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Reporter’s Notebook: To The Moon

If you're reading this today, I am in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands in the middle of my third Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm writing this column before shipping off from Port Canaveral in Florida along the Space Coast, a short drive away from the launchpad where the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon took off. It seems every time I leave for my annual vacation, which sometimes is a cruise but usually is a week’s stay at my mother-in-law's timeshare in Kissimmee, I miss witnessing a rocket launch of some sort. These days, it's usually a SpaceX launch. In fact, ...

Reporter’s Notebook: The action of inaction

We can now put a bow on the now-completed 2026 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature now that Gov. Patrick Morrisey has acted on most of the 306 bills passed during the 60-day time period between Jan. 14 and March 14. Morrisey had 15 days, not counting Sundays, following the sine die adjournment of the Legislature at midnight March 14 to decide to sign bills, veto bills or let bills go into law without his signature. And that is exactly what he did with 10 bills, choosing not to sign or veto those bills. The question some have is why? You can make some assumptions about some ...

Hope floats in the West Virginia Legislature

Much as I predicted last week, the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program remains intact for the next fiscal year. Instead of recommending its first originating bill to reform the Hope program, the House Finance Committee recommended a new originating bill that only changed the payment frequency to Hope families from two times per year to four times. Some are saying the committee buckled under pressure from current home school and private school families. That’s a complete misunderstanding of what happened. The reason the first originating bill was drafted was to deal with ...

There are a lot of difficult changes ahead

Change can sometimes be one of the most difficult, and also most rewarding, experiences of our lives. Our area has experienced much change over the year. The loss of the steel industry is one such change which has affected us all in one way or another. What once was the lifeblood of the Upper Ohio Valley and much of the surrounding region has almost completely disappeared, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and an exodus of people from our communities. The effects are still being felt, even as there are those who continue to look for ways to build toward a new, and hopefully ...

Guest Column: Tri-share model not going to solve child care

With $5 million in West Virginia’s proposed budget earmarked for expansion of the Tri-Share child care program, it’s time for an honest conversation about whether this is truly the best path forward for our state. West Virginia is in the midst of a child care crisis. Families are struggling to find affordable, high-quality care. Providers are fighting to keep their doors open amid rising costs and workforce shortages. Employers are feeling the strain as workers leave jobs because they can’t secure reliable care. The need for action is urgent. But urgency does not justify ...

Guest Column: Experience the experience of the PSC

The Public Service Commission has solved one of the age-old dilemmas facing newcomers in applying for jobs. You have a degree, but how do you get a job without experience? I’m glad you asked. The Public Service Commission wants you, and we are happy to provide you with the opportunity to gain the experience. Are you a newly graduated lawyer jittery about entering the courtroom? We want you. Are you a newly graduated accountant who is afraid of being shunted aside to count beans? We want you too, and you won’t be counting beans. Are you a new engineer without field ...