Local Columns

Marshall Memo: Library Week Events and Summer Concert Series

The Moundsville-Marshall County Library will take part in National Library Week, April 7-13. Special events will be held during the week. On April 8th at 6 p.m., West Virginia historical character “Mary Lydia Weaver Sapp: A daughter and wife of the Civil War,” will be performed by storyteller Jo Ann Daidsman. On April 9th at 6 p.m., the film “The Boys in the Boat”, a bio-drama centered on a Depression-era rowing team will be shown. On April 10th at 5 p.m., Pittsburgh Puppet works will present a puppet show title “Inky’s Library Mystery.” There will able be a preschool story ...

West Virginia Legislative Races Worth Watching This Year

As your state government reporter based in the State Capitol Building in Charleston, I cover the West Virginia Legislature, but I do not cover individual legislative races. My focus is covering statewide state and congressional races. There are just too many House of Delegates and state Senate seats for one person to cover one-on-one. Your local newspaper is better capable of covering individual legislative seats. But I do enjoy doing analysis of legislative seats. Naturally, all of the media attention is on the Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, governor, and even some of the ...

Finding That Bridge To Carry You Through Life

If there is anything we know about in the Ohio Valley area it is bridges. We just celebrated the opening of a new bridge in the Wellsburg area, connecting parts of West Virginia with parts of Ohio. Trips that used to take 30 to 45 minutes are now taking 5 to 10 minutes. Hopefully, businesses on both sides of the river are benefiting from the bridge. I remember being there the day they floated the bridge down the river to its present location. It was amazing to watch. You cannot go to Pittsburgh without encountering a number of bridges. We are still recovering from some of the local ...

Marshall Memo: Hefty County Budget; Community Night; and Fundraisers

The Marshall County Commission on Wednesday adopted the Fiscal Year 2025 levy for submission to the West Virginia Auditor’s Office. The county’s budget for the coming year is set at $47.9 million, with an additional $5.1 million in coal severance. “We believe this budget serves the needs of our elected officials so that they may operate their offices in an efficient manner,” Commission President Mike Ferro said. “We also believe we have projected sufficiently for potential increases in the cost of insurance, regional jail expenses, and fuel for vehicles—all of which are ...

Poll Results Show Changing Dynamics in West Virginia Governor’s Race

Finally, the first new polling in the West Virginia Republican primaries for governor and U.S. Senate is out, and while it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, it does provide some interesting perspective. According to a poll conducted between March 19 and March 21 by Emerson College Polling and Nexstar Media (the owner of several TV stations in West Virginia, including WOWK, WTRF, WBOY, WVNS, as well as neighboring WDCW which covers the Eastern Panhandle from its Hagerstown bureau), Morrisey continues to lead in the GOP race for governor, but Huntington business Chris Miller is ...

The Alabama Supreme Court, IVF and Catholic Doctrine

The Alabama Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision, declaring that an embryo is a human being and is protected under state law from mistreatment, has brought to public scrutiny the procedure called in vitro fertilization. The media generally has derided the decision, saying that the Court’s decision makes embryos equivalent to “people” or “children.” Many politicians, both conservative and liberal, have taken a stand in favor of IVF and say it must be protected in law. The Alabama legislature quickly passed a bill giving legal immunity to facilities that perform IVF and to those who ...