The Charleston Gazette offers a strong comment on the corruption charges in Mingo County: …”Sordid sagas like this have been replayed for decades in counties like Mingo, Logan, Lincoln, etc. A never-ending parade of courthouse politicos entered prison. Usually, scandals involve vote-stealing to keep the politicos in power. Some school[Read More…]
Opinion
The Editorial category is a roundup of links to editorials and columns from West Virginia newspapers.
Editorial Comment: For Mercer County School Board, free meals is the right answer — The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph applauds the Mercer County Board of Education’s decision to continue its free breakfast and lunch program: …”The Community Eligibility Option was enacted as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and provides universal meal service to children in high poverty areas. It serves[Read More…]
The Charleston Gazette editorial looks at abuses of criminal forfeiture laws
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal and state forfeiture laws are designed to seize the homes, cars, boats, jewelry, aircraft, bank accounts and other lucrative assets of big-time criminals like druglords and stock swindlers — ill-gotten gains from crime. The laws work. Last year, the U.S. Justice Department confiscated $4.2 billion, part[Read More…]
High-Speed Internet Access In West Virginia is Essential to Competing in a Global Economy
By Senator Jay Rockefeller In 1996, I met a 16-year-old high school sophomore named Jessica Lambert from McDowell County, West Virginia. She had been using a computer in her classroom to learn to speak Japanese through satellite classes offered by the University of Nebraska. She told me that without these[Read More…]
State must attract top students to teaching
By Charles McElwee Charleston, WV The Education Audit says it not once but twice: “Having effective teachers rises to the top of every study as the most important factor in determining student success” and “National research and best practice clearly shows [sic] that the best predictor of student achievement is[Read More…]
What do I know about guns?
By Robert Byers “Liberals don’t know anything about guns.” I’ve heard that stereotype more than a few times in my life, and more so in the months since the massacre at Newtown, Conn. Like most stereotypes, it’s a twisted view of reality, repeated by people trying to prop up their[Read More…]
State Superintendent of Schools: A Nationwide Search
By Charles McElwee I want to share with you what I believe should be the State’s No. 1 priority for achieving a bold and comprehensive review, and possible reformation, of the State’s public school system. It is that the West Virginia Board of Education (“State Board”), with the requested assistance[Read More…]
Beri Fox: Op-Ed on Manufacturing Jobs
West Virginia is poised to make a major comeback in manufacturing jobs, and affordable, domestic energy will play a key role in that resurgence. Our company, Marble King in Paden City, is currently one of just four glass manufacturers in the Mountain State, a place that once saw 240 companies[Read More…]
Afraid of fracking? Not fracking is what we should fear.
By Greg Kozera Recently I got a call from some college students. They asked, “Can you tell us about fracking?” “Sure.” I responded. “But why do you want to know?” “They are going to frack under our college and we’re scared.” They answered. So I told them what I tell[Read More…]
