They surely will go off: Allowing guns on campus only foreshadows a tragedy

February 24, 2019

“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there.” A master of the short story form and one of Russia’s great playwrights wrote that in a letter more than 100 years ago. It’s a reference to a literary device many know as “Chekhov’s gun,” or more commonly referred to as foreshadowing. HB 2519, better known as the “Campus Self Defense Act,” foreshadows a tragedy of its own at WVU or another state campus. It appears the Legislature — in an unspoken agreement with the gun lobby — is ...

Counties on horns of a fiscal solution: Lawmakers look to give commissions power to raise revenue with 1 percent sales tax hike

February 22, 2019

Read our words: Yes, (potential) new taxes. That’s a knock-off of a famous phrase by a presidential candidate at his nominating convention in 1988. It’s uncertain how SB 580, which allows counties to impose a 1 percent sales tax, will fare in what remains of this legislative session. But if its passage out of the Senate Government Organization Committee is any indication, it’s a sure thing. That committee, composed of 14 senators — eight Republicans and six Democrats — advanced that bill to the Senate Finance Committee by a 13-1 margin. The bill notes that the intent of ...

But we’re not the Founding Fathers: Calls for a constitutional convention pose potential threat to our form of government

February 21, 2019

We’re not in the habit of opining on resolutions before the Legislature. Unlike actual bills, they typically concern benign issues — naming bridges, designating certain days this or that or requesting a study. However, the trio of resolutions urging Congress to call a convention of states to consider constitutional amendments may be the most disturbing piece of work to emerge from this Legislature. We’re no constitutional scholars, unlike some legislators, who also moonlight as experts on education, law enforcement and medical procedures. But a quick read of the U.S. ...

A battle neither side chose wisely: Republican-led Legislature, teachers’ unions should have both gone in better direction

February 20, 2019

The Republican-led Legislature did not choose its battle wisely this time. Today marks the 43rd day of the ongoing 60-day regular legislative session. Of the 1,789 bills introduced since this session began, action on only 19 of them is completed. In the interim, countless hours of debate, scores of amendments, two public hearings, almost unprecedented action in the Senate and the potential to heal rifts between lawmakers and teachers were squandered on SB 451. On Tuesday, the House of Delegates effectively killed the controversial omnibus education reform bill on a 53-45 vote in this ...

Did someonesay an epidemic? Update on state’s pilot project to fightopioid crisis lacks any sense of urgency

February 19, 2019

"You know I'm an impatient guy. We've got to move on this, that's all there is to it." Most assumed when Gov. Jim Justice said that on Feb. 5, 2018, it would be a matter of months, not a year, before the pilot project he was launching to fight the opioid epidemic might produce some results. But most of us were certain we would have some idea of what this program actually looked like and it would even be actually implemented and operating in two counties by now, as Justice announced. He chose Wyoming County, in southern West Virginia, and said another county in the north or Eastern ...

Lenses can help slow, stop nearsightedness progression

February 17, 2019

Q: I was surprised to learn that my 9-year-old daughter needs glasses, because she had made no complaints to me, but even more when my eye doctor recommended contact lenses to slow the progression of her nearsightedness. Is this new? And how effective? A: First, your surprise is no surprise ...