Thanking businesses for supporting festival
As a volunteer of The West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, I would like to thank the many Monongalia County and Marion County businesses that supported the festival by allowing me to hang posters in their windows and pamphlets in their lobbies. Below is a list of those businesses, and I ask you to support them as they have supported our local event.
Monongalia County
Massullo’s Cleaners, Nonno Carlo’s Italian Deli, Pizza Al’s (all three locations), Ruby & Ketchy’s Restaurant, Bill’s Bail Bonds, Knights of Columbus #2954 Hall, Mountaineer Harley Davidson, Village Butcher, Blue Moose Cafe, Sabraton Station, Sugar Shack Bakery, Slight Indulgence, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, La Quinta, Hotel Morgan, Waterfront Place Marriott, Springhill Suites, Candlewood Suites, Best Western and Marriott Residence Inn.
Marion County
Muriale’s, Mama Roma’s, Apple Annies, McAteer’s, Accessories By Marlena’s/Jack & Jill Menswear, Hermasilla’s Deli, DeMary’s Market, Say Boy’s Restaurant, Country Club Bakery, Brickside Pub at Fairmont Field Club, Pokey Dot Restaurant, Ace Hardware and Mom’s Family Restaurant.
Once again, I thank all those above for their support and all of you who attended the Italian Festival this year.
Tutto grazie!
Richard Viglianco
Sons & Daughters of Italy in America
Morgantown
City wrong to revoke first responders’ benefits
Every night, news stations deliver heartbreaking stories of senseless violence.
Memphis, Tenn., has taken front stage recently in two horrifying examples of bloodshed. The kidnapping and murder of a wonderful kindergarten teacher and a vicious killing spree of innocent bystanders have gripped us all. In both instances, I think of the poor victims, their grieving families and the nightmare they are now living. There is no excuse for violent, murderous offenders to be let out early.
It is impossible to ignore the role police played throughout these situations. Without their efforts of investigation, pursuit and capture, both perpetrators would still be at large.
Emergency responders’ lives are not easy, whether police, firefighters or EMTs. They see images daily that cannot be unseen, while making dangerous split-second decisions that take a toll on their personal life.
The new culture of blaming all of society’s ills on brave people, along with defunding and punishing them, is squarely unjust. There are no perfect institutions, people, histories or countries. There is always the exception of evil made (whether it be racism, abuse of power or criminality) for every 100 virtuous deeds done by the majority.
So here is my question: Why would anyone, (including Morgantown city leaders) begrudge these individuals the few rewards they get in such stressful, demanding jobs?
If you think there is too much crime in our state now, watch the increase if police and firefighters continue to attrition. Soon, no one will enter these careers, and excessive crime will be the norm.
Regardless of race, creed or color, there is one commonality for all humans … a desire to feel safe in this world. Give our emergency responders the credit for having the knowledge and experience to do their job. Let them enjoy their well-deserved benefits.
Kathleen Snoderly
Morgantown
Want to replace council? Vote in next election
The Morgantown City Council is elected by the citizens of Morgantown, not by the police and fire unions or the attorney who represents them. “No confidence” from these unions is a useless gesture.
I support union activism, and I support our professional firefighters and our police force. There should be negotiations if the unions are dissatisfied.
I served on the council from 2017 to 2021. We worked hard to find a new city manager after the previous manager resigned, and we felt, unanimously, that Kim Haws was the best candidate who was willing to work for our city. Citizen groups asked us to set up a civilian police review commission. Attorney Robert Cohen negotiated with former Police Chief Ed Preston to come up with a proposal that was accepted by all parties.
Four council seats will be up for election next year. If voters in the city are dissatisfied, they can elect different candidates. Kim Haws’ tenure is up to the city council, and the council is elected by voters who live in the city of Morgantown.
Any attempt to coerce or remove the council or its appointees other than by a free and fair election, without outside interference or fraudulent candidates, is undemocratic and should be blocked.
Barry Wendell
Morgantown
Reflecting team values in high school sports
I’m writing as a proud parent and West Virginian about Native American mascots in our schools.
Last week, MHS and UHS Varsity soccer teams played one another in what the two schools call “Mohawk Week,” so-called because Morgantown High School (the “Mohigans”) plays University High School (the “Hawks”). The term “Mohawk” is used whenever the two teams meet: for example, “Mohawk Bowl” for the MHS-UHS football game. I’m deeply uncomfortable with this terminology because it objectifies people who have been subject to genocide and who still experience significant racism.
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is a federally recognized tribe that supports a legislative ban on Native mascots in public schools. The Mohegan Tribe and the Mohican Nation are also federally recognized tribes and they, too, have asked communities to stop using Native American names and mascots that don’t belong to them.
When we play with the names of three federally recognized Native nations who are subject to ongoing racism in our society, we turn them into something fun and jokey. Using Native American and quasi-Native American mascots and terminology in school sports effectively consigns the Mohawk, Mohicans, and Mohegans to the past —as though they’re not real anymore. It also erases ongoing racism against Native Americans and the fact that most groups were violently forced west (far from West Virginia) and onto reservations (where they have higher poverty rates and lower life expectancy than elsewhere in the U.S.).
I know that the question of the “Mohigans” name for MHS and “Mohawk” for inter-school rivalry between MHS and UHS elicits strong feelings. But as parents and community members, we work hard to teach our children the values of teamwork, inclusion, acceptance and growth. And using the words “Mohigans” and “Mohawk” doesn’t match our team goals.
It can be hard to learn to grow in ways that are different than what we know and are used to. I know this from personal experience. But I think that we, as a community, can do better.
Rose Casey
Morgantown
Do Gee and WVU plan to develop Arboretum?
It was alarming to read in The Dominion Post that WVU President Gordon Gee and WVU are planning construction along the Monongahela River. One can only assume this means the 91-acre WVU Core Arboretum, the only large green space remaining along the river in Morgantown.
It had been comforting to learn, only one week prior to the Gee announcement, that The Dominion Post strongly supports maintaining current green spaces and creating new ones as keys to controlling future floods.
It is perplexing, however, that The Dominion Post never defended the hundreds of acres of green spaces once so abundant in and around Morgantown. Dozens of once-functioning green spaces were replaced by developed sites with compacted earth, impermeable pavement, acres of rooftops, and miles of sidewalks, plus untold contaminants, with no solar panels to mitigate damage.
The current Mountaineer Football field replaced a beautiful, rolling green space with a small stream meandering through: the former Mountaineer Golf Course.
A crowded housing development replaced a gently rolling grassy hillside, with scattered trees, and several small ponds: the former WVU Poultry Farm. And just across the road, Suncrest Towne Centre replaced another invaluable green space.
University Town Centre, with its hundreds of acres of pavement and rooftops, replaced a naturally-vegetated hillside with interspersed grasslands and woodlots and small settling ponds.
Hundreds of acres of other former greenspace tracts around Morgantown are now covered with the impermeable surfaces so characteristic of housing developments, industrial parks, and commercial businesses. One such former greenspace, adjoining the WVU Arboretum along the Monongahela River, now houses the WVU Power Plant and the PRT Maintenance Facility. Is this what Gee has in mind when he speaks of construction along the river?
Did The Dominion Post ever speak out in favor of retaining even one of those green spaces, as a method of reducing flooding in and around Morgantown? Our local newspaper, in my opinion, should become proactive in the regulation of uncontrolled development that has created one of the most environmentally unfriendly cities in West Virginia.
E.D. Michael
Morgantown
In support of Barry Wendell for U.S. House
Barry Wendell is the Democratic nominee who should be elected to represent our Second Congressional District.
He is the only candidate in the race who will support preserving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; a permanent child tax credit; the environment; public education; unions; and women’s health care choices, as well as those of LGBTQIA+ community.
Republicans have their Rescue America Plan (https://rescueamerica.com/12-point-plan/), which will end Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. “It’s in the plan,” just like John Roberts on Fox News said.
Ending Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt hospitals in our state, already the third worst in the country for doctors to practice medicine. Sixty-five million Americans receive Social Security benefits, including dependents.
Barry’s opponent will be a yes vote for this, as well as any McConnell national abortion ban. Barry’s opponent not only voted against certifying President Biden’s election, but also the American Rescue Plan in 2021; keeping the Black Lung Fund solvent; and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which brought infrastructure funding and help for struggling West Virginians. He recently voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the PACT Act for Veterans, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Right to Contraception Act. Instead, he introduced the “Life at Conception Act,” which would eliminate access to IUDs and Plan B.
West Virginians deserve a representative with integrity to protect Medicare, Social Security and reproductive choices; and ensure that Mountaineers are free to make their own health care decisions. There is no reason for any person who respects bodily autonomy to vote for any Republican candidate, and especially not any MAGA Republican.
Please vote for Barry Wendell, and every other Democrat on the ballot, on Nov. 8.
Lynda Goldberg
Morgantown
Seniors hurt by inflation need more help
The price of everything is sky high. Yes, gas has come down in price. However, the price of food is at the highest that I have seen it in my lifetime.
The food banks are getting less food to distribute. Believe me — the food banks really help.
What can we do about the cost of everything being sky high? My suggestions are write to your president, congressmen, senators, governors, delegates and anyone else you can think of who can get the costs of food reduced.
The president has given money to families and for their children. It’s time that he gives some money to all of us seniors. We as seniors on Social Security are the lowest paid, and many seniors are at poverty level. It is extremely hard to live on Social Security, and it’s time seniors — who are the backbone of this country — get some relief from our president.
I’m asking all of you readers to write letters. Tell all of your friends, families, neighbors and people you work with to write letters. It’s time we, as seniors, speak up for what we have worked so hard for. We certainly have paid more than our share. We are Americans, and it’s time our government helps us.
Carol Ann Miller
Morgantown
