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Low Voter Turnout A Worrying Sign For Northern Panhandle

Editorials

The turnout numbers from Tuesday’s primary election here in West Virginia should concern anyone who truly cares about our representative government. Across the six counties in our region — Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Brooke and Hancock — average turnout in this year’s primary was just 24.4%. That means fewer than one in four registered voters took part in choosing the candidates that will shape our communities, our schools, our courts and our future. That figure is part of a troubling trend. The average turnout for comparable off-presidential year primaries over the past ...

It's Time For A New Approach For West Virginia

Editorials

Gov. Patrick Morrisey invested into getting some of his candidates nominated in last week’s primary election. Let us hope the governor takes that same passion into a much more meaningful project for our state’s future — turning around decades of population decline. On Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its latest population figures for cities and towns, based on July 1, 2025 estimates. As expected, only a few cities in West Virginia have seen population increases since the official 2020 Census (Morgantown and Martinsburg are the only two among the cities with 10,000 ...

West Virginia Not the Guinea Pig for Power-Hungry Governor

Local Columns

There is a question worth asking before the May 12 Republican Primary, and it cuts straight to the bone: does Patrick Morrisey think West Virginians are stupid? Because the playbook he is running this primary season only works if we are. The governor of our state is publicly endorsing primary challengers to sitting Republicans who had the nerve to vote their conscience instead of his orders. Now, his First Lady has personally cut $2,800 maximum-dollar checks to the people running against incumbents like House Finance Chairman Vernon Criss and Sen. Deeds. That alone would be a break ...

The Calm Before The Tuesday Storm

Local Columns

We're now in the calm before the Tuesday storm, and I've never wanted an election to be over more than this one. Seriously, this primary election cycle has been pure obnoxiousness, but I fear this may be how future GOP primaries are from here on out: A combination of conservative-on-conservative infighting and out-of-state interests dropping Brinks trucks of cash to test messaging on issues conservatives see differently. I am not one of those who cries about the amount of money in politics. As I've said frequently, elections cost money: Mailers, ads, commercials, billboards, signs, ...

Ice Cream, War and Its Cost to Americans

Local Columns

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 ...

Time For Real Leadership On State’s Greyhound Issue

Local Columns

The Northern Panhandle loves dogs. They are members of our families and deserve to be protected from individuals and industries that would do them harm. That is why I support ending greyhound racing in West Virginia. Dog racing proponents claim that the effort to end greyhound racing is being pushed by people who don’t live in the Northern Panhandle. But I’ve lived here my entire life. In fact, I was born on the Market Street Bridge between Ohio and West Virginia, in the back seat of a Wellsburg Police car. After retiring from a successful career as an account executive in the ...