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MLK

Editorials

For those preparing to enjoy a three-day weekend in observance of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is important to also honor the memory of a civil rights leader who died working toward a dream that in many ways still has not been fulfilled. Honor King this weekend by looking around — at your community, at your state, and at this country — and doing some honest thinking about how far we have to go. We are approaching 60 years now since King was murdered for believing that one day “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the ...

Time for planning tree planting

Columnists

After setting up 100 Christmas trees to celebrate 100 years since the Kump House was completed, we are starting to think about a better landscape plan outdoors. When the house was built, it was on an eleven-acre farm that stretched from Seneca Road to the railroad high on the hill that is now south of highway 33. Soon a white wooden fence encircled the whole farm to protect cows and horses from cars on the highways. There was a wide rolling pasture and lots of room for an apple orchard, barn, chicken house, dog pen, garden, pig pen, and smoke house. However, after 1937 when highway ...

Access

Editorials

With increasing talk about a growing sense of anxiety and fragile mental wellbeing, it makes sense that some Ohioans are seeking needed mental health care. For most of them, finding timely care is a challenge. Health Policy Institute of Ohio says 75 of the state’s 88 counties are mental health shortage areas, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal. “We also did some focus groups with parents and caregivers of children needing mental health services and just asked about their experiences and some of them talked about wait lists two years long to get into a certain ...

Raising Kids

Editorials

As West Virginia lawmakers kick off this year’s legislative session with talk of kitchen table issues and “Jobs First — Opportunity Everywhere,” a recent report by WalletHub suggests they will have to do a lot of work to turn that focus into success. If the aim is to turn the Mountain State into the kind of place where people want to stay to raise their families, they’ll be working from (as usual) nearly the back of the pack. In WalletHub’s “Best and Worst States to Raise a Family 2026,” West Virginia ranked nearly last. Only New Mexico prevented it from being the ...

State of confusion

Columnists

Donald Trump has managed to plunge the United States into a state of confusion on both the domestic and international fronts. In Venezuela, the quick “victory” is rapidly losing its allure. In Minneapolis, the shooting of a citizen by ICE agents has added to the perception that the administration simply makes up its narrative without a concern for truth. This is perhaps a reflection of the divisions within the White House staff. Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem have engaged in bombast and misstatement. The situation in Minneapolis was made infinitely worse by Noem’s premature ...

Primary

Columnists

With the start of the new year, the 2026 election cycle is just around the corner. The May 12th Primary Election is now 4 months away, beginning with the candidate filing period on January 12th. For just over 2 weeks, West Virginians seeking their party’s nomination to the General Election must file certificates of announcement to officially become candidates. Elections are the voices of the people. Elected officials make decisions at the national, state, and local levels that affect our daily lives, future, and our next generations. Perhaps some of the most important decisions we ...