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Blame the Legislature: Lawmakers deserve lot of credit for road conditions

"Silent" and "listen" are spelled with the same letters. Yet, just because you are mum is no indication you are actually listening. That's the impression we are starting to get from the Legislature on the condition of our roads. Although the Legislature appears restrained about the earful it's getting about road conditions, we're unsure it's even listening. Last week, at a meeting of the Preston County Commission descriptions of its roads drew comparisons to those in Afghanistan. While another report of one new arrival's take on area roads described them as "worse than Mexico." One ...

Letters to the editor March 7

Brookhaven Road the worst one in county I read an article recently that had listed some terrible roads in town and I must say that Brookhaven Road (Monongalia County Route 7/22) is getting to the point where it is not safe to drive on. Traffic in both directions drive in the oncoming traffic lane to avoid massive potholes. Last year there was a resident (or group) that had purchased advertising asking the state Department of Transportation to repair the potholes. They simply throw patch in a wet hole and move on. Not even repairing the roads to the standards they set and hold ...

City’s plans for tax and fees urgent: Dedicated to needs of first responders far into the future

It was true 230 years ago and it still is, but there is no urgency to either. That is, Benjamin Franklin’s adage about nothing is certain but death and taxes. Though death takes its own sweet time, or not, increasing taxes or creating new ones usually happen according to plans. And if you blink or don’t read a newspaper you’ll never know why things cost more or what is this new fee is you have to pay. This week, Morgantown City Council approved the coming fiscal year’s 2019-’20 budget, but also presented a sneak peek at the 2020-’21 spending plan. There are no real ...

Better bill dies, than benefits: Move toward work requirements for Medicaid fraught with unknowns

Some say, today’s Legislature also works in mysterious ways. Take for example HB 3136, relating to relating to applying for a federal waiver to implement Medicaid work requirements. The bill would have required able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid benefits to work, participate in workforce training or community service, or attend a drug treatment or recovery program for at least 20 hours per week. According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, about 159,000 West Virginians are enrolled in Medicaid expansion. The bill was introduced a mere week before it died when it ...

P-o-l-i-t-i-c-s does not spell relief: Legislature works in bipartisan fashion to ensure medical cannabis available July 1

Most Americans today live in states where marijuana is actually legal. That is, either for recreational use (10 states) or only for medical purposes. Come July 1, West Virginia will be among the latter category, along with 32 other states that have approved comprehensive public medical cannabis programs. Last week, HB 2538 breezed through the Senate Judiciary Committee with only one No on a voice vote of its 17-member panel. It advanced from the 100-member House in mid-February with only a handful of no votes (89-7). It is scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor this week where it ...

Don’t let world get us wrong: Legislature still has time in this session to start getting some things right

It almost looks like it’s too late to call on the world to not get us wrong. After all, West Virginia’s seat of state government seems as if it cannot help but make national headlines these days, for all the wrong reasons. Despite our state’s reputation for being a little rough around the edges — its roads, its one-horse economy, etc. — we take pride in our state Capitol, among other things. Not only does it feature the highest state capitol dome in the nation, it’s filled with marble walls, a massive crystal chandelier and handsome legislative chambers. Yet, during this ...