Breaking News

Local Columns

Getting nosy about job availabilities with the PSC

I’m going to be nosy. Are you looking for a job? Are you even thinking about looking for a job? Do you know someone who is looking for a job? If so I’d like to suggest that you broaden your horizons and consider a career instead. The Public Service Commission of West Virginia has positions open, and we are actively recruiting. The Commission’s professional staff includes people with a wide variety of talents and abilities. In our halls, you’ll find attorneys, engineers, accountants, secretaries and clerical workers, IT professionals, even police officers. You may find your ...

Poll worker recruitment taking place now in West Virginia

West Virginia counties need paid poll workers, and now’s the time to sign up. National Poll Worker Recruitment Day was established in 2020 by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and is dedicated to motivating individuals to serve as poll workers. This annual observance is designed to help alleviate the critical shortage of poll workers in West Virginia and across America. Poll workers are the lifeblood of in-person voting. Their friendly and professional service instills voters with confidence in the process, and their participation directly impacts election officials’ ...

For a moment, I believed God sent me a dog

So, about two weeks ago, I was minding my own business, getting ready for work and not paying much attention to anything else. When all of a sudden I notice that my male cat, Mr. Kitty, is going crazy. (I didn’t name him.) He is clawing and scratching at the glass on my back door. His hair is standing on end and he is hissing like there is a snake loose somewhere in the house. I had never seen him act this way in the 12 or so years I have had him. He got my attention. So, I have a quick look outside to see what is causing him such disdain. Through my dining room ...

Taking in the view from the age of 42

Today’s column is going to be a hodgepodge of things, because I turned 42 on Thursday and my mind has been in reminiscing mode. I was 22 in the summer of 2004. I was a college dropout from Ohio Valley University for more than a year at that point. I was living on the campus of Parkersburg Bible College with my friend (and now Rev. Stephen Kuntzman, who officiated my wedding in 2016). I attended church at Spreading Truth Ministries and played bass guitar and sang in the worship band. At that point, I assumed the likelihood of a journalism career was quite remote. I was donating ...

Funding an investment in our infrastructure

A little over a week ago, news arrived that a package of $87.5 million was being allotted to the West Virginia Division of Highways with the aim of replacing the Market Street Bridge. The funding, coming from the federal Bridge Investment Program which was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was initially announced by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, with releases from Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Joe Manchin coming later in the day. For months, we have had to deal with the uncertain future of the Market Street Bridge as the DOH decided to close it to traffic in ...

Facilitate, not stifle, free speech and voice concerns about election integrity

Silencing election integrity advocates does not increase voter confidence. The attempted assassination of former President Trump crystalizes the extreme political division within our country. The temperature must be lowered, but that will only begin to be accomplished by an open dialogue. On July 12th, the nation’s secretaries of state concluded our final national conference prior to the 2024 election. With our country as divided as it’s been in 150 years and with concern over election integrity being at its peak, the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) failed to ...