Letters to the Editor

Nov. 8 letters to the editor

Trip to Morgantown a nightmare for KSU fans

My husband and I made the trip to Morgantown over the weekend to watch the KSU/WVU football game.

We make this trip every other year when KSU plays in Morgantown. We are both KSU alumni  but now live in the D.C.-metro area.

Our first trip to Morgantown was in 2012. The fans were welcoming and friendly. We had a great time.

In 2018, we noticed  there were more hostile fans, but for the most part, we enjoyed our trip.

This year was a nightmare. We bought tickets in the visitors section for $120 each. We spent two nights in Morgantown and  spent close to $800 on our weekend trip.

At the game,   a group of drunk fans sat behind us and harassed us for the entire first half, making vulgar and profanity-laced comments every few minutes regarding our team, our school and our fellow fans. Security came and confiscated a large amount of alcohol that they had smuggled in but didn’t kick them out, even though they were drunk and disorderly.

They eventually got thrown out after another group of KSU fans reported them to security, but it was nearly the end of the game at that point. Not once did any of the WVU fans sitting near us say a word.

Later in the game, a group of about 10 students came over and screamed at our fans (most of whom were family members of players) for most of the fourth quarter. Security was eventually called on them as well, and they were also removed.

By the end of the game, security was crawling all over the visitors section, apparently dealing with the large number of WVU fans harassing KSU fans. 

Even after the game, we were harassed while waiting for an Uber — with fans yelling and honking at us while we stood on the corner. Mind you, we are a married couple in our 40s.

The lack of decorum shown by WVU fans this year was disgusting and ruined our entire weekend. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will ever be back to Morgantown for any reason.

Michelle Welch
Takoma Park, Md.

Thank you, Carye Blaney, for your good work

We are writing to express our appreciation for the conscientious and courteous service of Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney in response to our requests to correct two signs posted in error at two polling stations during the recent voting.

She promptly investigated why each error had occurred and took care of each without excuses. In case our campaign committee detected other similar errors in the county at other precincts, she gave us her personal contact information. In addition, on election night at the County Election Center, she was kind enough to keep us regularly updated about the status of votes for our write-in candidate.

With all the concerns about voting irregularities at other locations during this election season, it is gratifying to see that we have a person with integrity overseeing our election process in Monongalia County. Carye, thank you!

 Alvin and Marlene Moss
Morgantown

Glad to still have a local newspaper at all

This is in response to D. Jeanne Faini’s letter to the editor on Nov. 1. I too miss reading the paper on Saturdays and Mondays. But we have to consider the era in which we live. People also get their news from computers, iPads, smart phones and digital media. Newspapers such as the one in Youngstown, Ohio, have recently folded. I’m sure Dave Raese is doing everything in his power to keep this from happening to his newspaper. I commend him for his choices.

 Glenn Gallagher
Westover

Roundabout on Green Bag Road unwanted

It is disappointing that the DOH doesn’t listen to the residents of the areas affected by the proposed roundabout on  Green Bag Road, but it’s worse when our own county commission announces  it now also favors the roundabout. How did it arrive at that conclusion? Where and when did it hold meetings, etc., to gather citizen input?  Were traffic studies done that indicated that roundabouts were the best course of action or did the DOH “sell” commissioners on the plan because “it’s a good idea”?

 If the DOH and the county commission had been listening, they should have heard the citizens’ message: We don’t want a roundabout at the intersection of  Green Bag Road and  Kingwood Pike! Please note the signs at the intersection, the comments on public forums and in the paper and letters to the editor from residents who will be impacted by this project.

Even the casual users of the proposed “improvement” are saying loud and clear, we don’t want a roundabout. It appears to me  the only parties interested in that roundabout are the DOH and the county commission.

 The community would like to propose a compromise. Why don’t they spend some here and use the rest somewhere else? May we suggest  adding a couple of turning lanes (on the East-West lanes), make berm improvements where necessary, add sidewalks, different traffic lights and other work as necessitated by this project. Since there will be much less land acquisition, paving, etc., there should be a major portion of the funds designated for this project left that the state could allocate elsewhere.

 Spending over $10 million  where it is not wanted or needed is not a good decision, but spending some here and funding a couple of other small projects elsewhere sounds like a win-win situation for us, the DOH and county commission and several communities.

 If it’s all the same to you, we’ll take a pass on the roundabout for  Green Bag Road and  Kingwood Pike.

Tom Talerico
Morgantown