The report cited such factors as the rates of smoking, drinking, obesity, premature deaths, education, access to health care and unemployment.

McDowell County had a premature death rate nearly double the state average, and it also has high rates of physical inactivity, adult smoking and obesity.

Those are bad things. People should exercise, not smoke and watch what they eat.

But there is another factor in health that neither county has control over: age. Monongalia County is home to the state's flagship university and its median age is 30.4.

McDowell County is the home to spent mining communities and its median age is 44.

McDowell has its problems, but comparing a college campus to an area where one out of six people is 65 or older is hardly a fair comparison.

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MECHANICS Tom and Ray Magliozzi may have ended their "Car Talk" show on public radio, but their weekly column continues in the Daily Mail and other newspapers.

This week's column reflected on how gas stations no longer have attendants to check tires, oil and other items. The Brothers Magliozzi gave an uplifting reply.

Today's cars do not need such attention.

"In the old day, everything leaked: crankcases, radiators, tires," Ray wrote.

"But cars are much better now, and are more maintenance-free (on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis) than they've ever been."

Those are tremendous improvements. In addition, indicator lights allow the modern car to serve as its own service station attendant. New cars even monitor tire pressure.

Google is working on a car that drives itself.

Now if only inventors can find a way to get cars to pump their own gasoline.

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THE Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the many, many, many federal agencies that regulate banks, announced this week that it was downgrading J.P. Morgan's rating from "satisfactory management" to "needs improvement," or a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.

The government disapproves of the so-called "London whale" trading losses in which J.P. Morgan lost $6 billion.

But the losses were minor compared to the $21.3 billion in profits J.P. Morgan posted last year.

The $6 billion in losses represents how much the federal government borrows every two days just to keep going. But since the federal government has no intention of paying back the money, it is a loss covered by printing more money.

This is not a case of the pot calling the kettle black. This is a case of the pot calling the fine dinnerware black.

A government that is shoving $16 trillion in debt onto the next generation looks ridiculous when it disparages the management skills of people who actually do manage.

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ADD Bluefield to the list of cities in West Virginia that are tired of waiting for absentee owners to tear down dilapidated structures.

City crews plan to raze 50 structures this year and another 50 next year. One of the challenges is asbestos. The city is applying for grants to help cover the cost.

The hope is that someone will develop the empty lots left behind, replacing ramshackle structures that attract vermin and that become magnets for crime.

A few years ago, the Legislature made it easier for cities to demolish such properties. It's good to see Bluefield take advantage of the opportunity.