Local Columns

Marshall Memo: Video Game Soundtracks; Love the Bus Month; and Princess Tea

The annual Marshall County Strings benefit concert, “Game On,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the John Marshall Center for Performing Arts. Get ready to embark on an epic musical journey as this one-night performance features orchestral renditions of iconic video game scores. You will not want to miss this performance featuring the sounds of “The Legend of Zelda,” “Halo,” and “Super Mario Brothers.” Donations will be accepted and will benefit the Marshall County Strings Program Scholarship and CASA for Children. CASA for Children is a local non-profit ...

Lawsuit Abuse Draining BRIM, Burdening W.Va. Taxpayers

West Virginia taxpayers have dealt with increased consumer and healthcare costs for decades, tied to our formerly poor litigation climate. As our state courts have become fairer in recent years due to legal reforms that have improved our overall economy, the personal injury lawsuit industry has found a new deep pocket to go after—the state of West Virginia itself. Lawsuit after lawsuit has been filed against school boards and other non-profit organizations that use the state’s insurance agency, the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management. In just the last couple of ...

Yeas and Nays

On Wednesday, I will begin my 15th year involved with the start of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular 60-day session. I moved to Charleston during a snowy January in 2010 a week before the start of that session. I had just started one year prior a news website on behalf of a libertarian think tank focused on government transparency and accountability called West Virginia Watchdog. This was a good 13 years before non-profit-funded journalism would become cool. As a print and radio news reporter in the Mid-Ohio Valley in the mid-2000s, I followed West Virginia politics and wrote ...

Gen. John Adams: Can the U.S. Still Equip its Military in a Time of War?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching its fourth year. And as it drags on, Washington is learning just how vulnerable our nation could be in a similar conflict. The glaring problem we now encounter is the erosion of our defense industrial base. The once vaunted arsenal of democracy that led America to victory in World War II is long gone. Simply put, we no longer produce the weapons and munitions needed for high-intensity, industrialized conflict. Consider our startling inability to meet Ukraine’s need for 155-millimeter artillery rounds. It’s a key piece of weaponry in ...

The Proliferation of Profanity in Scholastic Sports

Today, we have a serious problem in all high school sports — athlete profanity. Who is responsible for such inappropriate behavior? That’s easy; every adult who is involved directly or indirectly with sports. After watching people play the new “blame game” on various news media topics, I think I have a pretty good handle on what is a contributing factor regarding the profanity problem. Today, if something happens that doesn’t go one’s way, it is somebody else’s fault. We have become what I have dubbed the “United States of Excuses”. To digress a bit, as an ...

The Importance and Value of School Choice in West Virginia

According to the West Virginia Department of Education, 241,024 children receive an education within the Mountain State. However, do they all thrive under the same educational model? How does the state’s education system impact family decisions to move here? As reported on the WVDE zoomwv website, with overall enrollment in steady decline over the past seven years, a vibrant and adaptable education system made up of a variety of school models is essential to attracting and retaining families and businesses. The traditional “one-size-fits-all” school model no longer serves the ...