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A vote of confidence in West Virginia

The time has finally arrived! Early voting in West Virginia begins at county courthouses or other designated places Wednesday and continues until Saturday, Nov. 2, excluding Sundays. I’m an early voter, though I do respect those who believe that one should only vote on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5. As someone who covers the statewide elections, I’m pretty eager to get my voting done and out of the way. I’ll be very curious to see what voter turnout looks like once we get past Nov. 5. As I reported over the weekend, Republican voter registration continues to grow, with ...

Are we finally breaking out of the cycle?

The Tri-State Area, and West Virginia as a whole, have some hope, but it will still be coming slowly. That was much of the message presented by John Deskins, Ph.D., when he was in Weirton Oct. 9, meeting with local business and government officials to speak about his latest examinations of the state’s economy. Deskins last was in Weirton for such a presentation in April 2022, bringing some of his students to discuss the findings of their studies and surveys of the region, along with the state. At that time, we were still climbing out of the economic pit created by the COVID ...

Meet the West Virginia PSC engineers

When the Public Service Commission needs to know how something works or, just as importantly, how it should work, we turn to the experts in our Engineering Division. Never heard of them? Sure, you have. When Governor Justice asked us last year to determine whether all of the state’s fire hydrants were in working order, it was the Commission’s engineering staff that got the job. They evaluated all of the information and wrote a thorough analysis of the entire situation. The division works on many other types of special projects, too, such as investigating last November’s natural ...

British treachery manifests at Point Pleasant, unleashing the ‘dogs of war’

This month marks the 250th anniversary of the Battle at Point Pleasant between Shawnee warriors led by Chief Cornstalk and Colonial Militia led by Colonel Andrew Lewis. It is the most important battle ever fought in West Virginia, as it was arguably the first battle of the American Revolution. To understand the context of the battle, one must start 20 years earlier in 1754. The French had claimed the land north and south drained by the Mississippi – including the Ohio River Valley. In contrast, England had established colonies along the seaboard and claimed land east to west. When ...

Remembering happier moments in my life

Speaking of hobos … Note: Remember in school when they said to pay attention because there might be a quiz someday? This was that quiz. If you didn’t read last week’s column you have no idea what I am talking about. Anyway … Speaking of hobos … I was completely shocked when I went to the Main Street Museum last Sunday and saw the photo Dale Holtzmann had taken of Harry Carpenter, the hobo who lived in Toronto many decades ago. The writing above his photo even referred to him as just that. Now, I would never intentionally refer to someone as being a hobo if I felt it ...

Candidate events remain informative

Thursday saw what, most likely, will be the last major candidate event for Hancock and Brooke counties before the election on Nov. 5. There may still be a couple chances for statewide candidates to make an appearance in our area in the coming weeks, but as far as mass gatherings where residents can hear from multiple candidates at one time, the forum held Thursday by the Hancock County Republican Committee will probably be it. These events always have a different feel, depending on the candidates in focus, the organizers and the format. In late August, the local Democratic ...