Charleston Gazette-Mail. November 28, 2023.
Editorial: Begging your pardon, deer
It turns out that West Virginia, usually in the bottom of the rest of the United States in any given statistic, is at the top of at least one list. As per usual when this happens, it’s not a category that’s a point of pride to lead, but, in this case, at least it’s not really anyone’s fault.
According to insurance statistics, West Virginia leads the nation in car collisions involving deer. As of last week, 10,618 deer have been hit by vehicles traveling on West Virginia highways in 2023. Information compiled by State Farm puts the odds of hitting a deer on the road in West Virginia at any given time at 1-in-37. Second highest is Missouri, at 1-in-47, and Pennsylvania, where one has a 1-in-51 chance of hitting a deer, is third. For the curious, one is least likely (1-in-816) to hit a deer in Washington, D.C., followed by Hawaii (1-in-649) and Nevada (1-in-551).
This news is shocking … to no one in West Virginia.
Mountain State residents are well-accustomed to the uneasy alliance with odocoileus virginianus (the white-tailed deer). For decades, the basic tenets of this treaty have been that West Virginians are allowed to abandon all other responsibilities during deer season and hunt to their hearts’ content. In exchange, deer are allowed kamikaze-like retribution year round, whacking into fast-moving vehicles and causing hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars in damage and no small amount of potential injury to motorists.
This happens in a lot of places, but West Virginia is different because the boundaries of engagement aren’t limited to highways. Sure, that’s where the most serious collisions occur, because cars are moving faster and deer, despite what statistics and eye-test experience show, aren’t supposed to be there.
However, it is not unusual to see large numbers of deer together in suburban neighborhoods and secondary roads at just about any time of day and season in West Virginia. Some of these creatures are so used to cohabitating with humans that they’re downright surly. If it’s possible for deer to give off an attitude, it’s definitely one that states the people are in their way, not the other way around.
Naturally, collisions are less likely and less serious in these situations because cars are moving slower, and deer are used to the vehicles. But it’s not uncommon for one deer to randomly freak out and bound into the road, and, when that happens, especially with other deer around, all bets are off.
So, be careful when driving early in the morning and at night, and take it slow if you see deer near the road. Sure, in some settings they seem almost domesticated, but, as most West Virginians know, they’re not. A little caution is worth avoiding a lot of vehicle damage or becoming one of the estimated 10,000 people nationwide who are injured in a vehicle collision involving a deer each year.
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The Herald-Dispatch. November 28, 2023.
Editorial: Walgreens’ closings are part of a larger trend that needs addressed
Gov. Jim Justice is asking Walgreens to reconsider its decision to close its store in the Tucker County town of Parsons. It’s a logical request, considering what losing the store means to that community of about 1,322 people.
Tucker County’s population is about 6,672. Neither the town of Parsons nor Tucker County registers as important to the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain, but the store’s presence is important to the people of the town and the county.
Walgreens’ parent company, Walgreen Boots Alliance, is changing its business model to make its stores into what it calls “neighborhood health destinations, working with our strategic partners such as VillageMD to provide an integrated primary care and pharmacy model that aims to drive better health outcomes, reduce costs and provide a differentiated patient experience.”
It could be that the company doesn’t see Parsons, Hamlin, Milton or Huntington’s West End as places where that model is profitable. Walgreens must do what it can to make money, and if the old way of business doesn’t meet investor expectations, it must change its strategy, even if that means leaving some communities behind.
As noted by HD Media reporter Roger Adkins, Walgreens is closing 150 locations in the United States and 300 in the United Kingdom by this time next year. The closures are part of the company’s cost-saving strategy, aiming to save $3.3 billion by the end of the year and projecting to save “at least” $800 million in 2024.
Last week Justice said he sent a letter asking the company to reconsider the planned closure of its location in Parsons, expressing concern about the effect of the closure on the community’s access to essential products and services, including pharmaceuticals.
Beyond appealing to the company to reconsider, Justice said he’s not sure how to fill the void that will be created by the closure.
“I really don’t know how we fill the void from a private entity closing. I don’t know how we do that,” he said.
And that’s the big problem. What’s happening with Walgreens in Parsons and elsewhere is not isolated to one community or one company. This is what happens when megachains and online shopping take over retailing and force small, independent businesses out.
Corner drug stores that are owned and operated by your local pharmacist are about gone now. It’s the same with the corner grocery store and locally owned clothing stores downtown. Banks, too, have consolidated. Huntington once had several locally owned and operated banks; now it has one.
While state and national politicians court Fortune 500 companies, small businesses that have been the anchor of local economies for years are losing out to larger ones with huge supply chains and access to capital and politicians’ ears.
If Justice and others want pharmacies, food stores and similar businesses in smaller communities, they must create the business, legal and regulatory environments to support them. Otherwise all the letters in the world won’t make up for chain stores from closing in places such as Parsons and Milton.
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The Intelligencer. November 29, 2023.
Editorial: Violating Student Rights Is Not OK
Teachers and administrators of public schools in West Virginia have an obligation to adhere to our state’s and our country’s constitutions as they educate our children using taxpayer dollars. That seems as though it should go without saying. But time and again they (and a few lawmakers) are woefully confused on the issue, to the detriment of our students. The recent settlement of a lawsuit in Cabell County reminds us the courts understand where the line should be drawn.
Four families in Huntington sued the Cabell County school district in February 2022, after an evangelical preacher held a revival assembly during the school day in 2022 that some students were required to attend.
The lawsuit said two Huntington High School teachers escorted their entire homeroom classes to an assembly hosted by evangelical preacher Nik Walker, who had been leading revivals in the Huntington area.
Students, including a Jewish student who asked to leave but was not permitted to do so, were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, according to the lawsuit. Students said they were told that those who did not follow the Bible would “face eternal torment.”
One is forced to wonder which part of the First Amendment was confusing to the teachers and administrators who allowed that to happen. As a consequence of their actions, the Cabell County Board of Education’s policy now makes clear it is “not the province of a public school to either inhibit, or advance, religious beliefs or practices,” according to board lawyer Brian D. Morrison.
It is mind-boggling to think such a lawsuit was necessary, particularly in a state where our constitutional rights and freedoms are so cherished. When these matters fall under legal scrutiny, the courts have demonstrated repeatedly such egregious violations of student rights simply will not fly.
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