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Editorial

‘AI-generated’ disclosure should be mandatory

Most of the press regarding generative AI (artificial intelligence that can create new — a word we use loosely — art and writing) has centered around the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes or how schools will handle AI-written papers. Missing from the conversation is how generative AI can be used to create images, sound clips and videos that appear very real but are, in fact, manufactured. “Deepfakes” go beyond the Photoshop alterations and air-brushing we’re familiar with from magazines and commercials. As Merriam Webster defines it, a deepfake is “an image or ...

City council should rethink litter amendment

Sharps boxes cheaper than jail time Morgantown City Council is strongly considering an amendment to the city’s littering laws that would create a $500 fine or a 30-days-in-jail penalty for sharps (such as needles) and other hazardous or infectious materials (such as something contaminated with blood), as well as specifying that such materials cannot be disposed of in a public trash can. We understand that council is trying to clean up downtown. The trash and litter have gotten out of hand in general, and that’s not to mention any used needles that might be left lying around. ...

Joe Manchin for president?

Rumor has it that Sen. Joe Manchin — West Virginia’s lone congressional Democrat — might run for president instead of seeking reelection to his Senate seat next fall. But the question is: President of what? President of the United States, running on the third-party No Labels ticket? Or president of West Virginia University, giving up political office for an administrative position in academia? Who knows? Maybe not even Manchin. All he’ll say is that no matter what he pursues, he will — in his words — win. It seems the senator is having fun playing ...

Noisy politicians get good roads. Our reps must be louder

If your road is pitted with potholes or rippled like W.Va. 7’s Hogback Turn, has overgrown foliage spilling into the roadway or grass taller than you along the ditches or medians, then there’s a good chance you live along a state-maintained road. That’s not a guarantee, but it is a good bet. And it’s why terrible roads were the topic of an informal meeting between Mon County commissioners and representatives from the City of Morgantown and Star City last week. Local municipalities have been dedicating a lot of money and effort to maintaining and repairing city-owned streets, ...

A message to utilities: We aren’t made of money

We understand that under the laws governing power monopolies — sorry, utilities — companies are entitled to recoup their expenses and make a little extra for the shareholders. But the rate hike requests are getting out of hand. It all kicked off last winter when Mon Power/Potomac Edison/First Energy requested a rate increase because it lost money, ostensibly because it failed to keep enough fuel supply on hand and had to pay extra to get more. The Public Service Commission approved an $11.05 per month rate increase (which we’re paying now). However, it also suggested Mon Power ...

Project 2025: A plan to destroy democracy

“Led by the long-established Heritage Foundation think tank and fueled by former Trump administration officials, the far-reaching effort is essentially a government-in-waiting for the former president’s return — or any candidate who aligns with their ideals and can defeat President Joe Biden in 2024. “With a nearly 1,000-page ‘Project 2025’ handbook and an ‘army’ of Americans, the idea is to have the civic infrastructure in place on Day One … to gut the ‘administrative state’ from within, by ousting federal employees they [Trump-era Republicans] believe are ...