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Manchin’s declaration of independence

I’m a news reporter, which means that rumors make me uncomfortable. I don’t usually report rumors. I like to have hard information in the form of documents and multiple sources, including sources willing to go on the record. This is why I have largely avoided the recent rumors being spread over the last couple of weeks about an alleged plan by some moderate Republicans and Democrats in West Virginia to pressure Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, the Democratic candidate for governor, to drop out of the race and be replaced by none other than outgoing U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin. In fact, ...

My effort to protect your electric supply

A sworn statement I issued recently on behalf of the Public Service Commission is at the heart of a multistate effort, led by West Virginia, to limit efforts of the federal government to wreck our state’s economy. While that is an important element of my work, it is even more crucial to protect and defend the nation’s electric energy supply. I’m angry. And I am determined to protect the reliability of that energy source to the maximum extent I can. I confess this latest assault by the federal government on coal-fired electric energy generation has deeply upset me. But we are ...

Warm weather brings out the events

The summer months are approaching, and that means there will be more activity in our communities as we see fairs and festivals, yard sales, concerts and more scheduled. Our area includes so many communities, each offering something special, and many of them not too far away from each other. That means it’s not too much trouble to find something to do no matter where you live. Weirton’s summer concert series kicked off Friday night with performances by 40+ and 7 South, along with a car cruise on the grounds of the Weirton Event Center. This series is organized each summer by the ...

Where will our area be in another year?

It’s amazing what can happen in a year. I was looking back through a few files in recent days, and realized this weekend (May 26, to be precise) marks one year since the ceremonial groundbreaking for Form Energy’s Form Factory 1 facility. It was, without a doubt, one of the biggest economic development events Weirton has hosted in some time, with Form Energy representatives joined by local elected officials, company stakeholders, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and many more. To see the changes of that site over the last several months has ...

To your health, West Virginia

I usually publish my annual Memorial Day column around this time, but with all the action in Charleston last week, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about some of that. If you’re looking at the number of bills Gov. Jim Justice introduced for last week’s special session and the number of bills that passed, it could be said the special session was a success. We won’t go through all 15 bills that passed. Frankly, it was the drama around one bill that caused the most issues and nearly caused the special session to end without returning more than $188 million to two state ...

History in the Hills: We must never forget

This weekend is Memorial Day and ever since I began writing this column in 2019, I always make it a priority to write about this important national holiday. It truly cannot be overstated how important this day is to our nation and history. My grandfathers and many great uncles served in World War II, great-grandfathers served in World War I, some of my American relatives served in the Civil War and other ancestors served in the American Revolution, too, and thankfully none of them had to pay that ultimate sacrifice that is asked of so many who have served. Not too far from my house on ...