Ten reasons to vote Democratic in 2020:

Only two decades ago, civility was common in our nation’s politics. Many Americans long for those days when the word “bipartisan” was not a slur or stigma. In 2001, two well-respected senators, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) proposed the Development, Relief and Education for Ali…

Why every time I read our local newspaper all I ever see is fake news concerning our president? Saturday, Nov. 2, Page 9A, old Shifty Schiff and Badger Nadler want to impeach our president on a phone call. Trump turned over the transcript of the phone call to Ukraine to Congress, which old S…

The Herald-Dispatch published a guest column Sunday submitted by Bill Bissett, president and CEO of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce, about labor unions. The column drew a range of responses on social media and The Herald-Dispatch’s webpage. Following is a sample of comments.

Veterans Day — a date set aside to honor those who we know, to appreciate, to say thank you over and over. We do cherish our veterans.

1. … to the New York island … the redwood forest … the Gulf Stream waters

“When is he going to hit us with another quiz? It’s been a while.” That may be the sentiment out there in my readership.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail on West Virginia’s first foster care ombudsman:

The Ohio 7 bypass around Chesapeake, Ohio — which has been in the works since the 1960s — received $5 million in funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation earlier this week. The money is to be used for engineering and land acquistion on the 4 ½-mile road connecting the Robert C. Byr…

A great hero died recently: Robert Mugabe, former president of Zimbabwe. He led the battle against white apartheid rule in his country and won. He became president of Zimbabwe in 1980. In 2000, he took the land that was stolen from the indigenous population by white colonialists in the 19th …

When state and federal regulators closed Louisa Community Bank on Oct. 25, it was something rare in this part of the country — a bank failure.

I was in a restroom the other day in a restaurant. The lights were out. I told the owner. She said it kept people from using drugs — shooting up. I asked her, if you shoot up drugs or overdose in China, what happens? She said you get Narcan. You get no trial. You go to prison for 15 years. T…

A few weeks ago, Marshall’s Lifelong Learning Program (LLP), which is geared to informal adult learning experiences, arranged a fantastic trip to Hawks Nest State Park. Beth Wolfe, the LLP program director, not only arranged the fun stuff, the tram and jet boat ride to view the New River Bri…

I am no tribalist, but I can’t help but wonder why West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, an outsider, came here from another state and almost immediately got elected to public office.

Sewer fees: Every city resident that owns a home gets one. Some way I overlooked a couple of bills. I stopped and paid them. Three days later I get more, so I stopped and paid $60 more. Three bills, each one with a 3% charge — a separate charge! I asked, how can you charge me three times? Th…

Former bishop Michael Bransfield, the head of the Catholic Church in West Virginia for 13 years, was “very concerned about his legacy.” Those are the words of Mark Phillips, the former chief of staff of what was Wheeling Jesuit University, provided in a written response to questions from The…

In my teen years, I took a summer school class in typing at the Chicago public high school, Carl Schurz, where my father worked as head football coach. If recollection serves, I was the only male in a sea of female students, 20 or so. Nonetheless I loved learning how to type and later, writi…

It appears that a number of your readers and several of your recently published lay person commentators believe Marshall has somehow controlled the puppet strings of Sodexo in its shunning of Stewarts Hotdogs.

The Journal of Martinsburg, West Virginia, published this editorial on Oct. 30 regarding an effort for West Virginia agencies to spend $100 million less than they had planned for the current fiscal year:

Coal is on the decline.

A Herald-Dispatch story reporting about how the Huntington City Council this week approved pay increases for the positions of mayor and City Council members starting in 2021 attracted dozens of comments on Facebook, with most criticizing the size of the increase for the mayor’s position.

The other day, as I was sitting in my chair here in The Herald-Dispatch newsroom, I saw something on a computer screen that got a chain of thought going, and I realized there are only four of us associated with the newspaper today who were in the newsroom in the 1970s — me, Jim Casto, Dave P…

Why tolerate filthy public behavior?

So, Sweden’s citizens are getting a microchip inserted in their hand. Next, it will be in their forehead. Now they have given government complete control of their lives.

WASHINGTON — Demography does not dictate any nation’s destiny, but it shapes every nation’s trajectory, so attention must be paid to Nicholas Eberstadt. He knows things that should occasion some American worries, but also knows more important things that should assuage some worries regarding…

Many big-money suits against opioid pharmaceutical companies are making their way through the courts. A few, including Oklahoma’s and two Ohio counties’, have already been settled.

One part of the social contract people enter in to when they run for public office is that, if elected, they will represent all of their constituents — not just the ones who give them money or whose viewpoints they agree with.

Is the “empire” that is America on the wane?

I am an independent voter from Oregon. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., periodically sends me electronic newsletters. That is mildly puzzling, but not unwelcome.

WASHINGTON — After dozens of House Republicans demanded access to a secure facility in the Capitol last Wednesday where House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was preparing to depose a Pentagon official, Democrats expressed outrage at the breach of protocol. “They’re do…

When news broke that Gov. Jim Justice’s family farms had received the maximum payout ($125,000) in federal subsidies for soybeans and corn as relief from the effects of the trade war with China, the reaction from critics was quick, expected — and off the mark.

How about the story that Chuck Schumer once met with Putin? Did they talk about what Obama once did, who promised “that when I’m re-elected president of the good old USA, I can be more flexible”?

The two burning issues for the bulk of evangelicals seem to be: 1) appoint enough judges to overturn Roe v. Wade, and 2) roll back legalized gay marriage. If they were to look reality in the face for an instant, the evangelicals might realize that both of these goals are pipe dreams.

The Exponent Telegram in West Virginia published this editorial on Oct. 22 regarding efforts to improve mining safety:

WASHINGTON — There are moments when the U.S. Capitol feels like a sanctified space, a holy temple dedicated to ideals that transcend the partisan squabbles of the politicians who work there. The enormous paintings that tell the story of America, normally like wallpaper to those who work in t…

In his column published Oct. 8, John Patrick Grace revealed to us his wish list. Namely, that not only President Trump be removed from office but along with him shall go Vice President Mike Pence for his putative knowledge regarding the president’s obvious wrongdoings and for not having “whi…

WASHINGTON — There are political moments, and this might be one, in which worse is better. Moments, that is, when a society’s per capita quantity of conspicuous stupidity is so high and public manners are so low that a critical mass of people are jolted into saying “enough, already.” Looking…

WASHINGTON — As the 2020 election comes into sharper focus, one issue that seems to animate both sides — the Supreme Court — is once again taking center stage.

WASHINGTON — He was straight out of Foggy Bottom central casting.

Here at The Herald-Dispatch, we enjoy receiving letters for publication in Voice of the People. The flow of letters waxes and wanes, but we try to even them out and run them as soon as we can after they are submitted.

I am sorry that the fans who like The Thunderdogs are upset. I have season tickets for the football games, and I was glad to see that we now have more of a variety of food to choose from at the concessions stands.

WASHINGTON — Last week’s viral photograph of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointing her finger at President Trump and reading him the riot act reflected a larger reality: If Trump won’t responsibly lead the nation, Pelosi will.

The Cabell County Public Library is looking for some friends.

WASHINGTON — Along the East River, which is not really a river (it is a 16-mile-long tidal estuary), perhaps 20,000 people actually chose to spend a gorgeous autumn afternoon last Saturday listening to socialist Bernie Sanders, who is not really a socialist — he just wants to confiscate capi…

Since the Democrats claim they would like to retake the White House in 2020, I’m going to offer some unsolicited advice.