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Editorial

It’s possible to leave a kid in a car. It can also be prevented

By now, most of us have heard about the young child who was found deceased in a hot car last week. We offer our condolences to the family for their unimaginable loss. According to KidsandCars.org, on average, 38 kids per year die in hot cars. In about 55% of incidents, the child was unknowingly left in the vehicle. (For perspective, 25% of incidents involved the child getting into the car on their own.) Of the episodes in which a child was unknowingly left in the vehicle, 43% involved a caregiver believing they had dropped their kid off at daycare, 34% were forgotten in the car and ...

Editorial encore: Ways we honor Memorial Day

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s editorial has been adapted from one that originally ran May 26, 2020. Today, some people will hold somber remembrances, while others will gather for cook-outs and fun. In recent years, we’ve seen a lot of pushback against the commercialization of Memorial Day and joyful celebrations on a national day of mourning. Which is certainly fair. For those who lost a loved one to war, Memorial Day has a special poignancy and pain. It can be hard to watch people laugh and play when your own heart hurts. But there can be a place for cookouts and yard games ...

As you graduate …

Area high schools have been sending off their graduates with much pomp and circumstance this weekend. So we have some words for them: Life is a journey with many destinations. Each milestone is a steppingstone to the next phase. Some phases last longer than others. Some are more pleasant than others. Some phases end with a bang, while others transition so seamlessly you don’t even realize you’re onto the next part of your journey. Leaving school is your first sojourn into adulthood. This is an especially strange time. You’re legally an adult, but much of the world still sees ...

Thank you, EMS

Today marks the last day of the 50th EMS Week — a celebration of emergency medical responders and their work. Like many first responders, EMS workers — including paramedics and emergency medical technicians — are usually encountering people on the worst days of their lives. They show up at car wrecks, fires, falls and other accidents, as well as for a variety of medical crises. They are always at the ready, prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice. They are the calm, reassuring presence that keeps you going until you can receive treatment at a hospital. Sometimes, they are ...

Exhibit remembers the women who made W.Va. history

Through May 31, The West Virginia and Regional History Center will be displaying the exhibit “Women Making History: Showcasing the West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection” on the sixth floor of WVU’s downtown library. (The library is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) The collection features archival material and documents, as well as records of oral histories. We encourage everyone to go see it. Too often, women are erased from history’s narrative, whether intentionally or through implicit bias. “Women Making ...

DSF Stop saga gets taken to next level

Last year, David Beard reported on the Dunbar School Foundation Stop program — a saga of accusations, denials and government review. We recently learned that, after roughly two years of being under review by the Department of Health and Human Resources (since divided into separate departments), DSF Stop is under investigation by the state Office of Inspector General. The saga, condensed: The Dunbar School Foundation created the STOP (Stop the Outbreak of the Pandemic) program to combat the spread of COVID among Black communities in Fairmont, Morgantown, Clarksburg and surrounding ...