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Editorial

Leave it better than you found it

It seems BOPARC, the Morgantown Utility Board and the City of Morgantown have finally come to an agreement regarding remediation efforts in White Park. The consensus is three years in the making. In 2019, MUB planned to run a raw water pipeline through White Park to connect the George B. Fleagel Dam and Reservoir to the utility’s water treatment plant off Don Knotts Boulevard. In the process, MUB marked a bunch of trees to be cut down to make space for the construction. Public outcry ensued, and an arrangement was made among BOPARC, MUB and the city for MUB to replant double the ...

After-school program will make a difference

The Dominion Post recently reported the Preston County Youth Center opened an after-school program, which is staffed by volunteers and already has plans to expand. The program’s director, Glen Larew, noted many of the kids participating were latchkey kids: children who went to an empty house after school while their parents worked. There are plenty of arguments for and against kids, especially the K-8 students the program serves, being home alone until their guardians finish work. The reality, however, is many families don’t have a choice. Child care remains a scarce and ...

Police should send military-grade equipment back to the battlefield

Earlier this month, Gov. Jim Justice asked the West Virginia National Guard and Department of Homeland Security to collect and send excess body armor to Ukraine and encouraged police departments across the state to participate. The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department and West Virginia University Police stepped up and donated ballistic vests to the cause. We would like to thank them for supporting Ukraine’s people as they fight to maintain independence against Russian aggression. But we think police departments here and across the nation can do more. Since the 1970s, local ...

A gas tax pause is not the solution

The Republicans in the West Virginia Legislature are right. A gas tax pause is not a good idea. Democratic lawmakers have their hearts in the right place. A lot of West Virginians are struggling right now. Prices for everything are skyrocketing, and watching gas prices top $4 a gallon triggers a societal PTSD from the Great Recession. But pausing the gas tax is not the best way to help people. First of all, suspending taxes at the pump will only save drivers $5 to $10 per fill-up. Don’t get us wrong — every penny counts — but that’s not going to make a world of difference. ...

America’s refugee double standard

As of this writing, more than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country, the majority of them women, children and the elderly. Another 6.5 million have been displaced internally, forced to seek shelter in parts of Ukraine not yet under Russian attack. When Sen. Joe Manchin spoke to The Dominion Post a few weeks ago, he proclaimed that, of course, West Virginia should welcome Ukrainian refugees. The Legislature obviously agreed, as it passed a resolution urging Gov. Jim Justice to open the state to those fleeing their war-torn country. We agree wholeheartedly (though we also ...

Ignorance is not bliss

How can DEP approve permit without knowing what facility will be? As you might have known from reading last week’s letters to the editor or Ben Conley’s article, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection approved a construction permit for a “science facility” slated to come to the Morgantown Industrial Park  that will get its energy from parent company Marion Energy Partners’ nearby natural gas well pad. The working assumption is that the 10,000-square-foot “science facility” or “data center” is a cryptocurrency mining operation, but no one ...