Opinion

The Editorial category is a roundup of links to editorials and columns from West Virginia newspapers.

Op-Ed: How to make coal truly ‘competitive’ 

West Virginians have been treated to a display of raw political payback over the last several weeks in Charleston. Emboldened by sweeping victories in last November’s election, a new majority in the state Legislature is advancing legislation on multiple fronts that is designed to remove decades of laws and regulations that they[Read More…]

Op-Ed: Response to Cecil Robert’s claims about the coal jobs and safety act of 2015

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” and for the past 83 years, the West Virginia Legislature and the United Mine Workers have done just that.   Now, after our Central Appalachian coal production has declined by over 43 percent, numerous coal mines have closed, and[Read More…]

Alternative teachers could help many schools

An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has hundreds of teacher vacancies that it cannot fill. Hundreds of other teachers are instructing classes outside of their field of study. Meanwhile, many of the new teaching graduates coming out of West Virginia’s higher education system leave for careers[Read More…]

Don’t sacrifice coal miner safety for profit

An editorial from The Exponent Telegram  CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — West Virginia’s coal industry has taken a number of hits over the past few years that threaten the viability of the industry. Now it seems as though some in the Legislature would sacrifice coal miner safety standards to lower operational costs[Read More…]

Prison appropriate for ex-Bridgeport mayor

An editorial from The Times West Virginian FAIRMONT, W.Va. — What is the fair amount of prison time for an honest citizen and servant of the people who has gone bad in recent years? That’s the dilemma that faced U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley in Clarksburg during the man’s[Read More…]

Bill to dictate class topics should be history

An editorial from The Exponent Telegram CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — It’s strange that after hearing from opponents about the dangers of indoctrinated education supposedly “caused” by Common Core curriculum, we learn some of those same critics have given us House Bill 2107 in the West Virginia Legislature. The bill outlines how[Read More…]

Lawmakers must seek that regulatory sweet spot

An editorial from The Register-Herald  BECKLEY, W.Va. — The Legislature in Charleston is revisiting the regulations it imposed on owners of aboveground storage tanks following the chemical spill in the Elk River that disrupted the water supply of 300,000 West Virginians. The implication in lawmakers taking up a revision of[Read More…]

Common sense returning?

A column by Mike Myers, executive editor of The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register           WHEELING, W.Va. — If I choose to crawl under a farmer’s barbed wire fence to wave a red flag at a bull, I probably deserve whatever happens to me. If I, as an adult, climb over a neighbor’s fence[Read More…]

Those at fault should pay in civil cases

An editorial from The Exponent Telegram CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The West Virginia House of Delegates took on tort reform during Tuesday’s legislative session by passing a bill that establishes a comparative fault standard and implements what is known as several liability. Delegates voted 74-25 on a comparative fault bill, with[Read More…]

At the Capitol: Bills moving through Legislature at rapid pace

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Unlike past legislative sessions, where momentum for the 60-day session builds slowly, the 2015 regular session passed the one-third mark with a flurry of bills advancing in both houses. The fast pace of the legislative session prompted Senate Democrats to attempt a procedural move to slow down a bill to repeal[Read More…]

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