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Editorial

Despite delays, light at the end of the tunnel for Mylan BMX park

Its future looks bright, indeed It’s a project three years in the making, but it finally seems to be gaining ground: Mylan Park will be welcoming the nation’s first fully accessible national-level BMX facility. Originally slated for the lower park, the Mylan Park Action Sports & Bike Park Complex has been moved to the upper part, just past the aquatic center — which is part of the reason the BMX facility hasn’t moved beyond the design phase despite a groundbreaking ceremony in 2022. It seems the action sports complex, now predicted to start construction next ...

Let voters decide on abortion directly

We’re not fans of special legislative sessions (which you already know if you regularly read our editorials). However, every once in a blue moon, they can be justified, and the concurrent May interims and special session showed that they can be done responsibly, without abusing taxpayer resources. That is why we suggest Gov. Jim Justice call a second special session to coincide with the August interim meetings to consider a proposed constitutional amendment that was ignored during the May special session. At the May interims, Democratic gubernational candidate Steve Williams ...

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 ...