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Scrambling

Editorials

“West Virginians take care of our neighbors,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday. “It’s times like these that we need to come together as Team West Virginia to help those in need.” He issued the reminder as the state scrambles to prepare for the loss of SNAP benefits to approximately 270,000 Mountain State residents in November, as a result of the federal government shutdown. Among the solutions coming from Charleston is up to $13 million in funding to match private and charitable donations to food banks. Morrisey says he has also directed the West Virginia National Guard ...

Donald and the Kingfish

Columnists

Donald Trump and Louisiana’s “Kingfish” Huey Long have often appeared to have much in common. Both were impeached only to be acquitted, and they share a talent for showmanship and commanding a loyal following. Populist was also a term applied to Trump‘s MAGA movement and Long’s Share Our Wealth Clubs. Lately, they share another distinction. They both destroyed parts of the mansions they resided in. Trump destroyed the East Wing of the White House; Long went one better, completely destroying the Louisiana Executive Mansion in Baton Rouge. And they did it without legislative ...

Folklore is more than just scary stories

Columnists

DONEGAL, Pennsylvania — It is 6:14 p.m. on a Thursday. You’re hiking along the Forbes Trail, nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains somewhere along the Westmoreland-Somerset County lines. It is 19 minutes until sunset, and you have just over a mile to go, mostly uphill, before you are out of the deep forest and in the clearing. The mountain range, which stretches from Maine to Georgia and is documented to be one of the oldest in the country, shares characteristics across the approximately 420 counties. It is rugged, often mist-covered with deep hollers and rugged peaks that ...

Prevention

Editorials

You might remember them as the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth, from back in the 1980s, but today, the renamed National Family Partnership continues its work to support families and communities “in nurturing the full potential of healthy, drug free youth.” Among the efforts supported by the organization is National Red Ribbon Week, Oct. 23-31 each year, and established to honor the memory of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent Enrique Camarena, who was killed, likely because of his work, in 1985. At the time, according to the organization, “In honor of ...

Placing a very bad bet

Columnists

In 2018, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down a federal law banning sports gambling, thus allowing individual states to decide whether to allow it, or not. It didn’t take a genius to predict what might happen, especially when politicians can find new sources of revenue beyond income, property and sales taxes. Last week, more than 30 people were indicted as part of a national sports betting scandal involving high-profile figures, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Billups was charged in a scheme involving rigged poker ...

Hooked?

Editorials

A front-page headline in the Oct. 20 edition of the Wall Street Journal — and the lengthy article that followed it — evoked the troubling question of whether many people in this country who don’t really need to be taking antidepressants are becoming hooked on them. “Out-in-the-open” dialogue dealing with the issue should be welcomed here. It might open many people’s eyes to a problem festering below the surface of widespread awareness. If that situation exists, it might be paving the way for a bigger problem down the proverbial road. Here is how the Journal’s article ...