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A Trusted Voice To Serve Our Region

Editorials

We just marked National Newspaper Week, an important reminder of the vital role newspapers play in informing and uniting the communities they serve. Newspapers are more than a source of headlines — they are the heartbeat of democracy at the local level, providing trusted, accurate reporting that helps citizens understand the world around them. For generations, newspapers have stood as guardians of truth, holding those in power accountable and ensuring transparency in government. From your local city council to your county school board, no institution better chronicles the workings of ...

Strong Public Schools Vital to West Virginia’s Future

Local Columns

Well-educated students who are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st Century are vital to our success as a state. Today’s students will have unprecedented opportunity to succeed in life if they are properly educated and prepared. Earlier this month, West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty pointed to important facts regarding the West Virginia school-age population and regulations regarding school funding. Mr. Hardesty correctly points out that in order to improve public education, legislators must remove regulations put in place by their predecessors that ...

President Donald Trump Really Is Man in the Arena

Local Columns

If you are one of millions of Americans who watch the news, and are angry about current political events, please permit me to explain how our TV news media works. The media is not paid by you, the American citizen, for the morning news. All of those reporters, journalists, and talking head commentators are paid with corporate advertising dollars; the pharmaceuticals, car companies, beverage makers, tech giants, etc. And all of them are multinational corporations, which means their loyalty is to their investors, and not to the United States of America. Like that media, our two-party ...

Politicians Fight Culture Wars, West Virginia Loses Jobs

Local Columns

A recent local news headline read: “Manufacturing plant moving from West Virginia to Ohio, creating new jobs.” This is an unfortunate sign of the times for our state, which has lost the job-creating momentum created after business-friendly Republicans took control back in 2015. Unfortunately, a lot of Republican politicians seem more focused on fighting culture wars and creating new opportunities for lawsuits than growing our economy. Even though a majority of West Virginia voters want their leaders focused on economic growth, many legislators prioritize hot-button social ...

Credit Education Needed

Editorials

For some Ohioans, use of credit cards is a carefully planned luxury — perhaps used to ensure the accumulation of lots of airline or hotel points — for purchases that can be paid off within a month or two. But for Buckeye State residents between the ages of 18 and 34, a recent analysis of Federal Reserve data shows the use of credit cards feels like a necessity — and one that is causing them to rack up higher-than-average levels of debt. Along with those high levels of debt come high levels of delinquency, according to a report on the data by the Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio ...

Looking at West Virginia’s Future With FEMA

Editorials

It was not only state officials who noticed a difference in the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency treated West Virginia in June, as opposed to previous interactions. Mountain State residents didn’t just notice it, they felt the consequences. Doug Buffington, acting secretary of the state Department of Homeland Security and a senior advisor to Gov. Patrick Morrisey, covered his bases when he declared “I have nothing bad to say about FEMA,” while he spoke to lawmakers earlier this week. But with that out of the way, he talked to them about his interaction with the FEMA ...