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Reducing anxiety: Improving customer experience

Columnists

Anxiety is a normal human condition. We feel it in the form of worry, nervousness, or discomfort about a situation that may involve uncertainty, danger, or an anticipated future event. At times, anxiety in moderation is helpful. It can improve performance, motivate us to act, spur us on to solve problems, and alert us to potential threats.  When anxiety stops being occasional and becomes constant, it stops helping and starts working against us. That’s where I find myself. I must constantly rewire my thinking. I tend to project worst-case scenarios. For me, this thought pattern came ...

Tale of Two Towns Continues

Columnists

Last week my column told how Elkins and Richwood were important towns to my family a hundred years ago. This week the focus is updated from the significance of timber to the importance of tourism in the Monongahela National Forest. Today the glorious forest region attracts both artists and tourists. The natural beauty and botanical diversity of our Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) is helping to give wider recognition to nine towns in the Mon Forest Towns Partnership (MFTP). This national heritage area includes nine Mon Forest towns: Cowen, Davis, Durbin, Elkins, ...

How to help shelter animals

Letters to the Editor

Animals, through no fault of their own, end up in shelters. There are many reasons: strays, abandoned animals that came from people, surrendered pets, deceased or sick owners, court ordered shelter care till cases are resolved in court, and injured animals that owners can't afford  to pay vet bills. Some of these animals need to be euthanized due to injuries or bad behavioral problems. Some of the animals don't do well in a small kennel. The Randolph County Humane Society is landlocked, so dogs aren't able to go outside to use the bathroom or enjoy the outside. They need to go out ...

Trump's foreign policy issues

Columnists

George Wallace, during his 1968 Independent presidential campaign, mocked the Republican and Democratic parties for not having "a dime's worth of difference" between them. Although he meant it in a totally different context, it does resonate in 2026, particularly as it relates to foreign policy. After Donald Trump, along with Israel's prime minister, launched air strikes against Iran in February, Democrats and Republicans generally supported the war. Then the consequences and miscalculations began to emerge. Although Democratic leadership seemed positively giddy over the "decapitation" ...

Tale of Two Towns in the Mon Forest

Columnists

In 1890 the town of Elkins was incorporated with the name of Senator Elkins, son-in-law of Senator Davis who brought the railroad from Maryland to help remove timber and coal from these mountains. In 1900 New York developers established the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company in the town of Richwood. The lumber company also brought in train services to ship out the timber. Elkins and Richwood are not great cities like London and Paris, but they have greater significance in my life than the two places Charles Dickens wrote about in his A Tale of Two Cities. Richwood boy, Don Roberts ...

Some Lessons Are Worth Repeating

Columnists

When one writes hundreds of columns, certain themes show up over and over. A reason is that there are areas in leadership in which people consistently struggle to achieve and sustain great results.  Plus, there are new leaders. Close to half the people in a supervisory role are either new to leadership or are in a new supervisory role or a new organization.  I benefit from repetition and reminders. I hear or read something that jogs the memory and gets me back on track. When the student is ready the teacher appears.  For these reasons it makes sense to revisit key areas in these ...