Breaking News

Opinion

Investment

Editorials

Governments have only a limited number of ways to support private businesses — large or small. Whether we like it or not, spending taxpayer money is one of them. The question becomes whether the return is larger than the investment — whether that money is being spent prudently. So, one can understand one of the objections to state House Bill 4004, to create the Recharge West Virginia program, from a few who wondered whether it was a good use of taxpayer dollars to support private businesses by incentivizing them to upskill existing employees. (It is harder to understand those who ...

Will computers revolutionize education?

Columnists

Last week The Economist carried an article under the title “Failing the screen test.” It describes examples of school systems that are not satisfied with their test results after using expensive digital learning devices. Many educators believe that increased screen time may actually impair learning by reducing the students’ attention spans and social interaction skills. “Fifty years after Apple began marketing computers to schools, classroom are awash with technology. Some 90% of high school students and 84% of primary school pupils have school-issued devices; four-fifths of ...

Discover the power of proving them right

Columnists

“Prove them right.” This was how Greg Hughes, Executive Vice President, Communications, NBC Sports responded when I asked him about his career success. Greg is currently immersed in Olympic and Super Bowl coverage and the NBA season and is ready for MLB Sunday night baseball. During dinner with Greg and his wife Lisa, he shared that he had spent the day with Bob Costas regarding the upcoming baseball season for NBC.  People ask me how I know Greg. The answer is through a mutual friend in Janesville, Wisconsin named Sam Loizzo. Sam passed a few years back. I knew Sam because we ...

Incidents of disorder

Columnists

Not content to allow the pot to simmer, Donald Trump’s FBI raided the Fulton County Board of Elections. This was after an attempt to cool off the situation in Minneapolis by simply changing the messenger without adjusting the message. To attempt to rewrite history by stubbornly claiming he won the 2020 election, he further imperils his Presidency. For one thing, states control their elections, and these results were certified in Georgia with a Republican Governor and Secretary of State. To top it off, he uses Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of Intelligence, who tried to outdo Kristi Noem ...

Sad Smiles

Editorials

Mountain State residents grew up knowing there were certain jokes that would be made at their expense once a person from another state found out they were West Virginians. Some variation on the “but you’re wearing shoes!” or “but you look like you have all your teeth!” was not uncommon. And we laughed it off. But the reality is West Virginia HAS struggled for generations — and still does struggle — with making dental health a priority. That’s backed up by a recent WalletHub study, “2026’s States with the Best and Worst Dental Health,” in which West Virginia ranks ...

Grim forecast

Columnists

For the Republican Party, the current forecast is grim. In Texas, a Democrat won a state Senate seat in a district Donald Trump won by seventeen points in 2024. Taylor Rehmet, the Democrat, won by fourteen points. It was a referendum on the Lone Star state’s belligerent Governor Greg Abbott and Trump’s immigration policy. And this is in the wake of extreme gerrymandering. Of course, the GOP will largely ignore these storm clouds. From Mike Johnson, whose arrogance embarrasses even the most hardened partisans, and Lindsey Graham, who is busy trying to get money to recompense for the ...