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Editorial

What WVU did, didn’t consider in its review

We understand that transformations are necessary but often uncomfortable in any context. We understand WVU has no choice but to reevaluate and make changes based on current circumstances, and with that comes sacrifice and discomfort. But it seems like there are some things WVU could have done differently to make its “academic transformation” less painful. WVU hosted a Campus Conversation July 10 to explain some of the data and reasoning behind the decisions of the provost’s office. It also publicly unveiled the programs and units under formal review.  Deans and chairs from ...

Courts vs. Congress: Who overstepped?

As part of the debt-ceiling-catastrophe-diverting Fiscal Responsibility Act passed in June, Congress added a rider meant to ensure the Mountain Valley Pipeline would be completed without any further challenges or delays. The embattled MVP is years behind schedule due to lawsuits from environmental groups, most of which the MVP has lost in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. The Fiscal Responsibility Act gave blanket approval to all permits and paperwork related to the MVP’s construction. It also said “no court shall have jurisdiction to review any action” ...

Refocusing on ‘to serve and protect’

In a past life, West Virginia University sociology professor James Nolan was a Wilmington, Del., police officer. In his 13 years on the force, Nolan noticed something: “The root cause of criminal behavior isn’t in the character or decisions of a person committing a violent or illegal act. Instead, it is more directly related to the context and conditions in which the behavior emerges. I was keenly aware that the same problems were happening in the same neighborhoods since I started as an officer.” Which is part of the reason Nolan is now working on a National Science ...

W.Va. might soon join 21st century

Multiple broadband projects seek to connect unserved areas to internet The good news: West Virginia is slated to receive approximately $1.2 billion of $42.45 billion of the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program — the 11th largest allocation nationwide based on updated connectivity data looking at individual addresses instead of census tracts.  We thank our senators for helping West Virginia secure the funding we need to make internet widely accessible throughout the state. Sen. Joe Manchin, in particular, fought to have existing broadband maps ...

For special session, pick jails over roads

Legislative forecasters predict a special session of the Legislature will be called when lawmakers meet for committee interims Aug. 6-8. The current direction of Gov. Jim Justice’s winds — sorry, whims — suggests the special session will be to push surplus funds toward highways, but the low pressure system — pardon, low employment situation — hovering over West Virginia’s correctional system could cause a shift in focus.   Since predicting what politicians will do is a lot like predicting the weather, we couldn’t resist some bad weather puns. Analogies aside, there ...

A highway river and a whitewater rollercoaster

A throwback to when ‘shipping’ meant ‘by ship’   The City of Morgantown and the Port of Pittsburgh — with the sponsorship of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization — have submitted a joint application to have the Monongahela River designated as   one of the nation’s marine highways (“M79” instead of I-79).      We like this idea for a few reasons. First, it could help greatly reduce truck traffic on the interstate and on local roads. That’s one of the advantages of Morgantown: It can be reached by river, ...