Recent editorials from West Virginia newspapers:
Sept. 2
Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, W.Va., on schools serving locally grown food:
Two movements that have gained increased attention in recent years are starting to mesh in some Tri-State area schools.
One of the trends is an effort by schools to provide more nutritious meals, including more fresh ingredients. The motivation, of course, is to battle the rising tide of obesity across the country, particularly among youth. West Virginia, unfortunately, has one of the highest obesity rates in the nation.
The other is the growing interest in eating locally — in other words, buying food goods grown nearby. Part of the impetus for that again is more consumption of fresher foods, but there are other good reasons. Among them are providing more support to local farmers and the local economy, as well as reducing use of energy needed to ship foods across the country.
Several schools in the region are showing how those two developments can work together through their participation in the state’s Farm to School program. The main objective of the program is to connect schools and local farms with the hope of serving healthier meals in school cafeterias, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers.
Recently, students at Leon Elementary School in Mason County were served a lunch consisting solely of items freshly harvested by local farms. “From the beef for the hamburger and the wheat ground into flour to bake the bun to the watermelon and peppers on the garden bar, all of it was raised or grown in Mason County,” said Principal Don Bower.
At Cabell Midland High School, students in Future Farmers of America and the vocational agriculture program continued their work helping to feed students in Cabell County. After planting and harvesting sweet potatoes in early spring, they planted corn in June. Recently, they began harvesting that corn, feeding four schools one day and providing cobbettes to all county schools later in the week.
Besides Mason and Cabell, six other counties are taking part in the Farm to School program. Other examples include Tucker County, which is using student-grown lettuce, and Fayette County, which is serving strawberries. …
But as more schools pursue the objectives laid out in the Farm to School program, local farmers will find that they have a sizable market to serve. And as more farmers produce more goods for schools, the cycle can perpetuate itself into a significant level.
That’s good for both the students and the farming community.
Online:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com
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Aug. 31
The Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail on reforming the state’s business climate:
Swanson Industries of Morgantown is a worldwide supplier of hydraulic, machining and plating services, with expertise in designing and manufacturing new products.
Company president Tom DeWitt, speaking at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Business Summit, said Swanson faces the same problem the state does — interstate and global competition.
But the state makes it worse. Tax policy is a problem.
“We looked at what we pay, which is roughly 41.5 percent taxes on our income and we looked at South Korea, which pays 24 percent,” DeWitt said.
Timothy Duke, president and chief executive officer of Steel of West Virginia, noted that while the state has cut its corporate income tax, it remains 22 percent higher than Virginia’s.
Legal climate is a problem, too. Duke added. Too many frivolous lawsuits.
Labor policy choices also hurt West Virginia. Duke said he thinks the state should be a right-to-work state like Indiana and Virginia. They thrive economically.
“West Virginia needs to realize that it has competition from every state in the United States,” DeWitt said. “The last reading I had was at least 38 of those states had rankings of better business conduct . . .
Beri Fox, owner and president of Marble King in Paden City, said that in 10 years, West Virginia has lost two-thirds of its manufacturing jobs, falling from 165,000 to just 50,000.
Yes, workers compensation costs are now lower than those in Virginia. That is because, after decades of pleas from the business community, the state finally privatized workers compensation insurance.
But it took at least 20 years to get the state to act.
West Virginians cannot afford to wait decades for state leaders to listen to the case that regulatory relief, tax relief, judicial reform and right-to-work legislation would help manufacturers create jobs.
If state leaders really want jobs, they need to adopt the policies that would make it possible to get them.
Online:
http://www.dailymail.com
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Sept. 4
Parkersburg (W.Va.) News and Sentinel on juvenile justice:
Since a 19-year-old boy died there under mysterious circumstances in 2009, West Virginia’s juvenile detention center in Salem has been under scrutiny, off and on. Allegations of mistreatment of young inmates — and sometimes, attacks on guards — prompted the state Supreme Court to appoint a monitor to look into the Division of Juvenile Services.
Now, two young men have sued the state, alleging inmates at Salem are subjected to a “regimen of dehumanization and isolation.” Hearings to obtain evidence in the case have been scheduled for later this month and November in Kanawha County.
Part of the problem at Salem involves age. Young men up to 21 years of age can be detained there as juveniles. Some of them already are hardened, vicious criminals, yet they are housed in close proximity to true children who are much younger. That alone is a recipe for trouble.
Some practices used in the past at the center were questionable. There have been complaints about placing children in solitary confinement, to the point that Salem officials have discontinued the practice. Before doing so, however, they pointed out separating some violent inmates from the general population was necessary for the safety of some youths.
Some improvements have been made at Salem, and Division of Juvenile Services Director Dale Humphreys has asked legislators to look into operations at the center. He seems to believe they will find fewer reasons for concern than have been suggested by the two young men who filed the lawsuit.
After evidence in that action is heard, legislators should conduct a formal review — perhaps with a surprise inspection or two — of Salem. One goal should be to determine whether older inmates, perhaps beyond being rehabilitated, should be placed in a separate institution.
Juveniles housed at the Salem center are there because they committed crimes. That does not mean they are not entitled to humane treatment, however — and it certainly does not indicate that, at least for younger inmates, efforts at rehabilitation should be abandoned.
Online:
http://www.newsandsentinel.com
