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Celebrating Year 7

We are now in June, which means I’m beginning my seventh year as your state government reporter in Charleston. And it continues to be a fun, wild ride. I remain thankful to Ogden Newspapers and its many daily and weekly newspapers here in West Virginia and bordering states that run my news stories and this weekly column. I’m also thankful for other newspapers in the state that run my articles, including the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram/The State Journal and the Beckley Register-Herald. The newspaper industry has encountered many challenges over the last 25 years. The internet has ...

Marshall Memo: Glass Show, Outer Space and Personnel Changes

Several matters dealing with the Marshall County Board of Education were approved at the board’s recent meeting. They were: - Personnel Resignations: Megan Pontus, Advisor, National Technical Society at John Marshall High School. August Hanson, assistant Golf Coach at JMHS. Neil McCormick, Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach at JMHS. Bryan Berger, Middle School Golf Advisor and Assistant Baseball Coach at Sherrard Middle. Kylee Benson, Assistant Volleyball Coach at JMHS. Ayla Greer, Technology Facilitator at Center McMechen Lisa Bowers, Assistant Volleyball Coach (MS) at ...

Manchin’s Declaration of Independence

I’m a news reporter, which means that rumors make me uncomfortable. I don’t usually report rumors. I like to have hard information in the form of documents and multiple sources, including sources willing to go on the record. This is why I have largely avoided the recent rumors being spread over the last couple of weeks about an alleged plan by some moderate Republicans and Democrats in West Virginia to pressure Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, the Democratic candidate for governor, to drop out of the race and be replaced by none other than outgoing U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin. In ...

Marshall Memo: Events at the Strand, and Summer Adventures

Some 21 events will be taking place during the remainder of the year involving the Historic Moundsville Strand Theatre. During the month of June the activities include: - June 8 — A Shrimp Boil to be held at the St. Jude Park in Glen Dale with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the first dump at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30. Entertainment will be by Mark Palmer. - June 17-22 — The Missoula Children’s Theatre Company is making another visit to Moundsville, returning with a free acting workshop for children who have completed kindergarten through age 18 and also senior citizens. ...

The Steel Needed To Build 40,000 Golden Gate Bridges

U.S. energy exports have become a critical economic driver for stability worldwide. U.S. natural gas, oil and coal have helped defang the power of dictators, proven essential to allies in replacing Russian and Iranian energy, and have become a jobs and tax revenue boon to states nationwide. One of the best success stories is the metallurgical coal used for steel making. While U.S. metallurgical coal — or “met” — is used for domestic steel production, much goes to exports, helping build tomorrow’s cities and infrastructure. When Americans think of coal, they think of ...

March for Freedom Is Not Forgotten This Memorial Day

Sometimes on one of those late spring days when Memorial Day comes, you can almost see them, marching, marching onward, the legion of the forgotten dead. In the soft stillness and solitude of a country graveyard in the evening hush, occasionally you can hear the muffled beat of a drum as the endless ranks of that forgotten legion slip by, file after file, in ghostly procession never ending. They materialize, these war dead whom we honor Memorial Day, somehow, when the eye wanders idly across old grave markers to halt at a small obelisk with worn carvings making the words almost ...