I’ve been thinking of things from the perspective of age and the passing of time, especially as I was about to flip my desk calendar page from July to August, which occurs with a healthy mix of resistance and reluctance on my part. No summer, no! You must stick around, I issue out loud the ...
We’re now about three months away from the general election. A great deal of attention, and rightly so, is being paid to the presidential race between incument Donald Trup and anticipated challenger Joe Biden. Remember neither of those candidates become official until their respective party ...
Despite its tragedies, the COVID Pandemic has been an unexpected catalyst for change. Businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and others have had to adapt at breakneck speed, moving much of what we do online. Now policymakers have to step up and make sure everyone, particularly rural ...
By PASTOR JUDI BARTLETT-TOMES First Baptist Church Jonah: 2:10 “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Life is often full of storms and crazy ups and downs. Even in the worst of storms God is present, merciful and loving. For Jonah, the storm was ...
My column is back after a much needed COVID-19/birthday weekend last week, and what a weird time to turn 38. ¯¯¯¯¯¯ Once again, the fact that Gov. Jim Justice hasn’t put the vast majority of his businesses into blind trusts is biting him on the behind as news of the charges against ...
As I’m writing this column, it’s Thursday afternoon, and I’m facing one of the newsroom windows. It’s pouring rain (not that it would be pouring anything else, heaven help us), and I should have anticipated this for two reasons: My umbrella is safe and secure in the car where it’s ...
I typically don’t talk much about sports...for a variety of reasons. However, we are starting to see a few bright spots this year, and one of those is that several professional sports are returning, or already in the midst of their seasons. NASCAR has been on the tracks for a while now, ...
Outdoor spaces are often at the center of vibrant communities. Their critical role has been highlighted in even newer important ways in recent months, underscoring the need to conserve, maintain and improve access to these places. Protecting important natural spaces and investing in their care ...
I have been very blessed to have worked at some pretty cool historic sites during my career in the museum field. From Civil War battlefields, to historic houses, to a ruined 19th century iron works, I have seen quite a bit. At all of these sites, there is a history of the commemoration of the ...
Please turn with me to our passage for today, 2 Cor. 1: 3-7. It reads: “Praise be to the God and father of our lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ...
Mimosa any one? Now who do you suppose would have that written on a fluorescent green index card and stuck inside an address/telephone book that’s seen way better days, way better years and decades, actually? I’m raising my hand here. Guilty as charged. “What’s that doing in ...
Those who have seen me recently probably feel I’m looking a little shaggy, to say the least. I typically get my hair cut every two months. My plans had been to go in mid- or late-March. Then, the virus began to spread and West Virginia ordered the closure of “non-essential” businesses. ...
Over the past few months, people have become acutely aware of the problems with relying on foreign countries for vital products. The global pandemic has demonstrated that America depends on foreign suppliers far too much for products vital to our health, from masks to testing swabs to ...
As we examine reforms to certain policing practices, we must also recognize the value of a properly-funded police force. The overwhelming majority of our police officers, deputy sheriffs and state troopers serve their communities with honor and enforce our laws above reproach, however, the ...
For the last 17 years, I have been blessed to take 60 to 75 kids, not including adults and junior counselors, camping. The majority of these kids are from kindergarten to the sixth grade. A number of them have never left the city and it is their first time camping. We enjoy seeing their first ...
By THE REV. PHIL VAN DAM Brooke-Hancock Episcopal Ministries The second lesson this Sunday is from Paul’s letter to the Romans 8:12-25. In verses 18-23 Paul talks about how creation is groaning, as if in labor, and that it will be set free from bondage, and will obtain the freedom of the ...
Babysitting animals — i.e. “grandcats” — requires special instructions, just as if you were entrusted to watch little humans. Give them this much dry food, and that much wet food, and not the same flavors for every feeding. Mix it up a bit. Remember litter box detail. Very ...
The beginning of the 2020-21 school year has become a major topic of conversation in the last few weeks. The last few months haven’t been easy for many, including our youth and their teachers, as the pandemic forced school districts across the country to close down their buildings and finding ...
You can add the name of Ron Baker to the list of people who have to sit back and watch as events that have long been a staple of life in the Tri-State Area have been canceled. Baker is the president of the Weirton Steel 25-Year Club, and he and the organization’s members had been looking ...
As we all know, this area has changed through the years. As someone who grew up at the very end of a very prosperous time in our valley’s history, I was reminded growing up of what once was, what was here and what we have lost. Not all of it, though, is based on local industry, although ...