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Editorial

Dilapidated house funds: Use it or lose it

It’s common knowledge that the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, but when it comes to the City of Morgantown addressing dilapidated structures on Pennsylvania Avenue, the wheels have turned too slowly and now the clock is running out to use federal funding. Morgantown has allocated $600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase and demolish dilapidated structures, focusing its efforts on Pennsylvania Avenue. Despite having those federal dollars for several years, the city has only purchased one building (for under $60,000). While there are several other potential ...

On this July 4, a reflection upon U.S.’s progress

We’re feeling introspective this Independence Day. Certainly, we’re excited for the community parades and events and the fireworks displays after dark. (Hopefully our introspection is the only rain on your parade today.) After all, the Fourth of July is essentially America’s birthday, and birthdays are joyous celebrations. However, birthdays can also be a time for reflection, especially as we get older, and today’s forecasted thunderstorms have us reflecting on the United States’ tumultuous history. Our country was founded in conflict. From the conflicts that drove ...

MountainFest rides again

After a five-year hiatus, the rebranded Wild & Wonderful MountainFest returns tomorrow to the Greater Morgantown Area. Triple S Harley-Davidson at The Gateway, just off Interstate 79, has sponsored the event in years past, and this year it is also playing host to the multi-day motorcycle extravaganza. MountainFest, in its original iteration, was a Morgantown staple for 15 years until organizers had to make the difficult decision to put it on pause in 2019 due to costs. (We imagine COVID likely played a large role in delaying the rally’s comeback.) The revived festival will look ...

Congressional funds help keep PRT going

We’re thrilled to hear that West Virginia University will receive $6.4 million in congressionally directed spending to refurbish the PRT guideway and stations. The PRT is as much a part of Morgantown’s landscape as WVU itself or the Monongahela River, with its guideways winding around and parallel to the city’s roads. It has been a transportation staple for students and members of the public alike since it first came online in the 1970s. Despite its reputation for constantly being stuck or broken down, as of spring 2023, the PRT was running over 98% of the time. (Likely thanks ...

‘Middle College’ for foster kids will change their lives

Early this month, Fairmont State announced its “Middle College” would launch this fall: an endeavor specifically designed to help foster kids make the transition from high school to a two-year, and maybe later a four-year, degree program. Foster care often gets a bad rap — sometimes unfairly, sometimes deserved — but even in the best-case scenarios, going through foster care can cause a lot of upheaval in a child’s life. Living a life constantly in flux can make it difficult to concentrate on seemingly less important things — like school work. And since many foster kids ...

Editorial Encore: A reflection on LGBTQ+ people’s place in history

EDITOR'S NOTE: This editorial has been adapted from one that originally published June 2, 2023. When you’re constantly struggling, it can be hard to see how far you’ve come. Such as it is with the progress made by the LGBTQ+ community. Every push forward has been met with resistance, and some fights were harder and lasted longer than others. And it seems like every step that has been taken forward is about to be shoved two steps back. But as Pride Month comes to a close, we want to take a moment to celebrate how far the LGBTQ+ community and its allies have come since the ...