Local Columns

Marshall Memo: Looking Forward to 2024; Movies; and ‘A Night To Shine’

Marshall County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Scott Reager expressed deep appreciation to members as 2023 concludes. He also expresses a heartfelt thank you to corporate sponsors, including WesBanco, WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital and Main Street Bank, along with the diverse sponsors supporting events and programs throughout the year. A special recognition goes to committee members and the chamber board of directors. In addition, it was noted that the Ladies’ Luncheon, Business and Health Expo, Christmas Parade and Small Business Saturday were all successful this year. New ...

The Hard Work of West Virginia Conservatism Begins Now

It boggles the mind what’s happened to West Virginia since 2014. There is no doubt since Republicans became West Virginia’s legislative majority in 2014, the state’s policy landscape has changed in ways the average West Virginian in 2013 would scarcely believe. The past nine years have been replete with conservative reforms that were — and remain — needed to help the state climb out of its deserved historical reputation as a high poverty, big government, and low opportunity state. In just two years, 2015-2016, West Virginia passed sweeping legal reforms which allowed ...

Powering Up Consumer Savings With Natural Gas

Natural gas consumers can expect a 40% drop in home heating bills this winter, the West Virginia Public Service Commission recently confirmed. This, in its own right, is something worth celebrating, but it also speaks to the many ways local natural gas and oil development deliver for our state and all who live here — especially in today’s inflationary market. “It is gratifying to see the wholesale prices coming down this year,” PSC Chair Charlotte Lane said. “I know this will make a big difference to West Virginia families this winter, and that means a lot.” No stranger ...

Christmas Memories Made at the White House

My family and I have a relatively new tradition of traveling to iconic places around Christmastime. It started close to home a few years ago with a visit to the Greenbrier Resort. Then we trekked to New York City to see the classic sights, such as the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and ...

Santa Claus Will Come

And finally it’s Christmas. A time for remembrance of happy Christmas past; for enjoying happy Christmas present; for anticipation of happy Christmas future. Many years ago, Francis Church of the New York Sun wrote a famous editorial in reply to a letter from an 8-year-old girl, Virginia O’Hanlon, who asked whether there was a Santa Claus, since some of her friends had told her there was none. The editorial was one of those pieces which attracted instant attention and has become one of the classics of Christmas lore, reprinted annually in thousands of newspapers across the ...

The Other Wise Man Who Found the King

As a child, my favorite Christmas story was a little volume, a gift from my mother, Henry Van Dyke’s “The Story of the Other Wise Man.” As Van Dyke related the story there were four Magi, not three, who set out to find the newborn King of the Jews — Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar and Artaban. Each was bearing rich gifts. Artaban’s were three jewels — a sapphire, a ruby and a pearl. Scholars all, specializing in astrology, their studies and observations had indicated the approximate time and place of the birth. By prearrangement they started out separately from their homes ...