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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 ...

The highs and lows of election events

A few weeks back, I mentioned how we would be seeing the start of major campaigning as we inch closer to the Nov. 5 general elections. The first big event took place a little over a week ago with a “Meet the Candidates” event hosted by the Hancock and Brooke County Democratic executive committees and the Democratic Women organizations from both counties. The event at the T. Kosciusko Hall in Weirton included candidates running for U.S. Senate, as well as a couple of statewide offices and one Hancock County office, among others. In an effort to be transparent, some contacts of ...

Parents on front lines in flight against online threats

A new school year is underway for children in West Virginia, many of whom have their own smartphone. By age 11, about half of the kids in America have one of these powerful devices so that they may stay connected with friends and family. However, smartphones also create the opportunity for connections to be made by people who could harm them, and thus parents must be vigilant. According to the F.B.I., more than 500,000 online predators are active daily and many are engaging with youngsters via Instagram, Snapchat, and gaming platforms. Parents are the first line of defense and need to ...