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Editorial

Student debt is a generational burden

The closer we get the midterm elections, the more debate we hear about student loan forgiveness. President Biden campaigned on tackling the student debt crisis, but he hasn’t done more than continue to extend the loan freeze started under Trump at the beginning of the pandemic. Prior to Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion, it was thought Biden and Democrats would have to do more than pay lip service to student debt forgiveness in order to mobilize young and progressive voters. That may no longer be the case, but Biden and Democrats should still make an effort to reduce ...

Addiction is not a moral failure

There are many stigmas around addiction. The most harmful one, though, may be that addiction is a moral failure. That succumbing to the siren’s call of drugs or alcohol is a testament to one’s character. That being an addict makes you a bad person. But people with substance use disorder are not bad people. Granted, some do bad things (and some more often than others), but the mere fact that someone is battling addiction does not mean they aren’t a good person. Lauren Cole is the perfect example. Lauren received her bachelor’s in social work from WVU. She had a heart ...

Court overreacting to Daniel’s Law

Regular readers are likely aware of the Daily Report/Area Arrests lists that appear in the newspaper. It includes the names of the arrestees, their age, their hometown and the charges against them. Our cops and courts reporter routinely checks the arrest records at the public access terminal in the courthouse to gather this information. Usually included in the record are the name and address of the defendant, officer, magistrate, prosecutor (office address, never personal), what the charges were, case number, defendant’s date of birth, arrest date, bond amount and future court ...

If Roe goes, birth control is likely next

“Nothing changes instantaneously: In a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.” — The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood After our editorial last Sunday discussing the ramifications if Roe v. Wade is overturned, several people commented along the lines of “that’s what birth control is for” or “as long as there are contraceptives, there’s no need to for abortions,” among other things. The whole basis of Roe is the right to privacy: that the decision to carry a child is between a woman and her doctor, and she has the right to make ...

How did Mooney beat McKinley?

Despite some polls that put incumbent Alex Mooney ahead of incumbent David McKinley, we were still surprised to see Mooney prevail. After all, this is McKinley’s home district — the counties McKinley previously represented account for more than half of the new District 2. And for all that we criticize McKinley, he has done good things for West Virginia, the latest being his vote for the infrastructure bill that is pumping millions into the Mountain State to repair and replace our crumbing roads and bridges, among other much needed updates. (McKinley was adamantly against the ...

Unsafe intersection needs immediate, interim solution

The wheels of bureaucracy are known to turn slowly, but when it comes to potentially severe bodily harm, the wheels must turn faster. Nearly six months ago, in November 2021, representatives from the Monongalia County Commission, the Town of Granville and the WestRidge development met to discuss the problematic intersections of Sesame Drive and University Town Centre Drive and Granville Square and University Town Centre Drive. The location in question is on the back side of the University Town Centre hill, between the ballpark and the new roundabout that allows drivers to ...