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ArtsBank offers fun February end

The ArtsBank Auction offers our community an event that is an entertaining way to finish out this cold winter month.  The doors at Orchard Hall will open at 6:30 this evening and excellent hors d’oeuvres will be ready for guests to enjoy. Music will accompany a time for mingling with friends and looking at the art offerings. The grand auction will begin at 8 p.m. ArtsBank has paid local artists to teach art lessons in Randolph County Public Schools for thirty years. These working artists go into classrooms for six weeks to teach elementary students how to paint or do other ...

Not Just On Islands

The crime of child sexual abuse has the nation’s attention lately in a way never seen before. While we collectively, and rightfully, seek justice for these victims, let’s not forget the kids up the street, or down the holler, who are currently in the midst of the same horrific experiences. Last year, Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in West Virginia saw 4,734 new kids, and of those, 2,182 were referred for suspected sexual abuse. 2,182 kids. That’s approximately 161 separate little league teams or 108 classrooms full of West Virginia kids who came to a WV CAC in 2025 because Child ...

Judicial defeat

The Supreme Court dealt Donald Trump’s program a significant judicial defeat. By a 6-3 margin, it denied the President power to unilaterally levy tariffs without congressional approval. Principally, it limits Trump’s use of the International Emergency Powers Act, which allows tariffs to be imposed during a “national emergency.” Jimmy Carter signed the law on Dec. 28, 1977. It was meant to curb Presidential power, but the Trump Justice Department incorrectly interpreted it as granting the President fiat authority. For Trump, the decision closely resembled the defeat dealt to ...

Vape Laws

In December, the West Virginia Tobacco Use and Prevention Task Force issued its annual report, and it is not comforting reading. According to the Task Force, West Virginia has one of the highest rates of youth vaping in America.  Nearly one in three West Virginia high school students admits to vaping within the previous 30 days—more than triple the national average.  Half of West Virginia high school students admit that they have tried it at least once.  Youth vaping at this scale does not happen by chance. It reflects the widespread availability of illegal ...

Jim Crow smears allowed by Democrat-aligned ‘Fact-Checkers’

The people who call themselves the “mainstream media” have a remarkable tendency to take the minority position on an 80-20 issue, most recently on requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. House Republicans have passed the SAVE Act, while Democrats have almost unanimously opposed it. But the American people do not. Gallup pollsters report 84% of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote — 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents, and 67% of Democrats. Large majorities of blacks and Latinos back it. Separately, 83% support the SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship when ...

Gambling on hope

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but on first glance it sure seems like both the Senate and House Finance Committees are sending messages to Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Perhaps the message is this: You can have a 10% personal income tax cut, or you can have the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program, but to have one, you’re going to have to accept changes to the other.  Morrisey’s general revenue budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 beginning July 1 is $5.493 billion, which is roughly 3.2% more than he proposed last year and the Legislature passed for the current fiscal ...