Opinion

West Virginia Must Focus on Growth First

Editorials

Two of the state’s top political leaders — Sen. Jim Justice and Gov. Patrick Morrisey — are now taking jabs at one another over the efficacy of vaccinations, with Justice, the state’s former governor, standing firmly behind the science. It is getting hard to understand Morrisey’s position on this matter — particularly at a time when he is working to make the state more attractive to business and more competitive with its neighbors. Morrisey’s executive order expanding religious exemptions for school vaccination requirements represents a worrisome departure from ...

Will Trump’s Actions Result in 2026 Congress Change?

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: Republican politicians know how unpopular President Donald Trump’s actions are. His tariffs are raising prices. His ICE-men are kidnapping nannies and farm workers. His fawning over Putin is un-American. His shaking down companies and universities, accepting bribes of cryptocurrency and airplanes, is corruption. Cutting medical insurance and food programs for working people, while giving tax-breaks to billionaires, is revolting. Republican politicians know they have to cheat, to rig the next election, to stay in power. So they’re changing voting ...

Wheeling Streetscape Project in the Final Stretch

Editorials

Three years. That’s how long it appears it will take for workers to complete Wheeling’s Downtown Streetscape Project, as final touches are now underway and work is set to be completed in the coming weeks. Back in October 2022, when the project began, it was hard to believe that replacing sidewalks and repaving Main and Market streets and some of the intersecting streets would take 36 months. Yet the project hit multiple snags along the way — from unplanned sewerline work to multiple change orders to the installation of those awkward and somewhat dangerous bioswales — ...

Misleading Approach From RFK Jr. on mRNA Vaccines

Local Columns

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made numerous misleading statements about the efficacy and safety of mRNA COVID vaccines and mRNA technology in general. His comments have stirred unease among many and reduced trust in mRNA vaccines. He has alleged that the COVID vaccines were not adequately tested prior to marketing and that long term adverse effects have not been determined. Moreover, adverse effects caused by the vaccine additives were not communicated to the public. In truth, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were tested on 33,000 and 44,000 volunteers, respectively. One half of ...

From Steel to Code: Region’s Next Innovation Frontier

Local Columns

The Northern Panhandle has always demonstrated resilience. From steel mills to manufacturing, this region has reinvented itself time and again. Today, the next economic frontier is digital — blockchain, decentralized networks, and digital assets are no longer abstract technologies. They are ...

First-Degree Murder With Mercy Must Mean More Than 15 Years

Local Columns

The brutal slaying of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte sent shockwaves across the United States. The murder shed light on a broken criminal justice system that seemingly cares more about criminals than crime victims. That’s particularly true in West Virginia, where a person convicted of first-degree murder with mercy is eligible for parole in a meager 15 years. Fifteen years. That is the same amount of time many of us spend raising a child from kindergarten through high school. It is not even the length of the most common home mortgage loan. It ...