Local Columns

More Companies Are Saying ‘Yes’ to West Virginia

The Justice administration has ushered in what I believe is the most thrilling and exciting time in the history of West Virginia economic development. The citizens of our state are enjoying unprecedented success. We have so much for which to be thankful and many reasons to celebrate. A multitude of world-class companies have recently undertaken concerted and diligent efforts to determine the best place in America to locate their new factories, invest significant capital, and create thousands of jobs. It’s incredibly gratifying and rewarding to proclaim that West Virginia is winning ...

Marshall Memo: Too Cool for the Pool; Ladies Luncheon; and Baking for Bingo

The swimming pool at Moundsville’s East End Playground will reopen Thursday! The pool has been closed since March 1 for repainting as well as painting the walls throughout the building. Recreation Director John White said, “the pool really needed painted, and people from the regional jail did an outstanding job in helping us.” While on the subject of the East End Playground, the Bronco Field has a new lighting system, which will be turned on for the first time this weekend. White said the next major sports facility upgrade will take place at the Park View Playground where ...

Wrapping Up 2023 Legislative Session

The last few days of any session of the West Virginia Legislature can be very dramatic. With bills running up against the deadline of midnight Saturday, lawmakers are crossing the hall trying to get the other chamber to move on their bills.There was some of that drama this year, but with the Senate and House of Delegates completing agendas Friday night, that left Saturday for each body to receive messages from the other body on the passage of their bills and decide whether to concur with changes to the bills, or reject those changes and work other differences in a conference ...

Call Fentanyl What It Is: A Weapon of Mass Destruction

The United States had 107,622 drug deaths in 2021, a 15% increase of 13,967 from 93,655 in 2020. Almost the entirety of the increase is due to fentanyl. West Virginia had 1,194 fentanyl and other synthetic opioid deaths in 2021, up 10% from 1,083 in 2020. This substance is now the No. 1 killer of adults aged 18-45. There’s no question why state attorneys general are pushing the Biden administration to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. This deadly synthetic opioid is mainly being funneled through our unprotected southern border—Chinese chemical manufacturers are ...

Marshall Memo: Fundraisers, Relay for Life, Cleanup Events, and a Happy Birthday!

Another phase dealing with a new Marshall County Health Department building is currently being undertaken. The most recent is an invitation to bid on removal of two existing buildings, site preparation and construction of a two-story health department building on the site. The deadline for submission of sealed bids is 9 a.m. April 18. The bids will be received in the Marshall County Clerk’s Office, Room 106. All complete bids will be publicly opened and read at 9:15 a.m. April 18 at the County Commission meeting at the courthouse. --- While on the subject of the health ...

Responsible Tax Cuts for All West Virginians

When I was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2014, West Virginia was fighting to dig its way out of a significantly downturned economy. Around that same time, in an effort to spur economic growth, then-Gov. Tomblin and the previous Democrat legislative leadership had opted for economic policies that focused on increased government, but that instead created massive state deficits. In order to change the state’s predicament, the newly controlled Republican Legislature opted to focus instead on reducing the budget and enacting pro-growth policies in the face of raising taxes just ...