Breaking News

Local Columns

Don’t Let Scam Kiosks Hijack Bitcoin’s Name

Imagine this situation for just one second: In a convenience store or grocery store, an older neighbor stands at a "Bitcoin ATM," phone pressed to their ear, cash in hand. A voice on the other end is rushing them, “a warrant is out,” or, “a bank account is frozen,” or even worse, “ a grandchild is in trouble,” - something that can only be fixed if they feed cash into the machine immediately. These scams are absolutely brutal: once that cash is converted into crypto and sent, it can be gone in minutes. It’s straight-up theft, and it is fast, humiliating, and often ...

Hope Stays Intact

Much as I predicted last week, the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program remains intact for the next fiscal year. Instead of recommending its first originating bill to reform the Hope program, the House Finance Committee recommended a new originating bill that only changed the payment frequency to Hope families from two times per year to four times. Some are saying the committee buckled under pressure from current home school and private school families. That’s a complete misunderstanding of what happened. The reason the first originating bill was drafted was to deal with ...

More Insurance Benefits Must Get to Patients

I have practiced orthodontics in Wheeling for 45 years. I have sat across from parents who budget carefully for braces, cleanings, and routine dental care. I have watched families try to stretch insurance benefits that look much the same as they did nearly half a century ago. Now, we have numbers that confirm what many of us have seen firsthand. The West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner recently released updated dental loss ratio data. On average, only 43 cents of every premium dollar in our state goes toward patient care. Think about that for a moment. Families and ...

West Virginia Now Finds Itself at a Real Crossroads

The legislative session is nearly over and very little has been accomplished by the state Senate that would help move the state forward. The House of Delegates has been working through a package of economic development bills that would help to attract new job creators to our state. Gov. Morrisey has proposed a state budget with a 5% income tax cut. Meanwhile, the state Senate continues to focus on legislation that is not likely to help our state prosper. West Virginia continues to have the lowest workforce participation rate in the country. There have been no significant job ...

Protecting America: Threat of Foreign Influence and Regulatory Barriers

Despite the clear benefits, opposition — often influenced by foreign interests — continues to threaten progress even in our small, rural West Virginia communities. Burdensome regulations and meritless lawsuits are being weaponized to delay development and investment, undermining our state’s future and risking America’s national security. These tactics stall responsible projects, discourage investors, and leave our communities exposed to economic instability and lost tax revenue to support for schools, first responders and other community needs. It’s time we recognize ...

Gambling on Hope

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but on first glance it sure seems like both the Senate and House Finance Committees are sending messages to Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Perhaps the message is this: You can have a 10% personal income tax cut, or you can have the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program, but to have one, you’re going to have to accept changes to the other. Morrisey’s general revenue budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 beginning July 1 is $5.493 billion, which is roughly 3.2% more than he proposed last year and the Legislature passed for the current fiscal ...