COVID still a threat; please get vaccinated
Choices — life is full of them. Some choices are mundane. Some choices are life altering.
Our friend’s family roots are on a farm in Wood County. He left this state years ago and settled in Tennessee. He met Mary. Her family roots are in Sevier County, Tenn.
They chose each other. It was the best choice our friend ever made. They chose to have two children. They chose to buy a small farm in the south-central area of the state. They retired. Most of the time, they stayed on the farm.
Mary chose to get vaccinated for COVID. Our friend did not.
Our friends did not have to leave the farm to get exposed to COVID. It came to them via their unvaccinated son. He was exposed to COVID by a friend who thought she had made a full recovery.
Mary and their son got sick but recovered. Our unvaccinated friend is in the hospital.
At first he was on a respirator. The doctors asked Mary about his living will and power of attorney. He is now in a medically induced coma and intubated.
If there is a recovery, it will be long and difficult. If there is no recovery, there will be a lifetime of sorrow and guilt over the choices that were made.
Some people chose not to get vaccinated. We need to be vigilant and mask when necessary. For the holdouts, please consider getting vaxxed for all of us.
Gloria Sofranko
Morgantown
Lost scholarship means lost hope for school
My family lives in a part of West Virginia commonly known for its heavy snowfall and scenic mountains. Unfortunately, it’s also home to a failing public school system.
The schools in my area consistently test well below the national average. They have overcrowded classrooms and are frequently understaffed.
I attended my local public schools from kindergarten to graduation. However, I often begged my family to homeschool, but at that time homeschooling wasn’t common and there weren’t as many resources as there are today.
In high school, I developed debilitating anxiety and was physically ill every morning. My school days were more about survival than academics, and I fell behind my peers. The last day I stepped foot in the school was one of the happiest of my life.
I know many of my peers did not share my struggles and that is great, for them. But, the point of this letter is public school is not for everyone. I survived my experience, and because of it, I am more sensitive to the fact that educational options should be every child’s right.
While pregnant with my son, I began researching educational options in our state. The passage of the Hope Scholarship made those alternatives more obtainable. It gave my family hope, and we began exploring the possibilities it opened up for my upcoming kindergarten student.
Last week, all our plans crumbled when the Kanawha Circuit Court blocked the state from launching the Hope Scholarship.
Does my son not deserve access to the same funding provided to public school students just because the school system isn’t the right fit for our family? Isn’t it “unconstitutional” to put a lesser value on his education? We just want something different — hopefully something better — for my child than what I experienced growing up.
I want him to have a love of learning that will last a lifetime. Please stand with me, my son and the 3,000 other families who are seeking public education alternatives. Every child deserves access to funding because every child’s future is important!
Kari Rehe
Reedsville
Time to start appointing members to review board
The Morgantown/Kingwood Branch of the NAACP has participated in discussions leading to the establishment of a Civilian Police Review and Advisory Board for the City of Morgantown since the process started in 2020.
Now that the revised ordinance has passed, I encourage city council to proceed quickly to appoint members so that they can begin “to provide for citizen participation in reviewing police department policies, practices and procedures; and to promote the availability of data relating to police practices and procedures.”
Yvonne Shaw
Morgantown
GOP’d rather risk lives than election chances
We expect law enforcement to risk their lives combating mass shootings.
We also see ordinary citizens often risking their lives to rescue victims of mass shootings.
Yet so few elected Republicans are willing to risk their reelection, let alone their lives, to support legislation regulating assault weapons.
Risk someone else’s life — OK. Risk reelection — heck no!
John Baumgras
Morgantown
Jury can choose not to convict in abortion cases
The recent decision of the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade has upset most of the people of our country. The following are two partial approaches to undo this decision and subsequent actions of federal and state courts.
One is already happening. An increasing number of prosecutors are refusing to prosecute anti-abortion cases and this trend is growing.
The other deals with juries. Criminal jury cases require 12 votes to convict. It takes only one jury member to return a “not guilty” verdict. In abortion cases, getting unanimous decisions would be difficult. (Imagine yourself on such a jury.)
An obstacle to this outcome might be that jurors do not know that they have the absolute right to vote against conviction, even if it means disregarding judicial instructions and the Supreme Court. I suggest this action be used to nullify the unjust anti-abortion results of federal and state laws.
Additionally, knowing that the chance of conviction would be difficult would further discourage prosecutors.
Joseph Martinelli
Morgantown
