Editorial gets it right on fight against drugs
Thank you for the editorial of Sept. 1 (“W.Va. vs. drug use: We’re losing”). In Morgantown in particular, there are policies that don’t help people get ahead. Our county subsidizes what the editorial calls “low-wage service jobs,” like big-box store clerks, fast food servers and hotel workers, without providing for housing for these workers or neighborhood parks or schools.
Our state “pour(s) money into religious and private schools, while refusing to fund the post-secondary education that leads to upward economic mobility.” We saw this clearly in the lay-off of professors and professional staff at West Virginia University. It’s not hard to imagine that the powers that be in the state don’t want educated, professional, middle-class people living here.
As the editorial stated, the hard-labor jobs that are subsidized in the southern part of the state can cause injuries that can lead to opioid abuse, and the despair that many feel about not being able to get ahead in life can also lead to abuse of drugs. Many, many people have given up on living here and just moved away.
We could do more to treat addiction, including needle exchange programs, low-cost housing initiatives and prioritizing public education and job training. Thank you again for this great editorial.
Barry Lee Wendell
Morgantown
Green Bag roundabout will destroy green space
At what price are we willing to pay to lose green space? After reading the Wednesday editorial (“Preserving green space as the city continues to grow”), I contemplated that development is not always for the good of the people.
I’m talking about the roundabout coming to Green Bag Road. So, the county thinks trading trees and plant life for asphalt and concrete are for the good of the people. Asphalt and concrete make the environment hotter. How beautiful is a retaining wall to prevent slippage vs. looking at pine trees and green grass? Keeping as much as possible of plants, grass and trees helps to reduced CO2. Plants and flowers allow for bees and other pollinators to survive. Thus, crops and habitat can thrive. Will that affect us?
The land to be taken is out of city limits, surrounding a five-generation farm, still in production, and another century farm that grows gardens and flowers. Once the green space is gone, we can never get it back.
How many people in community really want a roundabout? Bus drivers and truck drivers probably aren’t in favor of it. Sidewalk? Who walks along the road now? Why don’t they save our money and just put in turning lanes as Sabraton did?
A much smaller step could be implemented to solve the traffic issues and be less expensive. It should be a win-win for all parties involved — though this will not convince those who planned the roundabout to think about our environment and its effects in the future.
Scheryll Richards
Morgantown
People overestimate the president’s power
Listening to the local media on 1440 and other speakers talk about the upcoming election I question what they really know about the Constitution, Articles and powers that the United States president and his body really have. What rights or powers do they have to enact on people? My conclusion: The government has no idea what its powers are, and neither do the local or national media. They are overstepping what they stand for daily. This also includes local and state governments.
The president has only executive, legislative and foreign policy powers. The real powers of change, etc., fall on the Supreme Court justices. That is why each party tries to stack the court with their party for their purposes.
In 1796, Washington was writing his farewell address after turning down a third run for president and, as he suggested, what they had fought and died for: to be away from control under a monarch.
His words, “Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power and usurp (take a position of power or importance illegally or by force) for themselves the reins of government. This act will destroy the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
His next statement, “Party and partisanship must never come before principles and patriots if America were to ever have a chance to fulfill its potential.”
This country did not come free. It came as a gift from the Lord above, whether or not you believe. It came on the shoulders of young and old alike. I dare you to read what those who died suffered to give us the best, most powerful country on earth only to destroy it today for greed and power. Today we want the government to hold our hand while we are in the bathroom.
Can you believe Ronald Reagan said “A nation without borders is not a nation”? Can you imagine how dumb that is? I cannot.
A huge sign going into Uniontown reads, “Vote for your country and not the party.” Wow!
Linda Newcome
Masontown, W.Va.
