Breaking News

Editorial

Congratulations to Granville’s Lewis on ‘Mayor of the Year’

We’d like to congratulate Granville’s Mayor Patty Lewis on being named West Virginia Municipal League’s 2024 Mayor of the Year. It is certainly a well-earned recognition for her nearly 34 years serving the town as mayor. In her tenure, she has overseen major growth and expansion, particularly at the University Town Centre but also a revival of Granville’s main street. Upon receiving her award, Lewis acknowledged that the recognition is for all of Granville and the progress it has made. We hope, though, that she realizes just how much leadership determines a ...

COVID’s summer wave

When we talk about catching waves over the summer, this is not the kind of wave we mean. Because as summer winds down, it’s not ocean waves many of us are riding — it’s the still-climbing wave of a COVID surge. If it feels like everyone around you has COVID (or just had COVID), you aren’t crazy. This summer surge is on track to potentially be the biggest since the pandemic began in 2020, and it’s driven by the innocuously named “FLiRT” variants — descended from the JN.1 variant but even more contagious. For those at high-risk for severe illness or who have ...

As WVU students return, let’s put the ‘welcome’ in ‘Welcome Week’

Tomorrow, Morgantown officially welcomes (and welcomes back) WVU students for the fall semester. You may have noticed an uptick in traffic already, as students who had to come back early have filtered in. But tomorrow and Friday are the official move-in days, and things will likely be hectic around town over the coming week. We all like to gripe about our 10-minute summer commutes turning into 30-minute slogs overnight and how the stores go from busy to packed when we do our weekend shopping. And not all of us are fans of the parties and bar crawls that take over downtown after ...

Skimmers & scammers

With skimmers and scammers popping up in the headlines lately, we want to share some tips for protecting yourself from these swindlers. Card skimmers are mostly found on ATMs or gas station pumps but, as an incident at Dollar General shows, it is possible to find them at retail stores, too. Identifying a skimmer can be done pretty easily. Look for any pieces or parts on/around a card reader that are bulging or skewed, or any indication the machinery has been tampered with. Give the card reading part a little tug or wiggle — if anything moves or pops off, that might be a skimmer. ...

When creditors call in debts, it’s not politics. It’s business

The way Jim Justice tells it, the whole world is out to get him in a political witch hunt. So far, there’s been: The helicopter repo saga, in which the helicopter was hidden from creditors trying to repossess it to settle outstanding debt. (The helicopter was eventually put up for sale.) The state tax department filing multiple liens on The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. for unpaid sales taxes. (The Greenbrier also owed roughly $2.3 million to Greenbrier County in unpaid property taxes.) Over 650 parcels of land owned by Justice family companies put up for auction in McDowell, ...

Instead of tiny shelters, how about tiny homes?

A couple weeks ago, a group from Morgantown Church of Christ approached Morgantown City Council about helping to build up to 50 non-congregate shelters as resources for the area’s unhoused community. Representatives from the church proposed putting up 10x12-foot overnight shelters, with two beds and an electrical outlet. Youth Pastor Brandon Brammer said local businesses have already pledged $10,000 for the effort. They just need help from the city locating land to build on and an agency to oversee the structures’ use. Not only does the idea have merit, it has precedent. The Tiny ...