Letters to the Editor

HB 2500 Bad for Environment

Editor, News-Register: The advancement of the new bill HB2500 in West Virginia is a prime example of the conscious ignorance of many of the state’s politicians. The bill says “a local unit of government (county, municipality, or city) may not adopt or enforce an ordinance that regulates the use, disposition, and sale of auxiliary containers. These “auxiliary containers” include: bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging made of cloth, paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum, glass, or multilayer substrates. The bill basically makes it impossible for local communities to tackle ...

Opposed to WV Senate Bill 246

Editor, News-Register: As a current student at West Virginia University, I am writing to express concern and opposition to the proposed West Virginia Senate Bill 246, which would allow licensed staff, employees, and students at public universities to carry concealed weapons on college campuses and allow storage of these deadly weapons within campus residential halls. College campuses have a historic reputation of rape culture and high rates of sexual assault. Allowing concealed carry of deadly weapons and storage of these weapons on campus poses a prominent threat to the ...

Dittohead Recalls Limbaugh

Editor, News-Register: Today, we the American people lost one of our most valuable and influential citizens, Rush Limbaugh. I personally feel like I have lost a best friend or a family member. For three hours a day and five days a week, we all had the opportunity to listen to his brilliance on the radio. I was 100% behind his opinions, because whenever I was on the fence about an issue, his thoughtful, well sourced opinions always cleared my judgment. I would have supported him in any political and societal situations, because like he said, “Rush is Right” and he had ...

Don’t Shift Taxes to the Poor

Editor, News-Register: After hearing that Governor Justice and many of the legislators in Charleston want to eliminate personal income taxes, I am very upset. I do not mind paying my taxes when the money is used for us — like good roads, schools, parks etc. According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy West Virginia, our state income tax is progressive, meaning it is setup so that higher-income residents pay a larger share than low- and middle-income residents. It is much fairer than the federal setup. How do the Governor and legislators proposed to pay for ...

Time to Cut Military Spending

Editor, News-Register: I am a pacifist even though I have served three years on active duty in the U.S. Military. I am not religious. I believe in science; faith doesn’t work for me. I won’t believe in an afterlife until someone can scientifically prove to me of the existence of such a place. (I do highly respect the good human work religions do.) So according to my way of thinking, you only go around once. A life—any life—is therefore very precious. Killing is wrong. Period! I am not naive. There are times when it is necessary to take a life to save other lives; ...

W.Va. 2 Project Not Worth It

Editor, News-Register: Your reporting and subsequent editorial on the widening of W.Va. 2 from Proctor to Kent is typical of your lack of research and questioning. I travel this section regularly and I attended all the public meetings and studied the engineering report. ADT, average daily traffic, typically guides road improvement projects. When queried, engineers told me that the ADT in this case “barely qualifies this section for upgrades.” The W.Va. 2/I-68 committee ignored the ADT and maintained that this project would unleash incredible economic development. Traffic from ...