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First Friday Focus on Education

The first meeting of our “First Friday Focus on Education” group at Kump Education Center was well attended by 15 of people who really care about education. We had parents, grandparents, teachers and college education professors. At the end of the meeting, the group wanted to create a representative citizens council from local schools to collaborate with the leadership in the county office. Many topics were discussed, but the one problem that stands out most is that we need better communication to help citizens understand what is happening in the schools and why. People from Harman ...

Spring cleaning the government

It’s a bit early for spring cleaning but that’s what President Trump and his faithful companion Elon Musk appear to be doing. When I was a child, every spring my mother would open closets and check the attic and basement for clothes and other items that could be discarded or given to charity. Sometimes it was difficult to part with them, especially if they had sentimental value, but generally we went along with most of it because clutter was regarded as unnecessary and taking up space that could be used for other things. Today’s cable shows have programs about what they call ...

Vance visits East Palestine, promising to be ‘honest and transparent’

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance said his return to the village of East Palestine on the second anniversary of the explosive train derailment was about more than just showing up. “I think showing up is important, but there is action behind it,” he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner after a roundtable with local stakeholders, first responders and community businessowners. “So when people say we want to rebuild here, we also want to have confidence long term that it’s safe and environmentally sound. Well, the only way you can do that is by ...

The rise of Musk Derangement Syndrome

Democrats have finally found someone they hate more than Donald Trump. Elon Musk, who is currently running roughshod over the federal bureaucracy with a sleep-deprived team of brilliant young tech geeks, is the public enemy of the hour. After a devastating election loss and three weeks into a whirlwind Trump administration, what most animates a leaderless Democratic Party is their collective shock and horror occasioned by Elon Musk and his handiwork. If Trump Derangement Syndrome has abated somewhat, Musk Derangement Syndrome has arisen to fill the vacuum. Democrats are ...

Celebrating love at D&E

The ceremony was a simple one. Barefoot under their beloved weeping cherry tree, the couple renewed the vows they had exchanged 49 years earlier. Their two daughters and their families, along with their Davis & Elkins College family, surrounded them with love. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, this week’s column celebrates love on the D&E campus—past and present. Cupid’s arrow has found its mark on many students over the years and continues to do so today. Winding the clock back to 1971, two young freshmen braved the winding mountain roads to Elkins, West Virginia. ...

Yeas and nays

On Wednesday, I will begin my 15th year involved with the start of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular 60-day session. I moved to Charleston on a snowy January in 2010 a week before the start of that session. I had just started one year prior a news website on behalf of a libertarian think tank focused on government transparency and accountability called West Virginia Watchdog. This was a good 13 years before non-profit-funded journalism would become cool. As a print and radio news reporter in the Mid-Ohio Valley in the mid-2000s, I followed West Virginia politics and wrote ...