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Boos & Applause

Applause to Ona resident Lilly Harper Ryan, who has been selected as Maid Silvia for the 86th Mountain State Forest Festival by Director General Peggy Phillips.  Ryan visited Elkins on Sunday to attend a private reception in her honor, sponsored by Graceland Inn and Davis & Elkins College Dining Services. Ryan, 20, is the daughter of Retired Lieutenant Colonel Jerry “Chip” Floyd and Amy Floyd of Ona.  She is the granddaughter of Frank and Laura Santmyer of Elkins, Jim and Diana Sturm of Huntington, Norwin and Donna Lilly of South Charleston, Joe and Janet Richards of Charleston, ...

Value

As declarations and federal funding remind us of recent natural disasters, and reports suggest there may only be more to come, there is good reason for the West Virginia National Guard to want to help as many organizations as possible be ready. Earlier this week, the Guard joined with members of several civilian fire departments for a joint training exercise near Winfield, in Kanawha County. According to a report by WV MetroNews, the National Guard’s All-Hazards Response team was joined by members of the Clendenin, Glasgow, Charleston, and South Charleston fire departments — all of ...

Deadly Heat

For most of us, the ability to keep a home warm in the colder months seems more important than the ability to keep a home cool in the heat of summer. Those of us who grew up with grandmothers who opened the windows and set a couple of fans blowing when things got really warm probably don’t give much thought to air conditioning as an essential — particularly when so many of us take for granted that we CAN now crank the AC as low as we want to. But as temperatures rise, heat is becoming as deadly as cold in some parts of the country, while keeping a home cool is becoming more ...

Reckless?

President Joe Biden’s decision to release a million barrels of oil from a federal reserve is more of a frustration than a relief. Releasing petroleum from reserves is a short-term band-aid that carries real risks. If a crisis or prolonged economic downturn comes, the U.S. may well regret tapping into this supply. The United States instead should be pursuing long-term solutions — promoting or incentivizing the production of domestic oil and gas and investment in increased refinery capacity. As we have noted before, the benefits of developing domestic energy sources can be seen ...

Common Sense

Winding its way through Congress is legislation that would require the U.S. Postal Service to track crashes of vehicles carrying mail. The legislation, which carries the name “Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act,” and which passed the House on May 6, also would punish USPS contractors that fail to report accidents. Additionally, the Postal Service would be required to publish a yearly report focusing on its highway safety record. Why has the USPS not already been doing this? The Wall Street Journal, in March 2023, revealed that in the prior three years, “outside” postal ...

Wing 2 Wing

Because of partners such as the Save the Music and Wing 2 Wing foundations, every middle school in West Virginia will have received free musical instruments by 2027. Residents who grew up during an era where most middle and even some elementary schools found ways to bring hands-on musical education to students might be surprised to learn it’s been lacking. But it has taken millions of dollars contributed to the state Department of Arts, Culture and History for such programs to make a come-back. Most recently, Wing 2 Wing, through its partnership with Save the Music, donated ...