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Red Cross

Editorials

“We never take a holiday because disasters never take a holiday.” As Wood County Commissioners recognized American Red Cross Month, Sharon Kesselring, executive director of the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley, reminded them just how vital the organization is to our communities. All across West Virginia, the Red Cross provides services to the armed forces, disaster services, training for CPR and first aid and, of course, blood and blood product services. Kesselring said the Red Cross in her area helped 81 people, and “put more than $22,000 into the pockets of ...

All eyes on Hegseth

Columnists

Watching Secretary of War, or is it defense, Pete Hegseth, trying to transmit the latest from the front is a fairly queasy exercise. He tries to be definitive but casually dismisses every concern by stressing that you “Don’t need to worry about it”. Compare his facile analysis with Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine’s sharp and incisive reports. Caine sees War as serious, not a game to play on a phone. He is not optimistic nor pessimistic; he is just the facts, and nothing but the facts. Hegseth blends many of the worst traits of the Viet Nam style of optimism without ...

Disgusting

Editorials

A group of lawmakers who repeatedly try to earn cheap political points by talking about how precious West Virginia children are to them showed their true colors Saturday in ugly fashion. Legislators had a chance to pass House Bill 5537 — Raylee’s Law, which would have prohibited county boards of education from approving a request for home school instruction for an enrolled public school if there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation against that child’s parent or guardian. There is already proof the law is necessary. Raylee Browning died in 2018 as a result of child ...

Beware the Ides of March

Columnists

William Shakespeare gave us a great line with the warning to Julious Caesar to “beware the ides of March.” But that warning should have been given to the House of Delegates a few hours earlier Saturday on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. I’m referring to the trainwreck of parliamentary procedure and calendar management regarding House Bill 5537, the bill that became the vehicle for this year’s version of Raylee’s Law to help protect children when they’re parents or guardians try to pull them from public school while under CPS investigation.  The state ...

‘Easy way out’ may not be so easy after all

Columnists

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about how it’s “taking the easy way out” to use GLP-1s to lose weight. That may be true. But then again, you might be able to say the same thing about virtually every medical advancement. When you boil it down, chemotherapy is “taking the easy way out” of testicular cancer. Penicillin is “taking the easy way out” of a bacterial infection. The MMR shot is “taking the easy way out” of getting the measles. You could be suffering and dying along with everyone else who’s had the problem since the beginning of time but, instead, you’re ...

Trump reverses Obama

Columnists

Donald Trump has always been the anti-Obama. He rose in opposition to President Obama and has reversed many of his Democratic predecessor’s policies. But perhaps no Trump undertaking runs more directly counter to Obama’s approach than the Iran War. Obama sought to accommodate the Iranian regime, while Trump hopes to topple it. Obama tolerated an Iranian nuclear program, even if one theoretically constrained by a nuclear deal, whereas Trump wants to destroy it. Obama facilitated the rise of Iranian power in the region. Trump, in contrast, is endeavoring to crush it. Back ...