Opinion

School Leaders Must Explain Test Scores

Letters to the Editor

Editor, News-Register: Together we achieve! The West Virginia Department of Education this past week released the newest statewide proficiency scores for 2025. The scores for Ohio County Schools in total were basically the same as last year. My hope is that this year, just this once, our elected board of education members demand an explanation as to how our countywide math proficiency scores go from 66% in 3rd grade to 37% in 6th grade to 27% in 11th grade. That’s right, only 27% of our graduating seniors at Wheeling Park High School are considered proficient in math by ...

West Virginia Missing Energy and Technology Opportunity, Again

Local Columns

West Virginia stands at a critical crossroads when it comes to combining energy production and technological innovation. Our access to abundant natural gas reserves as well as a skilled work force allows our state to stand ready to meet America’s energy needs, further artificial intelligence development, and help future technological advancements. What we cannot let happen is watch as our neighbors, Ohio and Pennsylvania, harness these opportunities as we stand idly by. Seeing these states announce multiple, life- changing investments should serve as a wake-up call to seize our ...

It’s Time for West Virginia To Get Into the Game

Editorials

West Virginia is more than halfway through the first quarter of its “economic backyard brawl” against its neighboring states — and the score right now sits at 49-0. Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who promised to get West Virginia more competitive with its neighboring states upon taking office in January, appears to need a new game plan to salvage this one. This year alone, our neighboring states have seen the following developments to enhance their edge over West Virginia. Consider: - Pittsburgh, just an hour from Wheeling, will receive $90 billion in energy and artificial ...

Marshall Memo: State of the County; Adult Education; and More

Local Columns

The Marshall County Chamber of Commerce invites you to its annual State of Marshall County Breakfast at 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Grand Vue Park Special Events Hall. Sponsored by Premier Sponsor EQT and Gold Sponsors Expand Energy and Williams Energy, the event features West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner as the guest speaker. Updates will also be shared by Tony Martinelli, CEO of WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial/Wetzel County Hospitals; Shelby Haines, Marshall County Schools superintendent; Scott Varner, Marshall County Commission president; and Josh Jefferson from RED. ...

Revisit State’s Phone Policy

Editorials

By all accounts, Ohio County Schools had a good first year with its new cellphone policy. Students would put their phone away during class, but in-between classes would have access. That allowed parents to be able to communicate with children on practice changes, for example, while not impacting any classroom learning. Yet now comes the West Virginia Department of Education with a one-size-fits-all approach for students when it comes to cellphones, based on a new law from the West Virginia Legislature. And this new policy, it appears, prohibits any use of cell phones throughout what it ...

Good News for Employers

Editorials

West Virginia employers may be getting a little good news for next year, as the National Council on Compensation Insurance has filed a proposed workers’ compensation loss cost decrease of 13.5%, to begin Jan. 1. The change, pitched by the state’s rating and statistical agent, would mean another possible $20 million kept in the coffers of Mountain State employers. In fact, it would mean 21 years in a row of decreases since the state workers’ comp program was privatized. That’s more than half a billion dollars in savings to employers compared with workers’ comp levels before ...