Local Columns

Early Notes From the Campaign Trail

It seemed like almost every day last week there was some sort of new court filing regarding Gov. Jim Justice and his family businesses, including two filings that came out on West Virginia’s 160th birthday. Much of this feels like deja vu as I feel like I wrote about similar issues about Justice in 2019 and 2020 going into his re-election for governor. And just like then, we have Justice telling the media and the public to not worry about his businesses. I’ve been asked multiple times by people of all walks of life if I think Justice’s business and legal issues will derail his ...

Local EMS Agencies Need West Virginia’s Help

When West Virginians call 911, they know there will be a dispatcher on the other end of the line, who will ask us one simple question. “What’s your emergency?” Dispatchers then communicate the needs of West Virginians to the first responders in our communities, and those paramedics, EMTs and firefighters take the calls that often save our lives. But who responds when it is the first responders who have an emergency? Emergency medical services throughout West Virginia are frantically calling the State Capitol asking the governor and the Legislature to dispatch the votes ...

W.Va.’s Next Attorney General Must Be Prepared for AI Threats

Imagine answering a call from an unknown number one afternoon and instead of hearing the voice of someone trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty as you expected, you instead hear panicked cries for help from your teenage daughter. You know for certain it’s her voice, and begin to panic as a man gets on the phone and tells you he’s kidnapped her and wants a significant amount of money in exchange for her release. As the call goes on, however, you slowly begin to realize that something isn’t right as another family member has been able to reach your daughter by ...

Marshall Memo: Lots of Happenings at the Library; Tea Party; and Flag Hunts

There will be two free events this coming week at the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library. One will be at 6:30p.m. on Tuesday and the other at 6 p.m. on Thursday. For those who wish to learn more about Civil War history they will want to be at the library Tuesday as local author and archivist Jon-Erik Gilot will be sharing his Civic War history along with some regional connections.. The program is titled, “Dangerfield Newby’s Fight for Freedom.” The formation draws its material found in Gilot’s new book, “John Brown’s Raid: Harpers Ferry and the Coming of the ...

Mountain State Carries the Load

I’m typing this week’s column from beautiful Adventures on the Gorge, overlooking the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville. I’m fresh off a unique tour of the New River Gorge Bridge — underneath. The Bridge Walk tour takes you to the catwalk beneath the famous arch bridge. If one can get beyond a fear of heights and ignore the shaking of the bridge caused by the flow of traffic above, it’s a wonderful way to see the gorge and the New River from where its name comes from. It is also a good way to marvel at the engineering behind the bridge. I come from St. Marys. At one ...

Fathers’ Role Changing But Still Critical to Children

The evidence suggests that the role of the father in the United States is changing and that the male parent can contribute much more to the child’s development during the first months of life than was formerly believed. At a Rotary meeting that I attended, a pediatrician doctor who is very well known in the community for numerous awards in studies in pediatrician medicine, said that scientist have concluded that what happens in an infant’s life in the first 100 days affects how the child’s brain is developed. After the child’s brain has been formed it is almost never reversed ...