So-called “excess levies” for public schools can serve as small red ribbons tied around the fingers of education officials. That is, they can remind them that voters are watching, and if they do not like what they see, the electorate can come down hard on the education establishment by ...

I should have remembered the recipe by heart. I’ve made this banana nut bread a thousand times. Yet I still pulled out the batter-splattered cookbook which holds the old recipe. I propped it up on the metal cookbook holder on my counter. My sister Denny gave me this very useful item one year ...

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, filed in Wood County, is an interesting attempt to hold the diocese accountable for years of failure to crack down on predator priests. He filed it under the Consumer Credit ...

A 50-year-old Big Wheel has a new home, along with several other Marx Toys and 230 Fostoria glass items, the latter being a variety of pieces which had been donated to the Fostoria Museum. The new homes are at the Grave Creek Mound Archeological Complex in Moundsville where from 5-7 p.m. ...

When leaders of our state get together, the same question inevitably dominates the conversation: How do we diversify our economy while transitioning away from extraction industries? My typical response is we should focus on making West Virginia a “cornucopia of specialty crops.” This ...

West Virginians value freedom; our state motto “Montani Semper Liberi,” or “Mountaineers are Always Free,” sums up our Appalachian individualism quite well. In Washington and in states across our union, a debate is raging that could quickly result in a fundamental freedom, and a ...

We’ve seen some amazing coincidences during the past few years, haven’t we? Take the Interstate 70 bridges in Ohio County. Isn’t it incredible that after decades of service, nearly all of them went bad at the same time? Equally fascinating is the fact that decades passed during ...

Several years ago when we moved to a place with a little acreage, I knew what I wanted to make our homestead complete. And when my husband concurred, it was done. Standing tall and proud in the front area of our home is a flagpole. The American flag has been flying there now for five years. ...

Since becoming Wellsburg’s mayor in 2009, I’ve had the opportunity to visit and learn about cities in the Northern Panhandle and throughout the entire state of West Virginia as well. In that time, I’ve come to realize that what serves as one of the most significant challenges faced by ...

Members of Cameron American Legion Post No. 18, along with Unit No. 18 Auxiliary and Sons of American Legion (SAL), and their families and invited guests will observe Veterans Day this Saturday with the annual banquet. Members of the Auxiliary will serve the banquet, which will begin at 5:30 ...

The most important comment made last week during a public meeting on education held at John Marshal High School in Glen Dale came from a resident of that community. He is Dr. James Wilson, and it is fortunate that he happens to be a member of the West Virginia Board of Education. Much of ...

I like Bob Murray. I respect him, too, even though in today’s politically correct climate, he has three strikes against him. He’s an old white male who runs a coal company and has supported Donald Trump. This week, his Murray Energy Corp. sought and received Chapter 11 bankruptcy ...

I first saw him against the light of a still moonlit morning sky. He was standing at the side of the road, statue-like. I slowed to get a good look at him. Then he lifted his head as if to say ‘look at me.’ For that fleeting moment I was in awe of what nature had given this majestic wild ...

Factory workers understand that whatever tasks are assigned to them must be completed within a certain amount of time. If they aren’t, an entire assembly line can be slowed down or even stopped. Management’s task is to prevent obstacles from getting in the way of line workers. It often ...

“What is a Veteran?” was the topic of talk given by C. William Harris, the long-time post commander of Cameron American Legion No. 18, at the dedication ceremony of the new Veterans Plaza on the lawn of Marshall County Courthouse in Moundsville this past Wednesday. Some 300 individuals ...

What’s in a name? It’s been more than 400 years since Juliet first asked this question of Romeo, but even in 2019 it seems as though we still don’t have a clear answer. This summer, after a series of changes at the academic and administrative levels, Wheeling Jesuit University was ...

Ohio has become ground zero in our national opioid epidemic. Just last month, in just one county, a staggering 10 people died in the span of 26 hours from drug overdoses. Until recently, Ohio’s response to the crisis consisted mostly of handing out lengthy prison sentences to both dealers ...

You aren’t encountering as many of those gas industry trucks on the back roads as you did for a long time, are you? That may make for a less stressful drive to work, but it’s a bad sign for West Virginia’s economy and the state budget. Once again this month, Workforce West ...

It shouldn’t have bothered me. After all, I don’t believe in superstitions. You know the one about the black cat crossing your path. But this time, it kind of had me worried. Why on this beautiful, barely dawn of a day would a black cat decide to make his or her appearance in front of my ...

One obstacle in redeveloping downtown Wheeling is that the owners of some of the old buildings here have vastly inflated opinions of what their properties are worth. City government isn’t helping disabuse them of that notion. Consider three situations involving old buildings and the ...