Charleston Gazette-Mail December 27, 2023.
Editorial: Strategies falling into place in GOP primary
Moore Capito is all in on the race to be the Republican nominee for West Virginia’s next governor. Capito resigned from his position in the state House of Delegates last week, to focus fully on his campaign.
The official filing period doesn’t begin until next month, but the strategies in the crowded gubernatorial Republican primary are starting to take shape.
Polling has shown Capito, the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., neck-and-neck with Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner has consistently polled third, while auto magnate Chris Miller, the son of Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., has been fourth. Another big-name candidate, state Auditor JB McCuskey, dropped out of the race in July and is now running for attorney general.
Fundraising for the campaign has generally followed polling trends, with the exception of Miller, who, at the end of the third quarter, had out-raised everyone and had $3.64 million on hand, while Morrisey’s campaign had $1.5 million and Capito’s had $1.1 million. However, $2.9 million of Miller’s war chest is money he loaned to his own campaign.
Like a lot of candidates who come from the Huntington area, Miller’s biggest problem right now is name recognition. But he has the cash to stay in the race, and could even be using this campaign to build up a statewide reputation that could pay off in a future bid for office. Warner, on the other hand, appears desperate, as evidenced by his recent conspiratorial claims that the 2020 presidential election was somehow stolen by the CIA.
Whether Warner actually believes such hogwash is up for debate, but it seems like something of a political Hail Mary. Warner is well behind the other big-name candidates in fundraising. It’ll be interesting to see if he and Miller stay in the race through the official filing period. There’s nothing to indicate they wouldn’t, but, at least for now, this appears to be a race between Morrisey and Capito.
Morrisey employed a bit of strategy by skipping a Republican gubernatorial debate moderated by “Talkline” host Hoppy Kercheval and, instead, doing a livestream interview with Gazette-Mail parent company HD Media. This might have been an attempt by Morrisey to portray himself as separating from the pack, although it’s hard to say for certain.
In any event, a primary that looked wild and wide open for much of 2023 is starting to firm up as the filing date approaches. There’s still plenty of space and time for some surprises, though.
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Herald-Dispatch. December 22, 2023.
Editorial: Bridge closures show improvements in inspection programs
This has been a tough month for Ohio River bridges maintained by West Virginia — a tough month but a necessary one.
Thursday, the West Virginia Department of Transportation closed the Market Street Bridge connecting W.Va. 2 in Brooke County to Steubenville, Ohio to all motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
“The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has been monitoring the bridge on a three-month inspection cycle, monitoring the cable anchorage system. With the previous three-month inspection, the weight limit was lowered from five to three tons. Out of an abundance of caution following an inspection on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, the decision was made to close the bridge,” the department said in a news release issued Thursday morning.
The Market Street Bridge opened to traffic in 1905.
Less than two weeks before, the department closed the Jennings Randolph Bridge at Chester when cracks were detected in its structural steel. It remains closed while inspectors examine all parts of the bridge for defects.
The Jennings Randolph Bridge was built in 1977 using T-1 steel, which was common in bridges built at that time, according to the DOT. Over time, engineers learned that cracks could develop in welds joining the beams. Such cracks caused the temporary closure of the Interstate 64 Sherman Minton Bridge at Louisville in 2011 and the Interstate 40 Hernando de Soto Bridge at Memphis, Tennessee, in 2021.
In 1977, the Silver Memorial Bridge at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was closed to vehicle traffic for several weeks while repairs were made to cracks in its steel.
“There are five bridges made with T-1 steel in West Virginia. All have been tested, and the Jennings Randolph Bridge is the only one with issues requiring closure of the bridge,” the DOT release issued Tuesday said.
That the two bridge closures came in December is a reminder of the Silver Bridge collapse at Point Pleasant on Dec. 15, 1967. That disaster was caused by a crack in a joint in one of two eyebar chains holding the bridge up. When the crack grew large enough, the pin holding the joint together popped out, causing the entire bridge to fail and fall into the Ohio River, killing 46 people.
The Silver Bridge disaster resulted in stronger bridge inspection programs that have improved as technology has advanced. In 1967, inspections were not as thorough and mostly involved visual examination. The crack that brought the Silver Bridge down was not visible to the eye.
“WVDOT’s bridge safety inspection program exceeds federal requirements. All bridges that remain open and in use in the state of West Virginia are safe and are inspected on a two-year cycle, or more frequently if needed,” the DOT release issued Thursday said.
Closing a bridge — big or small — causes inconveniences, but they are necessary. That the state is taking an abundance of caution at Chester and Steubenville speaks to how things have changed for the better in the past 56 years in a state that relies heavily on big bridges and small ones.
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Parkersburg News and Sentinel. December 27, 2023.
Editorial: Training: Apprenticeship programs making a difference
Though politicians are still fond of diminishing West Virginia as only a fossil fuels state, the reality points to an even brighter future for Mountain State workers. According to West Virginia Affiliated Construction Trades Director Justin Williams, apprenticeship programs are growing here.
And yes, some of those workers are in coal mines, but others work in a variety of trades that will literally build our state’s next chapters.
“There are 2,500 apprentices in West Virginia, and we represent about 24,000 construction workers,” Williams told WV MetroNews. “It’s not a huge number but it’s people that get up and go to work every day, and they make a big impact on their communities and state.”
For those hoping to work in the budding aviation, aerospace and even electric vehicle manufacturing industries in our state — or be part of the workforce that helps build those industries — apprenticeship programs can put them in a position to make STARTING wages of $20 to $23 per hour, according to Williams.
“With the investments we’re seeing in these factories, these are 20, 30, 40-year-old or more careers that people coming out of high school now can have,” Williams told MetroNews. “They’ll have a living wage, benefits, and a pension.”
Sounds a little bit like the career prospects our grandparents knew in this region, doesn’t it?
Apprenticeships are classroom and on-the-job training in a system that allows employers to help tailor the training to build the workforce they need. And they don’t incur the debt with which many students may be saddled if they pursue a college degree.
Williams touted apprenticeship programs’ ability to produce electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, iron workers, truck drivers, sheet metal workers and more, who can jump right into good-paying careers.
It’s not for everyone, of course.
“We need the spectrum — the doctors and lawyers — but we also need the construction worker and the manufacturer,” Williams told MetroNews.
Here in a state full of people who can do it all, there is as much room as ever for those who are ready and willing to get to work, now. Whether it be a high school senior staring at May on the calendar without a clear picture of what comes next, or a seasoned worker looking for a change, apprenticeship programs offer an option that will let workers make a difference not only for themselves and their families, but all of West Virginia.
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