By Ravenna Redman 

Director of Social Services

The employees of Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center have chosen Leta Carr as their GRCC Resident of the Week.  

Leta has been a resident of our facility since December 6, 2024. She was born on June 11, 1952, in Cumberland, Md., to Boyd and Velma (Kisamore) Phares. Leta has three older sisters, Bernice Harvey, Bonnie Keplinger, and the late Shirley Myers. Leta is the baby of the family.

Boyd Phares was a carpenter. “He built a lot of buildings in Petersburg.” Velma was a working mother. During Leta’s childhood, Velma worked as a nursing assistant at Grant Memorial Hospital, Windsor Knit, a sewing factory and ran a shoe store.

“I grew up in the Ridges and we were near our first cousins. We spent our time playing games like Red Rover, Red Rover and Red Light and Green Light.” When asked if they had chores to do, Leta replied, “We helped clean house, and washed dishes.”

Leta has special memories of her parents. “Mom made dolls out of thread spools. Dad would take blocks of wood, and put spools on them, making cars, and dump trucks. We looked forward to those. We would take the cars and play in the mud. Mom was not too happy with us for that.”

Growing up, Leta attended Petersburg Elementary School. “We walked two miles to get to the bus stop and then rode 10 miles into town. I liked school. The teachers were able to explain it to our level. Gladstone Snyder was the principal, and Helen Sherman was the secretary. Mr. Snyder was genuinely nice.”  Leta graduated from Petersburg High School.

Read more: Leta Carr selected as GRCC Resident of the Week

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My dog “Happy” and I went hiking this weekend, and when we got back to the car, I did the usual check for bugs and burrs on his long coat. I was shocked to find 12 tiny ticks clinging to his fur. I brushed them off and found five more scurrying around my boot laces. These are baby ticks, right? Should I be worried about tick bites for both of us? 

— Karl M. 

Roanoke, Virginia

DEAR KARL: You should continue to be vigilant over the next few days, but don’t worry too much -- unless Happy shows signs of illness. Doing a “tick check” after each trip outdoors is important, and you did exactly what you needed to do.

Over the next few days, brush through Happy’s coat frequently to dislodge any additional ticks. Newly hatched ticks are indeed tiny and hard to see. Run your hand through Happy’s coat so that you can check his skin for visible bites or lodged ticks. If you notice a bull’s-eye rash around an area, contact the veterinarian.

If you haven’t treated your hiking boots or clothing with permethrin yet, now is the time to do so. Spray the treatment outside, away from Happy or any other animal, and do not let Happy near those clothes until they have dried completely. The permethrin will stay effective through a few washes.

To keep ticks out of the house, follow similar procedures to flea prevention. Give Happy a regular flea and tick preventative; vacuum and mop the house regularly, and terminate any ticks you find.

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Dear Editor,

I was prompted to write this letter when listening to a local, Christian-oriented, radio station interview a Reverend. One issue broached in said interview was, “Christian nationalism,” and upon this issue did the interviewed Reverend and myself fully agree: Christian nationalism is absurd.

More, as the good Reverend indicated, is Christian nationalism an oxymoron [oxymoron: “something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements”]. Specifically, was not Jesus — as clearly expressed in the New Testament — far above the petty, worldly, squabblings of “nationalism?” And, as such, so too Christians? Nevertheless, perhaps a quote from an article published in 2024 might assist in illuminating the matter. Said article is entitled, “Christian Nationalism Doesn’t Just Threaten Our Nation — It Threatens Our Faith.”

Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation should be a Christian theocracy, and that government should take active steps to keep it that way.  Christian Nationalism seeks supremacy over all else; whereas our Lord never did. Our nation is a country founded for religious freedom — for all religions — even those we don’t agree with...we can not and should not force our faith onto others, nor should we marginalize them for not believing.    

Doing so would only damage the strong nation that our forefathers fought for and worked so hard to forge.

“Christian nationalism” — on the face of it, as well as in its “depths” — is, obviously, ridiculous. Jesus washed his hands of as much as unworthy of Christians; any thinking, authentic, Christian could not but concur.  It is for these reasons that whenever a politician — in whatever country — invokes Christianity in support of their policies that I become suspicious.

Charles L. Zorbaugh Sr.

Petersburg

By Kris Warner

WV Secretary of State

Democracy dies in darkness. Elections are influenced by money. When those two altruisms converge, we’re left with a society that is subject to the desires of the wealthy elite who know how to “play the political influence game.”

On April 1st, Governor Patrick Morrisey, my colleague on the Board of Public Works, vetoed a rules-bundle bill containing dozens of agencies’ rules that have been published for public review and comment for at least eight months. Included in that rules bundle were updates to long-standing, common-sense campaign finance rules that aim to increase transparency in political campaign finances.

Like many under the dome, I was shocked. Not only is it questionable whether a governor can “veto” a Legislative Rule, this was the first time anyone raised concerns with this Rule’s language in the last eight months.

Governor Morrisey’s reason for vetoing Senate Bill 369 was due to easily remedied technicalities in two other rules, and then most pointedly because of a State Election Commission rule and “its imprecise and unwieldy regulation of political action committees [that] will likely cause confusion for those attempting to have their voices heard in our political process.”

Who, I wonder, is “attempting to have their voices heard in our political process” that cannot under our existing or proposed rules? Federal and state laws provide broad protections and rights for citizens to voice their opinions. The government’s interest in regulating that speech has been extensively litigated. 

To avoid losing the dozens of other agency rules contained in the bundle, my staff upended their day along with senior counsel and staff of the House and Senate, as well as the governor’s attorney, and amended the language to ensure the transparency and clarity provisions remained. I am grateful to the Legislature for its staffs’ professionalism and efficiency in getting this common-sense bundle back on track.

Read more: Warner expresses frustration over Morrisey’s veto of election transparency regulation

By Lori Kersey

West Virginia Watch

The West Virginia House of Delegates has signed off on legislation that would require municipalities to hold their elections on the same day as state elections. Delegates passed Senate Bill 50 Monday with a vote of 96 to 2. 

Supporters of the bill say requiring municipalities to have their elections along with state elections will save cities and towns money and encourage voter turnout. According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, 113 municipalities across the state will have their elections in 2025, which is not a year for state elections. 

Morgantown’s election, for instance, is scheduled for April 29. Bridgeport’s election will be June 10. 

Under the version of the bill passed by the House, cities and towns have until 2028 to hold their elections on the same day as state elections. Delegates approved the change in a floor amendment offered by Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, on Friday. 

The Senate passed the bill unanimously on March 3. In the Senate’s version of the bill, the deadline was 2032. Those who advocated for a later deadline have said that some municipalities established their election dates in their charter, and that changing the charters may require an election. Others argued that state law would supersede municipal law and allow cities and towns to change the dates sooner. 

Read more: WV House approves legislation requiring cities to hold elections on same day as state’s

DOGE’s proposed humanities cuts imperil the Mountain State’s cultural economy

By Eric Waggoner, Executive Director

West Virginia Humanities Council

The West Virginia Encyclopedia Online? Deleted from the internet.

The West Virginia Folklife Program’s preservation of our unique traditions and culture? Gone.

Hundreds of annual History Alive! presentations to schools, libraries, churches, and community centers across West Virginia? Canceled.

Last week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) with devastating funding cuts, putting West Virginia’s rich history, cultural tourism, and community programs at immediate risk. 

These cuts will pull nearly a million dollars per year in Congressionally approved federal funding out of West Virginia, directly affecting historical societies, museums, festivals, and organizations that work tirelessly to preserve and share the enthralling story of our Mountain State.

In our role as the NEH’s official state affiliate, the West Virginia Humanities Council, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, has delivered NEH funding throughout West Virginia since 1974, providing programs and giving grants to organizations and initiatives that celebrate our cultural heritage. These efforts ensure that West Virginia’s history and culture remain alive and accessible for future generations.

Our grants and programs can be found in all 55 counties, everywhere from cities to the smallest communities. We have supported initiatives as wide ranging as Arthurdale Heritage in Preston County and the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown. 

Read more: Hitting close to home: West Virginia’s cultural heritage should be defended, not defunded.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. The writer must sign the letter and include a phone number and address for verification. Letters are subject to editing and those longer than 400 words will usually not be published. No more than one letter per month per person will be published. Political endorsements, as well as letters of opposition to any candidate, and thank you notes, are considered advertising, not subjects for letters.

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