Latest news with #MorgantownMarriott
Dominion Post
02-08-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
'Cities helping cities': Morgantown to host WV Municipal League
MORGANTOWN — Every three years, the opening days of August mark a municipal migration to Morgantown. So it will be next week as the University City once again plays host to the West Virginia Municipal League Annual Conference. This year marks the 56th yearly gathering of city leaders. A crowd of 300 or so staff members and elected officials from more than 70 municipalities are anticipated for the four-day event to be held at Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place. At its core, WVML Executive Director Susan Economou explained, the assembly serves as the nonprofit's business meeting. For the participating cities, towns and villages, it's equal parts classroom, community forum and camaraderie. 'The main reason for it is to get information out to our members and to convene the people who have solutions for the problems cities are facing,' Economou said. 'We do different workshops that appeal to the different parts of a city. We'll do things that are helpful for human resources, and then we'll have a workshop on cybersecurity.' This year, the 16 or so workshop topics range from parliamentary procedure to flood resiliency to recognizing substance abuse and addiction in the workplace to the requirements of Senate Bill 50. Economou noted that 170 of West Virginia's 230 or so municipalities have fewer than 2,000 residents. A central goal of the conference is not only getting those smaller towns and villages in touch with resources that can help supplement limited staffing and resources, but getting them in touch with one another. 'There is always such a strong element of cities helping cities, because, you know, you get elected in a small town and a lot of times you don't know what you don't know. But when you get together with a number of other mayors, you find a lot of cities are having the same issues – maybe on a different scale – but they come and learn what's working here or what didn't work over there. Everybody can find resources and support in that forum.' Granville Mayor Patty Lewis, who was selected WVML's Mayor of the Year at the 2024 conference in Huntington, said she believes both the municipal league and the annual conference have been tremendous assets for Granville. 'I just think knowledge is everything. If you're running a municipality or if you're an elected official, it's your responsibility to stay on top of everything that's going on in your state that's going to affect your city and your residents,' she said. 'It's always such an advantage to have the opportunity to sit down and compare notes. It's about sharing information and gaining information.' While the WVML largely sets the agenda, Morgantown will feature prominently as the host city – both in the formal presentations and the more recreational offerings. For example, Morgantown GIS Analyst Marvin Davis will lead a workshop on how the city integrates geo-enabled applications into its internal and public-facing products and processes. Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble will help open the conference with remarks Tuesday morning. She'll also lead a tour of Hazel's House of Hope. 'That is still something we get a lot of questions about and the Municipal League gets a lot of questions about,' Trumble said. 'We'll be doing that Wednesday. We only have an hour or so, so we're going to tour Grace Shelter and we're going to see Lauren's Wish. We'll tour the dayroom and the Salvation Army's Hope Cafe and show how having these types of agencies and services available in one location benefits the community and the clients of those agencies.' The conference will open Monday with the WVML John DeStefano Jr. Memorial Golf Tournament, followed that evening by a host event highlighting Morgantown food, brews and entertainment at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater. West Virginia radio legend Hoppy Kercheval will provide the event's keynote address on Tuesday afternoon. 'Having everyone here in Morgantown is a real boost to the area. We get to show off Morgantown and show other communities what we're doing well and where we're struggling. Chances are, there are others who are having the same issues and maybe they can show us how they addressed some of those things,' Trumble said. 'I love bringing new people in and showing off the city.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Capito addresses conference in a city on edge from layoffs, funding cuts
Apr. 22—MORGANTOWN — You could call it the elephant in the room. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, addressed the annual Focus Forward conference in the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place ballroom Tuesday morning. And while much of her address centered around the chosen theme of the daylong event—healthy aging—Capito was clearly cognizant it was being delivered by a Republican in a city jolted in recent weeks by the CDC's reduction of 185 research jobs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and before a crowd with a vested interest in how changes to the National Institute of Health could mean millions in lost research dollars for West Virginia University. "There's a lot of angst out there right now, " Capito said. "Some people are very excited about the shrinking of government and the president doing what he said he was going to do, and all the different kinds of measures with the policies he's put forward—an emphasis on energy and border patrol and all those kinds of things. "And then there's others who are very put out by a lot of that. Maybe not the border so much, but particularly the DOGE issues and some of the other issues that the president has gotten involved in. So, I'm getting both sides of the arguments here, and I like it. I like to hear. I have to hear, and I want to hear what's on everybody's minds, " she said. Capito's comments came hours after the senator's office released a formal request to Robert Kennedy, Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, asking him to undo the reduction in force order impacting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The letter expresses Capito's support for President Donald Trump's efforts to "right size our government, " but says eliminating NIOSH's coal programs and research will not help achieve that goal as those efforts are not duplicative of work being done elsewhere in government and will ultimately undermine vital health programs vital to many West Virginians. "We have a movement, MAHA, make America Healthy Again, and we see Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., going a lot of directions—some directions that I think are causing some concerns, " Capito said Tuesday, noting more widespread support for some of Kennedy's efforts in areas like food additives. "I will say this about him. I was in a meeting earlier with the NIOSH folks. He's very responsive on the phone. He is very quick to respond, and that's the kind of leader I want. I would like him to do everything I want, but I do want you to know that we do have good lines of communication there, " she said. Capito closed her remarks by addressing concerns that a move by the NIH to rein in indirect costs could end up pulling millions of dollars out of research—including an estimated $12 million from WVU, according to the university. "I'm not going to stand to have research and innovation suffer. I don't want to see things that we do in this country so well, that we do right here in this state in terms of health innovations, health cures, health research, health investigations for rural America—huge, huge cancer rates that we have here. I'm not going to stop and be a party to anything that reduces our ability to research and innovate like we do as a country. Because if we don't, other countries will. And we should, " Capito said, expressing her belief that the frantic pace at which directives are coming out of Washington isn't likely to slow down anytime soon. "So, with that, I'll say hang in there."
Dominion Post
22-04-2025
- Health
- Dominion Post
Capito addresses conference in a city on edge from layoffs, funding cuts
MORGANTOWN — You could call it the elephant in the room. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, addressed the annual Focus Forward conference in the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place ballroom Tuesday morning. And while much of her address centered around the chosen theme of the daylong event — healthy aging — Capito was clearly cognizant it was being delivered by a Republican in a city jolted in recent weeks by the CDC's reduction of 185 research jobs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and before a crowd with a vested interest in how changes to the National Institute of Health could mean millions in lost research dollars for West Virginia University. 'There's a lot of angst out there right now,' Capito said. 'Some people are very excited about the shrinking of government and the president doing what he said he was going to do, and all the different kinds of measures with the policies he's put forward — an emphasis on energy and border patrol and all those kinds of things. 'And then there's others who are very put out by a lot of that. Maybe not the border so much, but particularly the DOGE issues and some of the other issues that the president has gotten involved in. So, I'm getting both sides of the arguments here, and I like it. I like to hear. I have to hear, and I want to hear what's on everybody's minds,' she said. Capito's comments came hours after the senator's office released a formal request to Robert Kennedy, Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, asking him to undo the reduction in force order impacting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The letter expresses Capito's support for President Donald Trump's efforts to 'right size our government,' but says eliminating NIOSH's coal programs and research will not help achieve that goal as those efforts are not duplicative of work being done elsewhere in government and will ultimately undermine vital health programs vital to many West Virginians. 'We have a movement, MAHA, make America Healthy Again, and we see Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., going a lot of directions — some directions that I think are causing some concerns,' Capito said Tuesday, noting more widespread support for some of Kennedy's efforts in areas like food additives. 'I will say this about him. I was in a meeting earlier with the NIOSH folks. He's very responsive on the phone. He is very quick to respond, and that's the kind of leader I want. I would like him to do everything I want, but I do want you to know that we do have good lines of communication there,' she said. Capito closed her remarks by addressing concerns that a move by the NIH to rein in indirect costs could end up pulling millions of dollars out of research — including an estimated $12 million from WVU, according to the university. 'I'm not going to stand to have research and innovation suffer. I don't want to see things that we do in this country so well, that we do right here in this state in terms of health innovations, health cures, health research, health investigations for rural America — huge, huge cancer rates that we have here. I'm not going to stop and be a party to anything that reduces our ability to research and innovate like we do as a country. Because if we don't, other countries will. And we should,' Capito said, expressing her belief that the frantic pace at which directives are coming out of Washington isn't likely to slow down anytime soon. 'So, with that, I'll say hang in there.'
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WVU Medicine Children's Gala raises funds for new 10th floor clinic
Feb. 22—MORGANTOWN — The event center at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place turned into a jungle Saturday evening. A life-size elephant sculpture greeting the people entering the lobby — men in tuxedos, women in shimmery ball gowns. In the event center itself, vines hung from the ceiling. Palm fronts, tropical flowers and animal sculptures decorated the tables. Jungle noises filled the air. It was the 21st annual WVU Medicine Children's Gala, titled Into the Jungle. This year's gala will raise money for the children's hospital 15, 214-square-foot Children's Outpatient Clinic to be built on the hospital's 10th floor, next to the Jeff and Vicky Hostetler Family Resource Center. The clinic will take shape in shell space on the 10th floor, and will consolidate outpatient services via a dedicated clinic space to streamline care and access for patients and their families. The project will build out new clinical space for existing services, including medical weight management, neurology, neurosurgery, pulmonology, sleep disorders, plastic surgery, trauma, surgery and their associated multidisciplinary clinics and procedure spaces. Last year's gala raised $1.45 million and they hope to top that this year, hospital leaders said. Amy Bush, chief administrative officer of WVU Medicine Children's, said about 1, 300 people were expected to attend and more than 87 sponsors contributed. Planning a gala begins as soon as the prior one ends, she said. They go into full planning mode about six months out. "This event is a combination of so many people from the WVU Medicine Children's Foundation, our hospital team and hundreds of community folks who come out and volunteer either with their time, decorating, or giving of their money, sponsorships, " she said. And the gala helps the hospital's overall mission, she said. "We want to build healthier futures for the kids. We want to be able to give them access to care here in our home state." Michael Grace is president and CEO of WVU Hospitals and explained the importance of the gala. Children's hospitals mostly don't make money, he said. And while WVUMC doesn't exist to make a profit, there is a need to generate a positive bottom line. "Events like this really contribute to and help our ability to do things like renovate the 10th floor." Galas have generated just under $10 million over the last 20 years, he said. Dr. David Rosen is WVU professor of pediatrics and anesthesia, head of pediatric cardiac anesthesia and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesia. He was title sponsor for the evening, reflecting his financial support for the event. He's bee at WVU for 33 years, he said. "This has been special, I've been able to watch the children that I care for grow up." He mentioned patients who he took care of as babies who met, married, and had a baby that he also cared for. "I live for these kids, to give them their life possibilities." Pediatric services are spread across the medical campus, he said. The centralized clinic will be more comfortable and enhance the experience for the kids and their families. "You just feel better when you walk in the door of Children's Hospital, " he said. "It's where I need to be, it's where I'm going to be cared for, as opposed to being shuffled all over the campus."
