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The Curious Case of Caiden Cowger

When writing about lobbyists in my column last summer, I wrote about Caiden Cowger, a Republican political operative and the president of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia. While Cowger’s predecessor at the Family Policy Council, Allen Whitt, was a registered lobbyist with the West Virginia Ethics Commission, Cowger has never registered as a lobbyist. As such, he also provides no expenditure reports to the Ethics Commission. Yet, Cowger actively lobbies on specific issues directly to lawmakers during legislative sessions and has acted almost as an unpaid staffer for ...

Path to Success Is Clear for YSU

I’ve been the president of Youngstown State for nearly two months now, and despite some of the negative publicity at the beginning, we’ve gotten off to a running start on success. In fact, there are some really great things happening here at the University. In the job I left — in the world of American politics these days — there was little teamwork, and some would say even less progress. But here on the campus of YSU, just like our animal kingdom penguin friends, we’re pulling together like family and getting things done. Countless YSU supporters have expressed their ...

Marshall Memo: Traveling Trunk; Students Honored; and Art Show

Launched in January 2023, Cockayne’s traveling trunk program has continued to grow this year. Last year the program featured two trunks — one covering life during the Victorian Era, and one focused on WWII local history. This year Cockayne has completed various visits in surrounding schools. Several schools that got a visit came to the farmhouse on field trips. There are several upcoming events at the Marshall County Historical Society and Cockayne Farmstead. This Monday, March 18, a banquet to be held at the Strand Theatre will introduce new board members and the 2024 History ...

Looking Back at the Legislative Session

As I write this Sunday morning following the end of this year’s 60-day session of the West Virginia Legislature, I’m trying to wrap my head around everything. When one looks back at this particular session, I have no idea what the takeaways will be. I stand by my contention a few weeks ago that this was largely a lackluster session. I decided to do some compare and contrast. As of the stroke of midnight Saturday, 280 bills had completed the legislative process, meaning they were passed by both the House of Delegates and the state Senate (38 of those bills have already been signed ...

Protecting Our Kids From Social Media

Like many of you, I am concerned about the effect that social media is having on America’s youth. I have eight grandchildren, and while I am glad that we are able to connect and stay in touch via social media, I am devastated to see the negative effects these platforms can have on children. It’s important that we do all we can to protect our children from online threats that pose a great risk to their development and their safety. These platforms must be responsible for the content provided to our youth and tools must be in place to prevent harm. According to a U.S. Surgeon ...

Marshall Memo: OnTrac Award; Softball Tourney; and Entrepreneurs

Four representatives of the city of Moundsville — Mayor Sara Wood-Shaw, Vice Mayor David Wood, Secretary Sara Jasenec and City Manager Rick Healy — traveled this past week to Charleston for the OnTrac Award Ceremony. The four were presented with a Certificate of Recognition signed by Gov. Jim Justice for being designated as an OnTrac Community. Healy said, “We also had the first official training for the program.” It was announced that Mayor Wood-Shaw and Secretary Jasenec would be the co-liaisons for the program. “This is an exciting step forward for our Historic ...