Last month, CNBC released its 2026 rankings of America's Top States for Business. Ohio finished first, the culmination of a two-decade climb from 30th place when the study began. West Virginia finished 46th. Last year we were 40th. In 12 months, while our neighbor across the Ohio River was ...
I am not the biggest of movie goers. I will go, but very rarely have I had time to sit for two to three hours watching a movie. When we do go with the family it is an enjoyable experience. There is a movie that I want to see again as soon as possible. It might surprise you of my choice. It ...
Here’s a figure that should concern every single person that cares about children and their futures: for the 2026 school year, 84.5% of all West Virginia public school students are classified as “needy” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s an alarming statistic. And it doesn’t get any better when viewed in the context of our local region. Consider: Ohio County has 85% of its students identified as “needy,” Marshall County has 83%, Brooke County is at 85%, Tyler County stands at 88%, Hancock County reaches 74%, and Wetzel County sits at an astonishing 100%. Taken ...
Independent is no longer a bad word. Sit back and I'll tell you a tale of a perfect candidate for the House of Delegates in West Virginia trying to overcome the establishment on both sides of the political aisle working against him. A family man, a union leader, an understanding ear in a political world that seems detached from the cares and concerns of the actual electorate, and a true son of Appalachia. Dave Cantrell is running for House District 3 in the Northern Panhandle of our great state. While those of us that live in the Northern Panhandle know this all too well, as Cantrell ...
If Gov. Patrick Morrisey is wanting to fix his relationship with fellow Republicans in the West Virginia Legislature, his handling of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is going a long way to souring that relationship even further with possible electoral repercussions. Last week, the Department of Human Services announced that after only being open a week, the application window was closed for the back-to-school clothing voucher program funded through the TANF program due to running out of money. Families still had 20 days left to apply before the program was ...
This past Tuesday, as about 100 people gathered on the porch at WesBanco Arena to hear details of the planned JC Lando Hotel on Water Street moving into its next phase, I took a few minutes to marvel over just how much the downtown’s waterfront has changed since the late 1990s. I still recall one of my earliest stories for these newspapers — a local downtown businessman and property owner who objected to the Wharf parking garage being removed. Water Street then was primarily a mix of commercial businesses. The Wharf garage, which sat on the western end of Water Street, may have ...
