Breaking News

Local Columns

Ice Cream, War and Its Cost to Americans

A few years ago, my wife was at the grocery store when a fellow shopper spoke to her in the freezer section. He reached for a half gallon of ice cream, looked at the price, and casually blamed then-President Barack Obama for how much he had to pay. And so it goes for every president. Wendy Edelberg, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings said, “in a typical presidential term, the president might get credit or blame ... because he has taken credit… and then it seems fair that if you’re going to take credit, we’re also going to blame you.” That criticism is often ...

Tallying the True Cost of Being a Mother in 2026

In 1962 a group called, “The Limeliters,” released a new song on their album. A few months later,” Pete Seeger the writer of the song, put it on his album as well. It was not until 1965 that a folk-rock band named The Byrds made the song famous. The song was entitled “Turn! Turn! Turn!” It is said to have rocketed to the top on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and gained worldwide popularity. The listeners seemed to enjoy the lyrics. The lyrics go something like this, "To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A ...

National Hospital Week: Healing Happens Here: Hospitals Save Lives, Communities Thrive

Each year, National Hospital Week offers an opportunity to recognize the vital role hospitals play in our daily lives. From May 10–16, we celebrate a simple but powerful truth: healing happens here. In West Virginia, our hospitals do more than treat illness—they save lives and help communities thrive. Hospitals are the backbone of communities across the Mountain State for one fundamental reason: they show up. No matter the hour, and no matter the need, hospitals are there. In a state defined by close-knit communities and rural landscapes, that reliability isn’t just ...

Reporter’s Notebook: Republican Street Fight

Last week, I noted how shocked I was by the sheer amount of spending by political action committees and independent expenditure committees in statehouse races for this primary period. As I reported last week, just five groups had spent more than $1.6 million in a 30-day period between March and April 22. Well, a mere one week later and those same five groups have spent more than $2.6 million. So, in the span of a week, these groups increased their spending by $953,709 – nearly $1 million in just seven days. The five groups in this total include Americans for Prosperity, Sugar ...

Seeing Green

If you read my weekend story about the spending by five independent expenditure groups and political action committees, then I assume you’re as shellshocked as I am. Quite frankly, I have never seen this amount of money spent in midterm statehouse races in my life. We're talking more than $1.6 million in the span of roughly 30-40 days. This isn't even including the direct spending by the candidates themselves. I can't speak for other parts of the state. But I can tell you here in Charleston where I live, I have mostly received mailers for GOP candidates in the 8th Senatorial ...

Outsiders Buying Elections, West Virginia Families Paying For It

West Virginians already carry one of the heaviest economic burdens in America. Fewer of us work than in almost any other state. Those who do work, earn wages that lag the rest of the country, electric bills among the highest in the region, and the most expensive private health insurance costs in the nation. For 84 years, single-party rule from Charleston made all of that worse. But when conservatives took control of the state legislature in 2014, something changed. Real reforms took hold. Our economy grew. People began moving to West Virginia for jobs, not away from it. Lawsuit abuse ...