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No More Violence

Editorials

When we look at our history, it is a timeline where the major marks are often political and frequently violent — and too regularly both. This is not unique to America. It is not a problem of modern history. It is global and timeless. Assassination has changed the face of the world from Ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire to medieval Europe. It first landed in the United States when Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in 1865. The most recent example is the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday as he engaged with supporters and opponents at Utah Valley ...

Disease

Editorials

Southeast Ohio is facing the largest outbreak in the region’s confirmed cases of epizootic hemorrhagic disease in deer. An Ohio Division of Wildlife deer biologist told The Columbus Dispatch this year’s outbreak is the largest he has seen in his career, and that hundreds of dead or sick deer have been reported in Athens, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble and Washington counties. Mid-Ohio Valley counties in West Virginia have been affected, too. That will mean deer hunters will have to think a little differently about their trips. Pre-season scouts in West Virginia have reported ...

Stop the IRS’s stealth $700 Billion tax increase

Columnists

President Donald Trump has done an admirable job at defanging the IRS, which was converted into a weaponized agency targeting Democrats’ political enemies. Chief Justice John Marshall famously pronounced early in our nation’s history that “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.” The Democrats inside the Biden IRS took that to heart. They hired thousands of new IRS agents to harass businesses, rich people and, in some cases, Republican donors. Some of the officers under infamous former IRS enforcer Lois Lerner, the woman who aimed her agency’s auditing guns at ...

Here’s to your healthcare

Columnists

Last week marked the first legislative interim meetings since the end of June, with lawmakers getting a two-month summer break. Well, some lawmakers. Much of Republican legislative leadership spent their summer in planning meetings for a possible special session that did not happen. At one point, there was a hard date set for a special session in July. But then that was moved back to September coinciding with last week’s interims. It should be obvious that a special session — which was to be focused on the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) — did not occur. While ...

Challenging

Editorials

West Virginia’s Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation continues to face a challenge experienced by many private employers: staffing shortages and pay rates that haven’t been able to keep up with inflation. David Kelly, commissioner of the DCR, reported to lawmakers this week that as of July there were still 410 vacancies of uniformed and non-uniformed personnel, with 223 vacancies of correctional officers across all facilities. “Salaries remain a big detriment to (recruitment),” Kelly said. “The pay is critical. If they get a raise, it would certainly help. … ...

Afraid of voters

Columnists

Playing with representative democracy is a delicate game, one that can evoke strong emotions and foster resentments. Democrats have lost two elections in 2000 and 2016 where they won the popular vote and lost the presidency. Both results have had profound consequences from the Supreme Court, which was constructed by the ruthless Mitch McConnell, to the notorious Project 2025. A great deal was done by states that ignore Baker vs Carr, which mandated “one man, one vote.” Texas is a good example of trying to seize five seats by changing the rules mid-census. It is a legal method ...