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Taxes, teachers and term limits: What lawmakers should focus on this session

Local Columns

For eighty plus years, West Virginia’s leaders ignored innovation and ingenuity as the U.S. economy moved into the 21st Century. By taking an approach that gave preference to the status quo, our leaders failed to forecast necessary policy changes that could modernize West Virginia’s economy. All the while our neighbors focused on new opportunities allowing them to rocket past the Mountain State. These failures have created many of the issues that continue to hold our economy back. Since the Republican takeover ten years ago, we have seen the Legislature and the Executive branch put ...

Can the United States solve its electricity crisis?

Local Columns

As America moves into 2026, consumers are looking for relief from an ongoing affordability crisis. While prices for some key items have mercifully held steady—or even come down—other costs such as rent, dining out, and hospital visits continue to climb unabated. U.S. electricity—the one sector that affects all consumer industries in some way—is also racing upward. America’s electricity costs have jumped 32 percent in just the past five years. That’s a major problem for our new digital economy. Why are electricity prices rising so rapidly? Soaring power demand—particularly ...

A close look needed in tax disucssion

Editorials

Gov. Patrick Morrisey is right to note West Virginians are “feeling the impact of inflation,” as he pointed out Monday. “People know that groceries cost more. Gas has (cost) more. Utilities have (cost) more,” he said. It is easy, then, to understand why he wants to find a way to do something about that by speeding up the state’s path to already approved cuts, and is proposing reducing the state’s personal income tax rates by between 5% and 10%. It’s exciting talk, but once lawmakers dig into the idea, they will likely have to pump the brakes. Revenue from the personal ...

Preparing myself for a busy week of news

Local Columns

I was speaking with a colleague recently who observed I should have a “fun” week coming up. I think our ideas of fun are different. It also could be the age difference speaking, as an increasing number of my colleagues are now young enough to be my kids – if I had any. I don’t know about fun, but the coming week is certainly going to be busy. Some of that already has begun with assignments Friday, which you’ve hopefully, already read about in this edition. Those assignments included attending and covering the Weirton Finance Committee meeting and a special meeting of ...

All those years ago

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor, Bob Seger asks himself in a song, Like A Rock..20 years now, where did they go? I myself like others my age, wonder the same thing. Next year will be my 50th anniversary from Madonna High School… May 28,1976. But doing that time, we grew up with some inventions. Eight track players, reel to reel tape recorders, cassette players, quadraphonic stereos, and calculators. Customized vans, Citizen Band radios, and cable television appeared later on. But as I look back on all the inventions, pay phone booths, Murphys, KMart, Grants, Sears, and other stores/ malls are ...

The economy is the boulder for West Virginia

Local Columns

One of my clients is an excavation contractor. He told me a couple of years ago his business was robust because of a steady supply of what he characterized as “boulders, rocks and pebbles.” When I smiled, he explained how the big, complex, well-paying jobs were the boulders. They made up the baseline of the business, and by doing them, he was able to pay employees, provide their healthcare benefits and take on other projects while investing in better equipment and more supplies. Then, he explained the rocks: the somewhat smaller, but still very important, jobs that consistently ...