Local Columns

Marshall Memo: Everyone Loves a Parade; Recycling; and Fall Festival

The 53rd annual Marshall County Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade is right around the corner on Saturday, Nov. 18. That means it is time for the yearly Marshall County student Christmas Parade naming contest. This year’s entries are to be submitted by September 25th to chamber@marshallcountychamber.com. Students can enter individually or as a class. Last year a student from Hilltop Elementary was the winner. The winner this year will receive $100, and can be in the parade. --- The Marshall County Fall Clean-up will take place in mid-October. Dumpster will be at the following ...

It’s Realtor Safety Month; Tips To Safely List Your Home

The National Association of Realtors designates September as Realtor Safety Month. This rings a bell for every Real Estate agent across the country on the importance of being safe while marketing your property. Not only is this important to evaluate our safety practices as realtors, it is also equally important to point the safety practices out to our home buyers and sellers. Safety in real estate begins at home, especially when you are listing your property for sale. Social media has dominated the home marketing industry over the last five years and your house becomes a target for ...

Where’s the Public Concern About WVU?

I wouldn’t call myself a public higher education reporter specifically. My beat is state government, so I tend to cover higher education policy in the state from that mindset. Public colleges, universities, and community/technical colleges are very strange bodies for me to cover. In a way, they are public/private hybrids. Direct state funding only makes up a small portion of their budgets, which rely mostly on tuition from students. But taxpayers are more involved with the state’s public higher education system than they might realize. Nearly all are regulated by the state ...

Our Amazing Minds — Tools That We Must Harness and Utilize

Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and a former Republican presidential candidate, said, “I’m the only one to separate Siamese twins, the only one to operate on babies while they’re still in their mother’s womb. The only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it.” That statement made me think about the power of the mind. What he said was both comical and thought provoking. Maybe you have heard this one too, “You don’t have a brain in your head!” But you know it’s simply not true. If a person is ...

Americans Should Be Concerned About Future of Taiwan

During the last week of August, I traveled to Taiwan as part of a US Congressional Delegation. Taiwan has been a separate government from mainland China since 1949, when the leaders of the Republic of China fled to the island after losing a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party. Taiwan is now facing renewed aggression from mainland China and fears of a military invasion. With China emerging as America’s biggest geopolitical enemy and aligning itself with violent autocratic regimes like Russia and North Korea, America must continue to stand with and defend our democratic allies ...

Gee, WVU Tackling Tough Budget Issues Head-On

Growing up, my grandfather taught me that you should “hear others out” even if you disagree with their point of view. That lesson always served me well. At a minimum, it helps me understand the opposing viewpoint so that I can strengthen, or find the weaknesses, in my perspective. Frequently I come away with a better understanding and perhaps a different solution in mind. During my time as both an undergraduate and a graduate student at West Virginia University, the core values of the university included free speech and open dialogue. I always appreciated those tenets and was ...