Ends, no matter how laudable, are no justification for using questionable means to achieve them. Either we engage in the delicate balancing act required to preserve our freedoms, or we do not. Either we follow our moral compasses in any situation, or we do not. What brought all that up, you ...

Thank you to the Education Committee in the West Virginia House of Delegates for taking time to fully consider each part of Senate Bill 451. The Omnibus Education Reform Bill put many proposals on the table; some may improve schools in West Virginia, but others threaten the very existence ...

Democrats were reminded after President Donald Trump’s well-received State of the Union that all glory is fleeting. Suddenly Trump saw his numbers go back into the mid-40 percent, recovering those mushy Republicans and Independents that deserted him during the government shutdown. Their on ...

Writing a weekly column is both a privilege and a responsibility. In attempting to keep this communication fresh for the reader, I try to vary the focus on differing topics relevant to Davis & Elkins College. As I am “Reflecting Along the Journey” this day, I find myself thinking of the ...

For those who value substance over rhetoric in foreign policy, the last few weeks have been a horror. Despite promising a new director in foreign policy, Donald Trump, like Barack Obama before him, has become a predictable hard-liner. With the war monger John Bolton pushing him, Trump practiced ...

The West Virginia House of Representative Finance Committee is considering Senate Bill 451 (the Education Reform Bill). This is the time for serious questions about how to fund the 5 percent teacher pay raise and to refinance PEIA benefits. Miscellaneous provisions for public charter school ...

Hello from Barbour County! I sure have been enjoying when the temperatures are up into the 50's and 60's, but I'm afraid that it won't last. That's OK. Spring will be here before we know it. Barbour County Little League Baseball signups are taking place every Saturday in February at the ...

Prospective students and their parents filled the Great Hall of Halliehurst at a recent Open House event. They were an attentive audience. One of the many privileges I have as president of Davis & Elkins College is to address the attendees at these Open House events throughout the ...

Imagine responding to the doorbell some Halloween night, opening the front door and finding in front of you a youngster dressed as a Native American from the late 1700s, holding a doll smeared in blood. “So, who are you?” “I’m a Shawnee warrior” he might respond, holding up a ...

Donald Trump’s shutdown of the government reflects a larger problem within the Republican party and the conservative movement. This ill-begotten action was done to appease those two relics of reaction, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, outhpieces of the “base” who managed to take a done deal ...

The Education Reform Bill [Senate Bill 451] is a perfect example of an omnibus piece of legislation full of miscellaneous provisions. However, higher teacher pay and better benefits are the real education issues that West Virginia legislators need to address. SB 451 provides a 5 percent pay ...

Honesty is the best policy. Therefore, I will admit that making an annual pilgrimage to Florida is preferable in January rather than July! Having recently returned from several days traversing the state from coast to coast and points in-between, I joined members of our Institutional Advancement ...

Where were the adults? That’s the question we ought to be asking about what happened to a group of Kentucky high school kids last weekend in Washington. Why were the teenagers left without capable adult help in an explosive atmosphere? Who thought it was a good idea to involve them in a big ...

More and more, public officials at all levels are adopting the opinion that people are either for them or against them. The corollary to that, in their minds, is that if you’re against them, you must be not just wrong, but mean-spirited. Even asking questions about what they do and ...

On Wednesday, Jan.16, I reintroduced the Life at Conception Act. As the Representative of the 17 beautiful counties which comprise West Virginia’s Second Congressional District, I am honored to be the lead sponsor of the Life at Conception Act (H.R. 616). My bill simply defines human life ...

Make no mistake, improving teacher pay is the most important issue West Virginia legislators have to decide this session. The world is watching to see what our law makers do next. The Senate “School Choice” proposal is just a distraction from the central problem of poor teacher pay and ...

To demonstrate how retrograde the Republican party has become, the reaction to Representative Steve King’s remarks have been slow and awkward. Perhaps the leadership wonders what all the fuss is about. In the past, King spouted derogatory remarks against immigrants at will and received not so ...

Hello from Barbour County! It's hard to believe that the first month of the year is almost over. It just seems like a week ago that we were celebrating Christmas. Maybe this means that I'm getting old? I hope not. Today, Jan. 26, there will be a Wild Game Feed at the Belington Fire Hall ...

“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.” These words from the beautiful Christmas hymn aptly describe this present season in the majestic West Virginia ...

This past summer, my wife and I were blessed to visit Atlanta, Georgia. There are many great sights to see in that metropolitan city. It was our goal to see the sights referring to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We were blessed to go to his birth house where we heard stories of how he did not ...