our country’s substance abuse epidemic “a clear and present public health, public safety and national security threat.” No one needs to tell those living in our region that. We see it every day. And most of us wonder whether there is anything WE can do about it. There is. Among the ways we can combat the problem is taking advantage of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to remove unneeded medications from our homes, preventing the possibility they might fall into someone else’s hands. The DEA calls it a “measure of ...

Speaking Up

As efforts from Washington, D.C., to reduce the size of the federal government continue with a sense of urgency that has yielded mixed results, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was right to urge U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse course on a reduction in force effort that has affected the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown. “I believe in the president’s vision to right size our government, but I do not think eliminating the NIOSH coal programs and research will accomplish that goal,” ...