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Reporter's Notebook: To The Moon

Local Columns

If you're reading this today, I am in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands in the middle of my third Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm writing this column before shipping off from Port Canaveral in Florida along the Space Coast, a short drive away from the launchpad where the Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon took off. It seems every time I leave for my annual vacation, which sometimes is a cruise but usually is a week’s stay at my mother-in-law's timeshare in Kissimmee, I miss witnessing a rocket launch of some sort. These days, it's usually a SpaceX launch. In fact, ...

Reporter's Notebook: The action of inaction

Local Columns

We can now put a bow on the now-completed 2026 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature now that Gov. Patrick Morrisey has acted on most of the 306 bills passed during the 60-day time period between Jan. 14 and March 14. Morrisey had 15 days, not counting Sundays, following the sine die adjournment of the Legislature at midnight March 14 to decide to sign bills, veto bills or let bills go into law without his signature. And that is exactly what he did with 10 bills, choosing not to sign or veto those bills. The question some have is why? You can make some assumptions about some ...

Lawmakers supporting our emergency services

Editorials

There is good reason House Bill 5168 passed out of the House of Delegates without a single vote against on Monday. It is one of the very few, genuine no-brainers to come before lawmakers in recent years. HB 5168 would establish a permanent funding stream for EMS workers across the state — $12 million annually from lottery net profits. According to House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, it brings EMS funding in line with a formula used to support fire departments. The bill mandates the first $1 million of the $6 million Salary Enhancement, Crisis Response, and Mental ...

Hope floats in the West Virginia Legislature

Local Columns

Much as I predicted last week, the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program remains intact for the next fiscal year. Instead of recommending its first originating bill to reform the Hope program, the House Finance Committee recommended a new originating bill that only changed the payment frequency to Hope families from two times per year to four times. Some are saying the committee buckled under pressure from current home school and private school families. That’s a complete misunderstanding of what happened. The reason the first originating bill was drafted was to deal with ...

In need of a real plan for West Virginia

Editorials

It’s a story common for regions of West Virginia that border Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. A recent college graduate of West Virginia University lands their first job in Pennsylvania. When it comes to deciding which state is more appealing on the tax front, the choice is clear: Pennsylvania. The same goes for Ohio and Kentucky. How many high-income professionals work in Wheeling, Parkersburg or Huntington, yet live in Ohio or Kentucky because of a lower personal income tax burden? And now, instead of proposing a meaningful plan to make West Virginia more competitive with its ...

Guest Column: Experience the experience of the PSC

Local Columns

The Public Service Commission has solved one of the age-old dilemmas facing newcomers in applying for jobs. You have a degree, but how do you get a job without experience? I’m glad you asked. The Public Service Commission wants you, and we are happy to provide you with the opportunity to gain the experience. Are you a newly graduated lawyer jittery about entering the courtroom? We want you. Are you a newly graduated accountant who is afraid of being shunted aside to count beans? We want you too, and you won’t be counting beans. Are you a new engineer without field ...