Breaking News

Opinion

Time to fulfill the broadband promises

Editorials

With the conclusion of this year’s regular session of the West Virginia Legislature, there is time to reflect on the action (or inaction) of a group of elected officials who showed us what they prioritized over getting to work to improve our economy, education, healthcare and the general quality of life. But perhaps there were also lessons learned. For example, one failed bill should lead lawmakers to take a harder look at what it will take to bring broadband internet access to as much of the state as possible. Senate Bill 891 was another attempt to let the fox guard the henhouse ...

Thoughts on the 2025 legislative session

Local Columns

The 2025 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature is finally done, wrapping up midnight Saturday after 60 days of floor sessions, committee meetings and debates. I get asked a lot during a session about whether I think a session was good or productive. This year I was asked for letter grades in regard to specific public policy items and how the Legislature did. I kind of regret having done that. Honestly, only you, the public, can decide whether your lawmakers adequately addressed the issues you are concerned about and voted for these people to solve. The entire 100-member ...

Don’t get caught without Real ID

Editorials

In less than a month, all those flying domestically will only be able to board an airplane if they have a Real ID — that gold star in the upper corner of your driver’s license — or a valid passport. It’s been 20 years since Congress passed the Real ID Act. It’s been delayed numerous times but is now set to take effect May 7. If you don’t have one, and you don’t have a valid passport, it’s simple: you won’t be able to fly. With only four weeks remaining, DMV offices are busy getting people signed up. In West Virginia, the Division of Motor Vehicles offers a couple ...

Trump administration calls for rate cuts as part of plan

Local Columns

Watching and listening to the interview on Sunday, April 6, 2025, with NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a “false narrative” that people close to retiring may be reluctant after their retirement savings dropped last week because of the stock market downturn. Once again, the elite fail to understand how the wage workers’ 401k retirement plans work. When a retired employee separates from the employer who does not have a Defined Benefit Pension, which more than 90% of private sector workers do not have, the 401K is used to create an income ...

The annual look back at the prior year

Local Columns

I’ll most likely be spending a good portion of this weekend, and a few additional nights over the coming week, at the office putting in some longer hours than usual. The time has come, once again, for the West Virginia Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, and I, unfortunately, am nowhere near as complete with gathering our entries as I would like. Compiling these entries typically involves a full review of every newspaper published in the previous year. I will admit, it has become a little easier over the years, as we can go through digital copies of the newspapers, ...

A defining moment for college sports and West Virginia’s youth

Local Columns

The recent $2.8 billion settlement in House v. NCAA is more than a headline—it’s a seismic shift in the landscape of college athletics. This case, which directly confronts decades of inequity in student-athlete compensation, is the latest in a series of defining moments forcing us to rethink how we value the young people who power billion-dollar sports industries. The settlement compensates former athletes for lost opportunities dating back to 2016 and introduces a groundbreaking model that allows schools to pay athletes directly starting in 2025. But while the college world is ...