Breaking News

Local Columns

Clean Water For West Virginians Is A Congressional Priority

Spring in West Virginia is truly “almost heaven.” Life comes back to our forests, wildflowers scatter across the mountains, and spring rains send cold water rushing through our mountain streams and rivers. Unfortunately, many West Virginians don’t have reliable access to that clean, cold water when they turn on their taps. Indeed, some West Virginians’ water is so filthy that it is not fit for drinking. In some cases, the water even causes blistering when used for bathing. This is completely unacceptable and should not be happening in the United States of America. That is why ...

A Call Home: McKinley Never Lost Touch With The People He Served

It became common practice over a dozen years in this editor’s chair that at least one or two Thursday or Friday afternoons each month were reserved for a phone call from then-U.S. Rep. David McKinley. McKinley, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives during that time, would use at least an hour of his drive from Washington, D.C., back to Wheeling to call this newspaper and speak with either me or my predecessor, the late J. Michael Myer, to get a feel for what was happening in his district. McKinley understood that a politician who truly cares about doing what is ...

Reporter’s Notebook: To The Moon

If you're reading this today, I am in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands in the middle of my third Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm writing this column before shipping off from Port Canaveral in Florida along the Space Coast, a short drive away from the launchpad where the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon took off. It seems every time I leave for my annual vacation, which sometimes is a cruise but usually is a week’s stay at my mother-in-law's timeshare in Kissimmee, I miss witnessing a rocket launch of some sort. These days, it's usually a SpaceX launch. In fact, ...

To The Moon

If you're reading this today, I am in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands in the middle of my third Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm writing this column before shipping off from Port Canaveral in Florida along the Space Coast, a short drive away from the launchpad where the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon took off. It seems every time I leave for my annual vacation, which sometimes is a cruise but usually is a week’s stay at my mother-in-law's timeshare in Kissimmee, I miss witnessing a rocket launch of some sort. These days, it's usually a SpaceX launch. In fact, ...

Pope Urging Leaders To See Wisdom Of Christ’s Words

Columnist Cal Thomas fired his guns at Pope Leo XIV for his comments on the armed conflict going on in the Middle East and the Pope’s preference for negotiation over war (The Intelligencer, April 10, 2026). A rebuttal is in order. First, this Pope or any Pope’s comments on a political situation are not infallible. Papal infallibility in Catholic practice is very rare and is carefully circumscribed to deal only with matters of faith and morals that can affect the eternal welfare of the faithful. Pope Leo has not claimed his views are infallible. Second, Mr. Thomas seems to think ...

Reporter’s Notebook: The Action Of Inaction

We can now put a bow on the now-completed 2026 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature now that Gov. Patrick Morrisey has acted on most of the 306 bills passed during the 60-day time period between Jan. 14 and March 14. Morrisey had 15 days, not counting Sundays, following the sine die adjournment of the Legislature at midnight March 14 to decide to sign bills, veto bills or let bills go into law without his signature. And that is exactly what he did with 10 bills, choosing not to sign or veto those bills. The question some have is why? You can make some assumptions about ...