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We’re all ‘day-to-day’ so act with urgency

“He is listed as day-to-day.” This is a term used in sports when there is uncertainty about whether a player will play in an upcoming game. Vin Scully, the late, great play-by-play announcer of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, immortalized this term when he said, “He’s day-to-day, but then again, aren’t we all?”  This quote became top of my mind when I spent time with Harold Dawson, a friend of mine. Both of us know the dash after our birth date to the end date is shrinking. We discussed the topic of urgency. We have a much greater sense of urgency now. We want to make ...

Springtime brings visible changes

This spring is special at Kump Education Center because we are celebrating our centennial year and making wonderful changes at the historic Kump house. We have many people to thank for the help they have given to make a difference at our Kump House landmark. First, we are proud to announce that we have a $24,000 matching grant from the West Virginia Historic Preservation Office to replace two roofs on the back of the house. Our sincere thanks go to Randolph County Commissioners Kisling, See, and Siler for providing $8,000 to help us match this preservation grant. It was so good to ...

Trump’s tariffs

Donald Trump’s tariff policy startled world stock markets and threw financial institutions into turmoil. It represented a considerable gamble, but it should not have been unexpected. Trump has been, since 1987, an opponent of globalization, seeing it as a threat to both producers and workers. As with Ross Perot in 1992, Trump foresaw the “great sucking sound” with the advent of NAFTA. The only question that should bother Trump’s advisors is whether the President had waited too long to introduce them. Many years have passed since “the new world order” economically went into ...

Jordan House

Members of the Davis & Elkins College community are familiar with the historic campus mansions of Graceland and Halliehurst. But did you know there’s a third historic home on campus? In 1936, construction was completed on the home of Sue and Thomas Davis Lee, known today as the “Jordan House.” If her walls could talk… She appears like a hidden gem above the long winding gravel drive off Harpertown Road, on the eastern edge of campus near the Sigma Phi Epsilon lodge. Like the campus’ other storied mansions, the Davis family tree ties all three properties together. Senator ...

The final countdown

Finally, we’ve come to the final six days of the 60-day legislative session. At midnight on Saturday, April 12, the lawmakers will complete their work and adjourn sine die. The budget bill is in the process of being worked on, with the House of Delegates passing its budget Friday and the state Senate set to insert its version of the budget bill this week. The budget can be somewhat of a game, even though it’s literally the only bill required to be done. It also must be balanced in compliance with the state Constitution. But by game, I mean it’s the job of the House to defend ...

Tariffs are stupid and self-defeating

A Wall Street Journal editorial described President Donald Trump’s tariffs as the “dumbest trade war in history.” It’s important not to overrate intelligence, even in leaders. Judgment and maturity may be more crucial. But Trump is no ordinary dunce. He displays a stubborn stupidity that threatens to plunge the world into chaos and potentially into depression. It should go without saying that our constitutional system was never meant to be so vulnerable to the whims and fantasies of one man. Nothing as critical as the entire world trading system or the maintenance of the NATO ...