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A stream of pre-vacation odds and ends

I’m leaving for vacation later this week, heading on an eight-day cruise of the Caribbean, so I’m suffering a bit from vacation-brain as I write this. The following will be more of a stream of conscience of things that are on my mind. •••••• My apologies to Delegate Joey Garcia, D-Marion, but he could possibly have competition after all. I wrote last week that with Republican hospital executive Jonathan Board dropping out of the race for the state Senate held by the retiring Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, to run the West Virginia First Foundation meant Garcia had in ...

Our area comes together in adversity

We knew it was coming based on the amount of rain our area has been receiving lately, but that didn’t make it any easier when the Ohio River came up over its shores late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Many of us are used to seeing flooding in the region. Building so many communities along the Ohio River, it was the lifeblood of the valley in its earliest days, providing some of the fastest transportation in the days before railroads and highways. It has its disadvantages, though, as shown most springs when the heavier rains hit bringing torrents of water rushing from the ...

Understand your West Virginia-American water bill

Today, I would like to assist you in reading your water bill. Your West Virginia-American Water bill includes lots of useful information apart from – but included with – your billing statement. So, when you open a bill from this company, it may contain several pages. But let’s just look at page two, which is what I want to discuss with you. Half-way down the left-side of the second page is a section listed as “account detail.” This explains your entire bill in detail. I’m going to help you navigate the language. Look at the very bottom left of your bill. That tells you ...

It’s not about the price you pay … but rather, the cost

When I was a year old, we had a dog named Fluffy. Around the age of 8, my brother and I were allowed to visit the pound to get another dog for our small family. We chose the sad one lying in the corner as opposed to the one jumping on the bars, excited to see us. Funny how I remember that all these years later. My mom named her Poco. (Yes, after the band.) However, as a child, you do not fully understand exactly what a dog adds to your life. So, following her loss, it ultimately cost us some sadness. Time passed by. Life went by. And it wasn’t until I bought my first home ...

Will the House of Cards stand or fall?

As your state government reporter based in the State Capitol Building in Charleston, I cover the West Virginia Legislature, but I do not cover individual legislative races. My focus is covering statewide state and congressional races. There are just too many House of Delegates and state Senate seats for one person to cover one-on-one. Your local newspaper is better capable of covering individual legislative seats. But I do enjoy doing analysis of legislative seats. Naturally, all of the media attention is on the Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, governor, and even some of the ...

Looking forward to the world going dark

The world is counting down to a moment where part of the world will go dark. Not literally, of course, but it may seem that way for those within the path of totality for the solar eclipse set to take place April 8. A solar eclipse takes place when the moon passes between Earth and the sun and, from our perspective, completely covers the sun, thus causing a shadow to cover portions of the world. It will look as if a halo of light will surround the blacked-out sun. Our area won’t be in the path of totality, but we should still be able to see quite a show from much of the Ohio ...