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Editorial

State-mandated campus carry is a terrible policy

Last week, MetroNews’ Mike Nolting caught up with college officials around the region as they prepare to implement campus carry next July. So now seems as good a time as any to reiterate that state-mandated campus carry is a terrible policy. As a reminder, the West Virginia Legislature passed the West Virginia Self-Defense Act during the last legislative session, which will require all publicly funded colleges in the state to allow concealed carry on campus, with limited exceptions. If we’re reading the legislation correctly, concealed carry will be allowed in: residence hall ...

Start the holiday season with a visit to the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

One can hardly blame us if we’ve begun to sing “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …” under our breath. Between stores making the instantaneous switch from spooky season to holiday cheer and certain cable networks already running Christmas-miracle romances, it really is beginning to look like “the most wonderful time of the year.” Especially since the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will be in our own backyard tomorrow afternoon. The 63-foot Norway Spruce was harvested from the Monongahela National Forest last week and has made several stops throughout the state as ...

Richwood Avenue: A new kind of neighborhood?

It’s exciting when projects finally move from the ephemeral world of planning to the tangible world of doing. And the Richwood Avenue development is finally ready to make that transition. By the end of the year, the 55 structures spread across 9.5 acres along Richwood Avenue should either be down or in the process of coming down, clearing the way for a new development. We hope construction on the new structures follows soon after. The most exciting thing about the Richwood development is that it’s likely to be the first one that reflects the priorities laid out in the ...

Keep online drama from going IRL

Many were likely shocked, though perhaps not surprised, by the story of an online fight that ended in real-world violence in Westover, with an 18-year-old in police custody and charged with assault and a minor in the hospital with a concussion and other injuries. “Shocked” because of the brutality of the fight. “Not surprised” because it is no longer uncommon for arguments started on social media to result in real-world drama. Social media is no longer just a reflection of our lives — it’s an extension. We actively engage with others through comments, shares, tags and ...

Better to arrive late than never

As some of you know, we keep a scanner in the newsroom that allows us to monitor emergency calls. As the day wears on, we hear everything from loitering to domestic arguments to overdoses to fires and some very strange things in between. But not a day goes by that we don’t hear at least one emergency call involving a vehicle. Hit-and-runs, especially in parking lots, come up a lot. There are also a disturbing number of road-rage incidents and reckless diving (e.g., speeding and weaving in and out of traffic). And we hear about vehicle crashes — particularly on Interstates 68 and ...

Why Maine’s mass shooting matters for us

We’ve almost become numb to the horror of mass shootings as their frequency has increased in the last several years. But the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, should hold particular resonance with West Virginians: Maine has a deep-rooted gun culture built around hunting and sport shooting. It doesn’t require a permit for concealed carry. It doesn’t have “red flag” laws. In fact, it has very few gun laws at all. But it’s also a state with comparatively little violent crime. Sound familiar? But this is not an editorial about mass shootings. Not really. This is an ...