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Everything to know for Election Day

Election Day is just two days away, and if you didn’t go to early voting, we hope you’re preparing to hit the polls on Tuesday. To help you get ready, here’s everything you need to know for Election Day in the Mountain State. The first thing you need to know is where to go. We’ve published polling locations in the paper a few times, and if your polling place changed this year, you should have received a notice from the county clerk’s office. If you missed the listings in the paper and you can’t remember where you’re supposed to go, you can find your polling location on ...

What you need to know about Amendments 3 & 4 before Nov. 8

Yesterday, we covered Amendments 1 and 2, so today we’ll go over Amendments 3 and 4 and what you need to know about them before Election Day. Amendment 3 is arguably the least controversial but hardest to understand of all the proposals on the ballot. In essence, it brings the West Virginia Constitution in line with federal law when it comes to allowing churches charters of incorporation. The state constitution prohibits the incorporation of churches or religious denominations. However, that law has been unenforceable since 2002, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar ...

Amendments 1 & 2 about checks on gov’t, local control

When you go to the polls, either this week for early voting or next week on Election Day, you’ll be asked to vote on four constitutional amendments. Today, we’ll cover Amendments 1 and 2, and tomorrow we’ll discuss Amendments 3 and 4. Amendment 1, if passed, would give the Legislature the power to impeach/remove any government employee and make such a decision unreviewable by any court, including the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. This amendment stems from the Legislature’s 2018 attempt to impeach all the sitting West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justices for ...

The ‘devil you know’ isn’t always the better choice

We were incredulous to hear the City of Morgantown had decided to renew a five-year contract with Republic Services without going through the bidding process. First and foremost, Republic has been the subject of numerous complaints — to put it mildly — ranging from repeatedly missing pickups to not fully emptying bins to knocking down cable lines and more. Second, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars means ensuring that residents are getting the best services for the best price. We can understand giving Republic a four-month contract extension to finish out the year, but we ...

It’s important to fix pets

Four hundred and sixty nine — that’s how many cats (400) and dogs (69) the Monongalia Canine Adoption Center had to euthanize last year. That sad number is an important reminder of why, as pet owners, we must make sure our pets are spayed or neutered. This is especially true for cats: inside-only, outside-only, barn cats — doesn’t matter. If there is a domestic animal living on your property, it is your responsibility to get it fixed. If you can’t afford to have your dog or cat fixed, please contact M-SNAP for a voucher. Call 304-985-0123 and leave your name and phone ...

Editorial Encore: Halloween’s origins and traditions

EDITOR'S NOTE: This editorial was originally published Oct. 31, 2021. Happy Halloween! A fun fact for you: “Halloween” is a contraction of “Hallow Eve” or All Hallows’ Eve as we’ve sometimes heard today called. It’s fascinating to trace the history of Halloween from an ancient religious festival to the fun and frightening secular “holiday” we know now. It’s believed All Hallows’ Eve has its roots in the Celtic festival Samhain. Samhain marked the end of summer and the harvest — the Celtic New Year, which fell on what we would know now as Nov. 1. It was ...