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Bringing down the gavel

Columnists

The two leaders of the West Virginia Legislature came under scrutiny last week for different issues, though one is being more transparent than the other one. First, my friend Brad McElhinny with West Virginia MetroNews reported last week that a political action committee connected to Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, began putting up ads attacking a rival, state Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, as he faces a contested GOP primary. The PAC, Mountaineer Conservative Coalition, pushed an ad taking Takubo to task for a 2021 vote on the bill now called the Save Women’s Sports Act. ...

United we stand, divided we fall, even now

Columnists

For a brief window this coming week, Passover and Holy Week, the sacred observances of Jews and Christians, respectively, will overlap. Jews around the world will gather this Wednesday and Thursday evenings for the Seder, which recounts the Exodus from Egypt and God’s redemptive hand in history. And after Good Friday and Holy Saturday on Sunday, April 5, Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal salvation. Two biblical traditions, distinct but from the same Abrahamic family tree, will thus find themselves marking holy seasons at the same ...

Arc of justice

Columnists

Former President Barack Obama liked to quote the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s line that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Of course, what was an expression of optimism for the moral reformer King was more in the nature of a victory spike of the football for a competitor in a zero-sum electoral contest like Obama. More importantly, the belief that things are moving toward justice comes more naturally to believers in American exceptionalism, of which Obama isn’t one. He famously said that he believed in America’s exceptionalism only as much ...

Harman resident pleads for school

Letters to the Editor

I’ve been a resident of Harman for nearly 60 years. My wife, my three children and myself all graduated from Harman School. I’m writing to you because of your decision to close Harman School; a beautiful school with a sense of pride that no other school has. A school that remains today because of a supportive and hardworking community that built it back after the 2017 flood. Do your realize what your decision will do to our part of Randolph County? Yes, Harman School is a part of Randolph County, and it and its people deserve the same respect as any other school in the county. ...

School plans must include kindness

Columnists

Kindness must have a place in public school planning. Terry George is bringing a kinder attitude to the management of the Randolph County Schools.  He has a long history of working in Randolph County, his family has attended the schools and taught in the RCPS system.  George served as superintendent here and elsewhere when the state school board assigned him to help correct problems in other counties. Reduction in Force will not completely solve the school problems in this county.  When we lose our best teachers, we also lose students.  Parents want their own children to attend ...

Trump’s promises

Columnists

Given the turmoil of Donald Trump’s second term, it might be useful to inquire about MAGA’s “populism”. The actions of the administration reflect no populist concerns; indeed, the opposite is true. If Richard Hofstadter once called John C. Calhoun the “Marx of the Master Class” it would seem that Trump is a populist of the same stripe. As in the first administration, Trump has given billions in tax cuts to his beloved Mar-a-Lago set. Moreover, his disastrous tariffs have only further burdened the middle and lower classes with yet another regressive tax. The only thing that ...