Breaking News

Columnists

In bleak midwinter we need a cozy quilt

The title of a favorite Christmas carol has been a real inspiration to me during these last weeks of extreme cold. Bleak midwinters have been part of life in these West Virginia hills for thousands of years, and finding ways to keep warm has been a central focus for women in all cold climates. They had to cobble together whatever they could find to keep warm. Making quilts out of what they had was essential for survival in earlier times, but by the 1880s during the religious Great Awakening and the American Gilded Age creating crazy quilts became a socially acceptable art form. These ...

Executive privilege

I praised Gov. Patrick Morrisey in a recent column for his candidness regarding future issues with the general revenue budget. I once again have to praise Morrisey for laying more of his cards out on the table. Morrisey held a press conference Thursday providing an update on the general revenue budget for fiscal year 2026 beginning in July. That’s the budget Morrisey will present to lawmakers on Feb. 12. According to Morrisey’s new revenue team, they are projecting a $400 million hole in the FY26 budget as of Morrisey’s first day in office last Monday – around $100 million ...

A Better Path

There has been a great deal of engagement with Randolph County Schools in recent weeks, and it stands out as a bright spot amidst the challenging decisions facing our school system. These decisions are undeniably difficult and impact our students and families across the district. Yet, this engagement has revealed some significant areas we need to improve to advance our schools. I have seen an increase in attendance at board meetings, which is encouraging. However, I have also observed people leaving before explanations and evidence are presented and the spread of misrepresented facts, ...

Populations down, expenses up

Last week we proposed that a group of citizens concerned about public education meet regularly at Kump Education Center on the first Friday of every month. Because several people have shown their interest, we plan to hold our first meeting Friday, Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. in the Learning Lab at Kump Center, 401 S. Randolph Ave. across from Kroger. Now that we know Harman and Pickens Schools will not be closing, we need to look for other options that will make Randolph County Schools more effective. With county achievement test scores nearly the lowest in West Virginia and Harman High ...

Budget questions

Both Democrats and Republicans face ample economic contradictions as Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency. On the surface, the economy looks good overall, with unemployment at 4.1% and inflation at around 2.5%. But the budget deficit is north of $35 trillion. As a result, gold is at a record high, bitcoin is considered a hedge, and the primacy of the dollar is a matter of conjecture. Surprisingly Trump and the Democrats (at least as far as the deficit is concerned) appear to be on the same page. The Donald does not like the debt ceiling any more than Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck ...

California’s arid reality

We recall the catastrophic fires in Maui almost two years ago, then the horde of unusually violent hurricanes trashing Florida’s west coast. To the surprise of many, those storms unleashed cataclysmic flooding in western North Carolina, up there in the mountains. All these extreme weather events were tied in part to warming temperatures. As for wiping out large parts of an entire civilization, though, nothing can match the wildfires torching community after community in and around Los Angeles. But in the case of Los Angeles, the problem isn’t just climate change. It’s the climate ...