Gov. Jim Justice’s blind and abiding trust in President Trump and his administration finally got the best of him this week when the governor learned that vaccination deliveries that had been promised to the state had, well, not really existed at all. Read more

The trouble with Rep. Carol Miller is that she’s not always capable of thinking for herself – and certainly not for her constituents – especially on complicated policy issues. She prefers to hang out on the backbench of Congress and dutifully do what she’s been told. Read more

In case there was any doubt, Gov. Jim Justice has made it clear of late that he makes the rules and it is up to the rest of us to follow along, no questions allowed. Read more

Gov. Jim Justice advocates for “age, age, age” when it comes to arguing who should be among the first in line for Covid-19 vaccinations in the state. And, as is his habit, he makes the obvious point. Public health statistics show the elderly, especially those in congregate settings such as l… Read more

First designated as a National River in 1978, the New River Gorge is composed of approximately 72,000 acres of land along 53 miles of one of the world’s oldest rivers – the New River – stretching from Bluestone Dam to Hawk’s Nest Lake. More importantly, it is home to hiking trails, globally-… Read more

Earlier this past week, Gov. Jim Justice suggested that the state begin testing all college students for Covid-19. He saw it as a strategy to reduce the transmission of a highly infectious disease that has been raging out of control – not just in some other corner of the country, but right h… Read more

No doubt, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to run the Defense Department, is rock solid on almost every professional, career and character attribute that can be measured. Read more

If Gov. Jim Justice were as excited about science, democracy and the truth as he is about the prospects of two vaccines to turn the coronavirus pandemic on its ear, he might then have an easier time convincing citizens to line up and take a couple shots for the greater good so that we might … Read more

The solid black wooly worm creeping down the hardwood in my hallway is not a good sign. Read more

Before we can debate the growing body of evidence that suggests our school children may, in fact, be safer from coronavirus by attending classes rather than by hanging out at home all day, we must take into account the health and safety of everyone who steps into our schools, from kids to te… Read more

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all local officials responsible for running smooth and incident-free primary and general elections this year – especially given the political, administrative and public health pressures they were under from Day One while doing their duty to collect and coun… Read more

THUMBS UP to the Shady Spring High School girls volleyball team for turning the disappointment of a frustrating loss into the elation of winning a state championship. Coming off a runner-up finish in the 2019 state tournament, the No. 1-seeded Lady Tigers swept Philip Barbour 3-0 to take hom… Read more

We were pleased to see Jina Belcher promoted to lead the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority for all of the obvious reasons that her résumé and portfolio of work clearly enunciate. Read more

Although Gov. Jim Justice was late to the party, his pandemic directives issued Friday were a welcome sign at the door of public health that, finally, he is taking the accelerated transmission of the coronavirus more seriously than he has all fall. Read more

THUMBS UP to the Wyoming County Toy Fund, the Wyoming County Firefighters Association and the county office of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources for joining forces this year to make Christmas brighter for children in need. Due to the Covid-19 issue that is affecting … Read more

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States will take up a case that could upend our health care system. California v. Texas, a lawsuit brought by 18 state Attorneys General including West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey, seeks to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA). Read more

President-elect Joe Biden Jr. delivered an address to the nation on Saturday night, the tone, tenor and content of which we, as a country, have not heard in a good, long while. Four years, to be exact. Read more

THUMBS UP to an operation, called Autumn Hope, that led to the recovery of 45 missing children, 13 of whom were recovered as a result of the efforts of the U.S. Marshals Service here in the Southern District of West Virginia in conjunction with the Cops United Felony Fugitive Enforcement Div… Read more

Election season is a good time to call West Virginia home – especially if you want to participate in our democracy during a pandemic and feel better about filling out your ballot from the safety of your own breakfast table or casting your vote early at a local polling place. Time is plentifu… Read more

Republican conservative hypocrisy lives loudly within U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who joined party colleagues on Wednesday to announce their opposition to court packing. They share a suspicion that should the Democrats win the White House and take control of the Senate, seats wo… Read more

To the parents who told the Raleigh County Board of Education that they want an option to send their children to school five days a week, we hear you. There is no place better for a child to receive an education than in a classroom with a professional educator providing the lessons – face-to-face. Read more

Counting deaths and illnesses daily from Covid-19 may have normalized our relationship with the insidious and highly infectious disease to a point that we do not take it as seriously as we should. The tracking – whether it is a state count produced by the West Virginia Department of Health a… Read more

THUMBS UP to the recognition of a portion of the West Virginia Turnpike – from Mile Marker 39 to Mile Marker 93 – as the Gold Star Families Memorial Highway, in honor of those who have lost an immediate family member during a time of conflict. Gold Star Mothers attended the recent event and … Read more

President Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday as his nominee to the Supreme Court, calling her “one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds.” And while that may be true, now – with just five weeks before a national election in which the president could be denie… Read more

THUMBS UP to an announcement by Gov. Jim Justice that he has committed $6 million of CARES Act funding to ensure the continued support of child care providers and families through the end of the year. Federal funding for it was set to run out at the end of the month. The state’s investments … Read more

Out of common decency and respect for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday night from complications associated with metastatic cancer of the pancreas, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could have deflected all political game board questions and considerations about… Read more

We are simultaneously concerned for and humbled by school teachers, administrators and staffers, the janitors and cooks and counselors and bus drivers, who are putting themselves in harm’s way during a viral pandemic to give our children a shot at a first-rate education – or at least the bes… Read more

THUMBS UP to staff members of the Gauley District of Monongahela National Forest who have been working this summer on repairs to a 680-foot section of the boardwalk at the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area. Repairs include re-connecting and raising parts of the boardwalk and fixing uneven walk… Read more

If Raleigh County and Beckley elected officials and civic leaders are to contribute to prospects for better days ahead, they must be active promoters not just of the allure of small town, rural life in these wild and wonderful mountains, but of the potential – the figurative gold in these hi… Read more

THUMBS UP to fulfillment of a long-ago promise made to residents of a predominantly African American neighborhood. A 1941 deed discovered several years ago in a Lewisburg file merged two parcels of land – one owned by the town and the other by a council formed to promote the “welfare and int… Read more

Of all the terrible choices available, the Raleigh County School Board has made a reasonable decision in instituting a blended schedule once it reopens its school doors on Sept. 8. Read more

Balls of gray fluff dart across the concrete patio. Two small kittens are engaged in a battle of epic proportions in the midst of several plants at the edge of a landscaped area. Read more

Where was it ever written that our United States Postal Service was created to make money? Read more