Local Columns

Universities Must Lead the Way in Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech has always demanded courage, and courage is the one virtue universities cannot delegate. When free speech becomes fatal speech — as it did recently with the assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus — Americans demand, and deserve, a change. As president of Youngstown State University, I feel compelled to make a commitment to help make that change, and I believe our nation’s university presidents like me can lead the way. The facts already announced by authorities are enough to deduce that the killer of Charlie Kirk opposed the viewpoints he (civilly ...

Light Red vs. Dark Red

We are more than three months away from the candidate filing period for the 2026 midterm elections. All 100 members of the House of Delegates and 17 members of the 34-member state Senate will be up for election next year. Unfortunately for the West Virginia Democratic Party, most if not all — of those elections will be settled during the party primaries on May 12 and the early voting period that precedes that. Republicans control supermajorities in both bodies, with 91 Republicans in the House and 32 Republicans in the Senate. That’s the peak of GOP legislative control at the ...

It’s Time To Let Light Shine on the World’s Darkness

It was several years ago we heard the sad news of a comedic genius death in the person of Robin Williams. I was talking to someone about Robin Williams, and they were telling me they remember him from TV, but they only saw the shows in re-runs. I told them that I was old enough to remember seeing it in its original season. Anyone who has been on the planet and watched TV or went to the movies, saw talk shows and news programs has seen Robin Williams. He was born in Chicago on July 21, 1951, studied theater at The Juilliard School before taking his stand-up act to nightclubs. ...

Making the Business Case for West Virginia’s Economy

I participated in my first presidential election in 1992 — well, sort of. Glen Dale Elementary School set up a mock election for the students to participate in, and I remember going into the voting booth and proudly voting for President George H.W. Bush. I guess it’s fair to say I was voting Republican in West Virginia long before it was in style. President Bush lost that election in a landslide to a relatively unknown Arkansas governor — Bill Clinton. The reason for the 1992 outcome can largely be attributed to voter sentiment that was summed up by Clinton’s chief strategist, ...

Awaiting Confirmation

West Virginians awaiting U.S. Senate confirmations will have to wait a little bit longer. Due to Senate Democrats dragging out votes on President Donald Trump’s appointees, the Republican majority has begun approving appointees in large batches. On Thursday, the Senate approved 48 Trump appointees. The next big block of appointees (hat tip Frank Thorp V at NBC News) will likely occur at the beginning of October, assuming the nation is not dealing with a government shutdown. The next block consists of 59 names, including three West Virginians. State Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, ...

First-Degree Murder With Mercy Must Mean More Than 15 Years

The brutal slaying of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte sent shockwaves across the United States. The murder shed light on a broken criminal justice system that seemingly cares more about criminals than crime victims. That’s particularly true in West Virginia, where a person convicted of first-degree murder with mercy is eligible for parole in a meager 15 years. Fifteen years. That is the same amount of time many of us spend raising a child from kindergarten through high school. It is not even the length of the most common home mortgage loan. It ...