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When lies pay, and when they don’t

If we thought last week’s 11th-hour settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems was surprising, that was nothing compared to Monday’s shocking announcement that Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News.  Fox’s statement said the conservative media outlet and its primetime host “agreed to part ways” — but it seems the network neglected to tell Carlson. He ended his final broadcast with a plug for a Fox Nation streaming special about eating bugs and the send-off “we’ll be back on Monday.”   Tucker’s abrupt exit comes in the wake of the ...

Can change in city gov’t style attract voters?

On the eve of the eve of the city council election (which will be Tuesday), we find ourselves reflecting on Morgantown’s city government.  The last couple years have been particularly tumultuous, with claims that the city manager doesn’t live in the city and an attempt to recall the entire city council, which seemed to fizzle out.  Residents of Morgantown will have the opportunity to make their thoughts on individual councilors known Tuesday, when voters will choose who will represent the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th wards for the next four years. Unfortunately, city ...

This Earth Day, combine concern with concrete action

Tomorrow is Earth Day — the one day of the year we set aside to actively think about ways we can maintain and improve our planet. In each of the last three years, we’ve looked at Earth Day from a different angle: generational concern about climate change, the intersection of personal and corporate choice and West Virginia’s extraction-based economy. Each is a facet — though they often overlap — of the same large, complex problem.  According to a 2021 Pew Research survey, the younger the generation, the more concerned it is with climate change. Fifty-seven percent of ...

Can STEM school make space for arts?

On April 25, the Monongalia County Board of Education hopes to award a contract to build the highly anticipated new STEM school.   The Renaissance Academy, as it will be called, will focus on science, technology, engineering and math for high schoolers while MTEC will be retooled for middle schoolers. The new STEM-focused school will offer a more hands-on education that should be beneficial for both students looking to directly enter the workforce and students who want to go on to study science, math, and engineering and technology-related fields in college. The proliferation of ...

Why so many mass shootings if ‘guns don’t kill people’?

At the time of this writing, there have been 164 mass shootings in the first 109 days of 2023. By the time this editorial is published, that number may have changed yet again.  The last mass shooting to make headlines was March 27 at Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville, Tenn., in which three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed. That is, until this past Saturday, when news outlets across the country picked up the story of four young people killed and another 32 people injured at a birthday party in Dadeville, Ala., a town of only 3,000 people.  According to the ...

Make your voice heard. Vote in the city council election

It’s once again time for the Morgantown City Council election, but this year is a little different. For the first time, only half the council is up for election, and the winning candidates will fill their seats for four years instead of only two.  We’d like to remind everyone that even though candidates run by wards, the entire city votes. So although only the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th wards are on the ballot, everyone (including those in even-numbered wards) gets to vote for any candidate.   Morgantown City Council elections historically have very low voter turnout. In ...