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Opinion

Census surprise

Columnists

About a month late, presumably due to last fall’s government shutdown, the Census Bureau has released its estimates of the populations of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for July 1, 2025. It provides an interesting picture of what the country is, and is becoming, halfway through the decade of the 2020s and one-quarter of the way through (have we really gotten this far?) the 21st century. It also provides some political dynamite, all the more explosive because of Census Bureau statisticians’ deserved reputation for apolitical rigor and willingness to admit mistakes, as it ...

Reality

Editorials

Though Gov. Patrick Morrisey may have had the weight of Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist behind him on his recent visit to Parkersburg, the reality is unchanged: Lawmakers have already put in place a mechanism to reduce what West Virginians pay in income tax, and the state did not meet markers to trigger another cut as recently as August. Despite that, Morrisey has gone from pitching a 5% to 10% income tax cut to going all-in at 10%. “West Virginians deserve to keep more of what they earn,” Morrisey said. “We tightened the budget, made tough choices, and put ...

Rough first year

Columnists

To say the very least, Donald Trump has had a rough first year. His coalition is strained, with MAGA losing ground and traditional Conservative Republicans gaining more say. Nothing he does other than claim he is prepared to annex Greenland or a faux boast of being a peacemaker advances Populism. He sounds more like Richard Nixon every day, tough talk without purpose. As to the similarity with traditional hard-shell Conservatism, Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture urged austerity when she highlighted a three-dollar meal. Brooke Rollins suggested a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, ...

Former officer looks at Minneapolis events

Letters to the Editor

Long ago I had a federal law enforcement commission. I didn’t get it by answering an ad and I didn’t get a huge sign-on bonus when I was hired. I sacrificed years and much else to get it. I did the job I had the best I was able to. I received Federal Law Enforcement training from both West Virginia University and a private accredited school. The No. 1 rule in law enforcement that was pounded into you right off is “you can not shoot a fleeing felon.” A felon is not someone that an officer might just want to detain, or stop. There are times when an officer can use deadly ...

Remembering the Challenger disaster

Columnists

I learned this week that there were two teacher candidates from each of the 50 states for the ill-fated Challenger mission by reading an article in the Charleston Gazette. Melanie Vickers was a teacher candidate from West Virginia, and she knew Christa McAuliff in a NASA training class. After the Challenge explosion, Vickers helped raise funds to create a memorial statue for Christa McAuliff in Charleston near the former Sunrise Museum. Melanie Vickers said she believed that “Christa would want us to protect the future and show our children what’s possible … And that the ...

The hidden cost of leadership inexperience

Columnists

How much impact does leadership inexperience have on your organization? I feel the sleeping giant today in terms of operational excellence is the number of new people. By this, I mean those who are new to the organization as well as those who are new to the role in general. For example, a person might be experienced in leadership but new to the organization. Or, they might be part of the organization, but new to leadership.  In both cases, the lack of experience impacts operations—often in a good way but sometimes in a not-so-good way. Layer in the inexperience on the ...