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Editorials

Vaccines

The stability of the U.S. vaccine market rests on an obscure $4 billion fund known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long a critic of the fund, now appears intent on dismantling it. Vaccine production can be a fickle business. Unlike other pharmaceutical products, which are designed for the sick, vaccines are meant for healthy people. To meet high safety standards, trials are large and development is costly. But whereas drugmakers typically can price their products to offset such expenses, vaccines are ...

Have a Plan

One of our state’s biggest holidays for cultural appropriation (suddenly everyone is Irish) is just around the corner as many of us make our plans for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The Governor’s Highway Safety Program has rightly chosen March 13-17 for a “Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving Campaign” to remind us to observe the holiday responsibly. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data showed between 2019 and 2023, nearly 38% of traffic fatalities on St. Patrick’s Day involved a drunk driver. Two hundred eighty-four people were killed. The excess of many ...

Gearing Up

International partners have proved to be crucial to any momentum West Virginia’s economy has maintained over the past several decades, and among the most solid has been Toyota Motor North America. This month, the company announced the largest share of investment in its planned expansion of hybrid vehicle manufacturing in the United States will be right here in the Mountain State. Its Buffalo, W.Va., manufacturing facility is expected to receive a $453 million boost that should create approximately 80 jobs. Other investments in this round will go to Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee ...

Bailing Out

Bailing out doesn’t help America. Neither does “running away” from issues or burying one’s head in the proverbial sand. The well-being of America is too important to resort to such “solutions” but apparently much of that is happening, and Americans should be deeply concerned. “In its 250th year, is America, land of immigration, becoming a country of emigration?” the Wall Street Journal asked in a Feb. 27 front-page article. “America’s own citizens are leaving in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in lands they find more affordable and ...

Information

Political and military turmoil sets us all on edge — and there is no doubt the events of the last several years combined with the pervasive nature of social media already have our collective mental health and ability to interact with one another civilly in a fragile state. Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard was right to try to get ahead of fears that surfaced after U.S. strikes against Iran. “First and foremost, there is currently no credible or verified threat specific to our county. We remain in regular communication with our local, state, and federal partners, and we receive ...

New Risks

As America’s conflict with Iran continues, the Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement about the heightened risk of lone wolf attacks. Yet the agency tasked with keeping Americans safe — one of the few responsibilities just about everyone agrees is appropriate for government — remains unfunded as Congress bickers over immigration politics. Congressional negotiators reached a deal to fund the federal government but outrage over President Donald Trump’s deportation tactics pushed Democrats to defund DHS. The agency has been in a shutdown since Feb. 14. Both ...