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Letters to the Editor

Remembering those who are gone

Memorial Day has arrived again and the living can look around and be thankful they are alive to enjoy it. This day is special as it invokes the memories of our loved ones who passed away recently or long ago. We promise ourselves we will pause for a few moments and have some reflection on our own past and think of our mortality. Life is meaningful in so many ways. Each of us has his or her own time clock and every minute does count. The history of America is short compared to that on the European and Asian continents. Our forefathers fought for a cause that produced freedom for all of ...

Almost no one knows

Almost no one knows. So it keeps going on — and getting worse. Seemingly made difficult to understand, permits to pollute our drinking water by the fossil fuel industry essentially equal no control. Should the extraction companies violate their permits, they are simply told to stop doing so within a period of months or be fined. At the same time, the jobs that are supposed to make it all worthwhile, are few, temporary and generally go to out-of-state workers. Meanwhile affected communities become decimated by crime, drugs and skyrocketing housing prices. The latest effort by ...

Rise of deadly bird flu raises many questions

The deadly flu virus is not just “for the birds” anymore! The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has just decreed that dairy cows must be tested for the deadly bird flu, which has already killed millions of chickens in the U.S. The unprecedented transmission of the H5N1 virus to cows has drawn public health concerns because cows are mammals, just like humans. Although the precise cause of the outbreak remains uncertain, the horrendous conditions in today’s factory farms make egg and dairy production extremely vulnerable to disease outbreaks. Sick, ...

Public in the dark about ongoing threat

Almost no one knows. So it keeps going on — and getting worse. Seemingly made difficult to understand, permits to pollute our drinking water by the fossil fuel industry essentially equal no control. Should the extraction companies violate their permits, they are simply told to stop doing so within a period of months or be fined. At the same time, the jobs that are supposed to make it all worthwhile, are few, temporary and generally go to out-of-state workers. Meanwhile, affected communities become decimated by crime, drugs and skyrocketing housing prices. The latest effort ...

Health official has praise for Justice

I am writing to express my appreciation to Governor Justice for vetoing HB 5105 and maintaining robust childhood immunization policies and requirements in West Virginia. Immunizations are one of the greatest public health achievements of modern medicine, virtually eliminating deadly diseases like polio, measles, and whooping cough that previously killed or disabled millions around the world. Unfortunately, neighboring states like Ohio continue to see outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. From October-December 2022, for example, a measles outbreak among unvaccinated children, ...

Organizer saddened by tournament move

Dear Elkins-area residents, I was greatly saddened to hear that the Hillbilly Hardball Classic had been taken from Elkins and the surrounding area and relocated to Morgantown. The annual event had been a large boost to the area economy since 1989. When I took over as manager of Elkins Post 29 American Legion Baseball in 1989, I wanted to expand the program and give our local youth an opportunity to play teams from other areas. In the summer of 1988, Elkins lost a local baseball legend in Rick Phillips. Rick was a close personal friend and his untimely death hit me hard. There ...