Editorials

Looking at West Virginia’s Future With FEMA

It was not only state officials who noticed a difference in the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency treated West Virginia in June, as opposed to previous interactions. Mountain State residents didn’t just notice it, they felt the consequences. Doug Buffington, acting secretary of the state Department of Homeland Security and a senior advisor to Gov. Patrick Morrisey, covered his bases when he declared “I have nothing bad to say about FEMA,” while he spoke to lawmakers earlier this week. But with that out of the way, he talked to them about his interaction with the FEMA ...

Credit Education Needed

For some Ohioans, use of credit cards is a carefully planned luxury — perhaps used to ensure the accumulation of lots of airline or hotel points — for purchases that can be paid off within a month or two. But for Buckeye State residents between the ages of 18 and 34, a recent analysis of Federal Reserve data shows the use of credit cards feels like a necessity — and one that is causing them to rack up higher-than-average levels of debt. Along with those high levels of debt come high levels of delinquency, according to a report on the data by the Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio ...

Ohio County Schools Remains Top Notch

A recent report from the West Virginia Department of Education showed that Ohio County Schools finds itself in very exclusive company, a club of just two. The WVDE this past week provided state legislators an update on all 55 county school districts and how they’re faring both academically and operationally. The report looked at four categories. The first was county operational effectiveness, whether a county school district needed assistance from the state in achieving its goals. The other three were based on the Balanced Scorecard and whether a school district had failed to meet ...

Some Sobering Statistics

A recent Ohio Domestic Violence Network report included some horrifying data that should make every Buckeye State resident want to get to the root of a deadly trend. The network has seen an incredible 37% increase in domestic violence deaths in the state over the past year. According to a report by WSYX, 157 were killed in 108 domestic violence cases in the state between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Lisa DeGeeter, a spokeswoman for ODVN, told the news station the increased number of cases to go through this year was stunning, as was “how much more violent and brutal the cases ...

Getting the Right Health Information

Despite a delay while unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., argued over messaging and content, the West Virginia Department of Health has finally been able to release its annual respiratory vaccine guidelines for health care providers and patients. That is a relief to health care professionals who had been worried about having the guidance they needed to properly advise patients about how to stay healthier and safer. But there is still time for patients to get the vaccines they need. The 2025-26 guidance, according to the West Virginia Department of Health, is for seasonal flu ...

Caring for West Virginia Children

Slow progress is being made toward improving circumstances for state Child Protective Services workers and those they serve. Last week, state Department of Human Service Secretary Alex Mayer announced decreases in child welfare vacancies, which sit at a rate of 8.5% as of Sept. 1, compared to 27.3% in 2023. Mayer focused on CPS vacancies in Doddridge, Pleasants, Upshur, Lewis and Ritchie counties, about which concerns had rightly been raised by Third Judiciary Circuit Court Judge Tim Sweeney. Mayer had been among those DHS and Bureau of Social Services officials ordered by Sweeney to ...