Perhaps the best advice for West Virginia legislators preparing for a special session on public school improvement is this: Just let the teachers teach. After the fiasco over Senate Bill 451, the “omnibus education bill” this winter, Gov. Jim Justice called for a special legislative ...

If there is one thing most governors of West Virginia know, the best way to get inside the hearts of people is to make sure their roads are maintained. Govs. Cecil Underwood and Arch Moore knew this. Apparently, Gov. Jim Justice is just now getting the message. Justice is right to feel ...

What year did these events take place: Alcatraz Prison is closed, Aretha Franklin releases “Laughing on the Outside,” Congress passes the Equal Pay Act, and Kellogg’s Froot Loops is introduced. Have you figured it out yet? Here are some more hints in the same year: Stevie Wonder ...

Several members of the Fostoria Glass Society of America Inc. will be bringing to the 39th annual FGSA Convention, to be held June 7-9, items from their glass collections which pertain to this year’s convention theme: “Glassware for the Boudoir.” In the most recent “Facets of ...

Never discount the power of personal animosity in politics. Take U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Gov. Jim Justice. Just a few years ago, they seemed to be friends. Manchin got credit for helping Justice, then a Democrat, win the governor’s race in 2016. It escaped no one’s notice that ...

I can still picture them. Always dressed in their black garb with stark white cleric’s collars. They were as much a part of my parent’s family as me and my siblings. They were frequent visitors to the front porch swing and the dinner table. Father Lawrence McHugh and Father Clifford ...

The West Virginia Legislature’s 2019 regular session concluded last week and will be remembered as much for the bills that failed as it will be for the ones that passed, as well as for the hateful rhetoric of some in Charleston. Senate Bill 451 received a great deal of attention after it was ...

The 2019 regular legislative session was by far one of the wildest I’ve ever seen, but even with all the drama this year these 134 lawmakers were still able to get a lot done. On the House of Delegates side, other than the controversies over the anti-LGBTQ remarks by Del. Eric Porterfield ...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seems like a reasonably intelligent, educated fellow, so it’s unlikely he would react to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s letter by asking if the senator has a site near Richmond in mind. On the other hand, one wonders whether Bezos knows enough about West Virginia to ...

Joe Geiger, director of the Archives and History Department of the West Virginia Division of Culture & History, will be the speaker for the annual dinner meeting of the Marshall County Historical Society to be held March 23 at Grand Vue Park’s Banquet Hall. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., ...

As we begin the New Year, West Virginia’s economic outlook continues to surpass expectations, with another month of revenue adding to our state’s record surplus — with the energy industry being credited by state budget officials as being the primary driver of these gains. According to ...

The 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature has wrapped up, and as a lot of us do at this time every year — in addition to resting up a little — we take a bit of an inventory of wins and losses from the previous two months. There’s no doubt that getting SB 1 across the finish line is a ...

As West Virginia legislators send a state budget for the coming fiscal year to Gov. Jim Justice, reflect on this: They have approved a plan to spend $7,579 for every man, woman and child in our state during the 12 months that begin July 1. If you’re good at math, you may have done a quick ...

Bear with me today. This might get a little political. You be the judge. From a very young age of maybe 5 or 6, I was exposed to climate change. Yes, I was forced to meet winter head on when our mom shooed us out the back door to play in the snow. Dressed like Eskimo children, we faced the ...

I picked a very interesting time to return to my statehouse reporting roots. I could never have predicted the things and controversies that have happened this session. For example, as I’ve written, a major controversy erupted over a table display with several posters and pamphlets there were ...

With less than a week remaining in their regular session, West Virginia legislators are being called upon to dust off their crystal balls. They need an answer to the question of whether the good times will continue to roll for the state treasury. Let us hope they do. Otherwise, at about ...

West Virginia House of Delegates members have approved a bill that would increase pay by about 5 percent for public school employees and State Police troopers. State senators should approve the raise, too. With lawmakers in the final week of their regular session, there is some concern ...

Last week, in the process of arresting three people, the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department made the largest seizure of methamphetamines in county history. A total of 14 grams of the illegal drug was found. Depending on the amount taken, that is enough for between 560 and 1,400 ...

Almost every day, I hear from concerned residents of the First District regarding the conditions of the roads in the Northern Panhandle. “The people who live along this road fear it will be completely gone by spring if this wet weather keeps up. It’s barely hanging on.” “When is ...

Cameron American Legion Post No. 18 will observe the 100th birthday of the American Legion with a party at the C. William (Bill) Harris annex building on Saturday. There will be a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a dinner at 6 p.m.. The dinner will be catered by Dianne’s Catering ...