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Meet the Transportation Division

The Public Service Commission’s Transportation Division is staffed by state-certified police officers, experienced railroad inspectors, and other transportation professionals. Our officers patrol the highways for unsafe semi-trucks, buses, and coal trucks. The majority of big trucks on the road are safe, but when they are not, our officers try to find them. The Transportation Division is run by former State Trooper Jeff Schoolcraft. Transportation Safety Enforcement’s 48 officers patrolled the state’s 36,000 miles of highways last year. We even have four officers who are ...

To cut or not to cut, that is the question

We now have nearly two weeks until lawmakers gather for the Sept. 30 special session to pass Gov. Jim Justice’s 5% cut in personal income tax rates, and at this point I’m just not sure it can pass. That doesn’t mean it won’t pass. There is certainly time for the governor’s advisors (Chief of Staff Brian Abraham and Department of Revenue Secretary Larry Pack) and legislative leaders to come to some form of agreement on bill language to make such a cut happen. The hang up on the state Senate side appears to be how to pay for the 5% personal income tax cut, which would return ...

Honoring our history, looking to the future

My head is pretty much swimming after many of the events of the last week. Between a series of threats at several of our local schools and against dozens of our students, attending various government meetings, press conferences, the annual Blue Mass at St. Joseph the Worker Church and attempting to attend to some personal needs, I’m hoping to have some time to relax and rest this weekend. With several days of difficult news, though, there tend to always be at least a couple of bright spots to, hopefully, provide some balance. This week, one of those positive moments was the ...

China is weaponizing its minerals monopoly

For more than a decade, Washington has talked a big game about breaking China’s grip on the world’s mineral supplies. And both presidents Trump and Biden have labeled America’s mineral vulnerability—along with China’s mineral dominance—an unacceptable and urgent risk. The alarming reality is this: China’s grip on the world’s mineral supply chains is growing tighter. And America’s reliance on Chinese minerals is growing deeper. This is a crisis that demands to be an important election issue. Now, China is all but goading candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to ...

History in the Hills: Five years on

I am proud to say that this month marks five years of History in the Hills columns for our newspaper. It is hard to believe it has been that long, actually. I have enjoyed each and every one that I have written, and by my count, I have 131 separate works to my credit. Writing these articles has made it possible to explore our area’s history in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise. There are so many interesting stories I have been able to investigate and that is what I love about our area. All in all, the story of our past will never be fully written completely, though, because ...

Political potpourri on Justice and taxes

With all of the headlines about Gov. Jim Justice’s many business debts coming due and the near-auction of the historic Greenbrier Resort, you’d think this would affect Justice’s popularity going into the final two months of the general election for U.S. Senate. Yet, as it turns out, no one is paying attention. And even for those paying attention, Justice’s issues are not nearly as important as electing a Republican to the U.S. Senate. According to the results of the WVMetroNews West Virginia Poll last week, only 38% of the 400 likely voters polled said they had heard a lot ...