Breaking News

Local Columns

Bishop Darrell Cummings: It Takes a True Man to Be a Dad

The last 12 months have been something unique and special. In the last number of years certain things have been shaping my life. I found out what it is to be an orphan. In South Africa, where I am blessed to minister, anyone whose parents are deceased is considered an orphan. It does not matter the age of the child, if they are 5 years old, or 50 years old. If both of their parents are deceased, they are an orphan. In American culture we limit it to being an adolescent, or young age of 18 years old or younger. My mother died when I was 16 and my father died when I was 46. The world is ...

John McCabe: With Ohio County Schools’ Start Time Discussion, The Proposal Is Wrong, But The Objective Is Right

Three things became clear during this past Monday’s Ohio County Board of Education meeting, where possible changes to school start times appeared on the agenda following a proposal from the district’s school start time committee. First, the proposal presented to the board of education truly is not a workable solution. Simply moving all the schools back 30 minutes doesn’t benefit anyone, particularly parents of elementary school-aged children. Asking working families — many of whom may not have family support — to figure out how to get their children to school for a 9:40 a.m. ...

David H. McKinley: W.Va. 2026 Primary Was A Warning Worth Heeding

The 2026 West Virginia primary didn't go the way pro-jobs conservatives hoped. Millions of dollars flooded in from out-of-state groups running negative campaigns against candidates focused on jobs and economic growth. When the votes were counted, the State Senate was unchanged, the House barely shifted, and Republicans lost control of the judiciary for the first time in a decade. That last one stings. But a draw is not a defeat, and the fight is far from over. Here's what actually happened. Outside ideological organizations, working alongside local trial lawyers with little interest in ...

John McCabe: On Road Signs, Golf Carts and a Vision

Every time I drive Interstate 70 from Columbus to Wheeling, I find myself paying attention to the green highway signs. Not the ones telling me where to exit for Zanesville or Cambridge. I’m talking about the other ones. At various points around Columbus — the ones I really wonder over are in the city’s neighborhoods, leading to on-ramps to I-70 east — there it is: “Wheeling.” A name on a sign. A destination somewhere off in the distance. And I often ponder, what do the people living in those neighborhoods think when they see it? What image comes to mind? Do they ...

John McCabe: On Road Signs, Golf Carts And A Vision

Every time I drive Interstate 70 from Columbus to Wheeling, I find myself paying attention to the green highway signs. Not the ones telling me where to exit for Zanesville or Cambridge. I’m talking about the other ones. At various points around Columbus — the ones I really wonder over are in the city’s neighborhoods, leading to on-ramps to I-70 east — there it is: “Wheeling.” A name on a sign. A destination somewhere off in the distance. And I often ponder, what do the people living in those neighborhoods think when they see it? What image comes to mind? Do they ...

Brian Dayton: Every Vote Matters

Every vote matters. We have all heard that phrase countless times, and the 2026 Primary Election proved it once again. Three races for the House of Delegates were decided by six votes or less, and countless others by just a few dozen votes. This proves that you, the voter, taking the affirmative step to cast your ballot can impact the direction of our state. One entity, however, that did not seem to remember that every voter matters was the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee. A slight majority of the committee made the decision to undo forty years of precedent and ...