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Going into the primary election homestretch

I had a wonderful vacation and cruise of the Caribbean, but after being back to work as of last week, part of me wishes I was still at sea. If I took a drink every time a candidate said “woke” or “radical,” I’d have alcohol poisoning. The plus side is we’re 16 days out from the May 14 primary. Early in-person voting in West Virginia begins Wednesday and continues until Saturday, May 11, excluding Sundays at county courthouses and other designated polling locations. If we can just get through the next couple weeks, our mailboxes and airwaves should return to normal for a few ...

What we do without genuine leadership

“People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” This line spoken by the character of Lewis Rothschild, portrayed by Michael J. Fox in “The American President,” has resonated with me at various points over the years, and especially as I’ve been more surrounded by those who want to be considered as our ...

He may be small, but he holds my whole heart

A word to the young people out there ... when someone says to you that life is short and you should enjoy every moment because time goes by too fast ... listen. I never believed I could be a grandmother. I knew it was possible. Even plausable. But I didn’t believe it. I still feel as if I am 23. I do not move like I am 23. I do not think like I did when I was 23. I do not look anything like I did when I was 23. But in my mind, when I am just sitting around, not aching or in severe pain, my brain tells me I am around 23. So, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the ...

Uncertainty as we go into a new chapter

Anyone who has lived in our region over the last 100 years or so has been affected in some way by the operations of Weirton Steel Corp. or its successor companies. Whether you’ve worked there yourself, had a family member or friend employed in the mill, or even operated another business in the community, you have benefitted from the manufacturing of steel, tin or other materials from within those walls. This weekend, for all intents and purposes, that appears to be coming to an end as the Cleveland-Cliffs Weirton tinplate, the final vestige of the company founded and named after E.T. ...

To effect change, we must have information

It can be easy to under-estimate the legislative work done through the interim committee process when we’re not under the microscope and in the thick of the regular session. These committees are made up of both Senators and Delegates, and their purviews are different from the regular session committees. This is really our time to dig deep and study the issues we hope to address during our limited 60 days of lawmaking. West Virginia Secretary of Health Facilities Michael Caruso and others arranged visits to state-owned psychiatric facilities last year for lawmakers and our staff. It ...

Getting a better understanding of what’s in your AEP electricity bill

I would like to explain to you today how to understand your electric bill from Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power. When you open your bill, your eyes are going to be drawn to that colorful bullseye on the left column, about half-way down the page. Like the statistics box that stays on the TV when you watch a ball game, this circle gives you the full and simple breakdown on your bill. So, I’d like you to focus on that blue bullseye. Take a look at the center of the circle. It is divided into a black top and a white bottom. In the white lower-half is the amount of money you ...