The Census Bureau says COVID-19 is slowing down its release of data from the 2020 census. Instead of releasing data a bit at a time throughout 2021, it’s going to do a huge data dump later in the year. That could cause problems.
Friday, February 26, 2021
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I’m not a good conversationalist. I talk too much.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
An ice storm in early 2003 knocked out electricity service to thousands of West Virginians. The derecho in June 2012 did the same. So did the back-to-back ice storms this month.
West Virginians can’t deny it; it’s not new or a secret. The state has an education problem. Recently, I received an email from WalletHub.com, which used 18 metrics to determine the 50 states’ educational attainment and quality of education. West Virginia ranked last in educational attainmen…
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Ohio’s experiments in drawing fairer congressional and state legislative districts haven’t even gotten underway and already they’re in trouble.
Over the past five years, solar costs have fallen over 45%, leading to a surge in demand for this new electricity source. While the choice to power your home with solar is ultimately a personal choice, West Virginians are missing out on an important opportunity to save on upfront costs and c…
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
The West Virginia House of Delegates has taken the first step in asserting its authority under the doctrine of separation of powers. It’s time for the State Senate to do the same, but with a significant difference.
So how did you cope with the ice storm?
Monday, February 22, 2021
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The Wall Street Journal published this editorial on Feb. 11:
Sunday, February 21, 2021
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Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia is investing another $210 million in its engine and transmission assembly plant in Putnam County. That’s good news for several reasons.
Sunday, February 21, 2021
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Saturday, February 20, 2021
The Kingsport (Tenn.) Times-News published this editorial on Feb. 14:
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Friday, February 19, 2021
Chief executives holding high political office in the United States once wielded authority by might of wit and skill in diplomacy, navigating agendas — theirs and others’ — by deft political hand and subtlety infused with stature.
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Thursday, February 18, 2021
For the past few years, Presidents’ Day Weekend has motivated me to write about past presidents with whom most Americans lack familiarity. Many people aren’t even aware that this holiday weekend morphed from combining Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12 and Washington’s on Feb. 22.
When the sun set Monday, Feb. 15, about 15,000 customers of Appalachian Power in West Virginia were without electricity because of an ice storm that moved in Feb. 11. That evening, another ice storm moved through before ice from the first storm had melted. When the sun rose Tuesday, Feb. 16,…
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
My oldest granddaughter’s birthday party was Saturday afternoon. Before I could help her celebrate, I had to work on my driveway.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Straight through the blustery winds, snow and cold rains of February, the pandemic known as the coronavirus and its disease, COVID-19, keeps building toward an expected half million U.S. deaths by a calendar turn into March 2021.
Monday, February 15, 2021
When the Huntington Mall opened, management of The Herald-Dispatch directed reporters and editors to refer to it as The Huntington Mall in Barboursville at Ona. The geographic gymnastics were done to establish the location of the new shopping destination as separate from downtown Huntington.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a war we’re finally starting to win, at great cost. After such wars, good governments step in with bold ideas and concrete programs to help heal and rebuild. Think of Britain’s “Homes Fit for Heroes” after World War I and America’s G.I. Bill after World War II. Postw…
The Las Vegas Review-Journal published this editorial on Feb. 7:
Sunday, February 14, 2021
President Joe Biden says he wants a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure soon. How can anyone argue with that?
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After reading the story in The Herald-Dispatch on Feb. 10, I was prompted to make clear my personal feelings concerning the positions Delegate John Mandt Jr., R-Cabell, has apparently taken concerning the LGBTQ+ community and their struggles to overcome discrimination.
Saturday, February 13, 2021
The recent death of Henry (Hank) Aaron got me thinking back to 1965. While on a family vacation to Illinois, my uncle to me to my first Major League Baseball game in Milwaukee to see a Braves game. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Lew Burdette, etc., vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves won the…
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Accolades to our West Virginia legislators Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, and Delegate Dr. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who will be sponsoring an upcoming bill in the hopes of lowering healthcare costs for those living with diabetes in the Mountain State. This bipartisan en…
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published this editorial on Feb. 10:
Friday, February 12, 2021
Despite yesterday's naysayers, the Huntington Mall was built in the right location.
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“I take my job seriously but I don’t take myself seriously.” — Reply of my friend and retired Judge David Pancake when I said he worked hard on his cases. I think this is a healthy way of approaching life. It gives you relief from the weight of your job. We all need that.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
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The West Virginia Legislature began its 2021 session yesterday with a Republican supermajority, meaning that proposals important to Republicans have an excellent chance of being enacted.
George Will has a well-deserved reputation as a thoughtful and fearless conservative columnist, and on the last day of January he wrote a blistering column in The Herald-Dispatch that said, among other things:
Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of what President Joe Biden’s proposal of a $15-an-hour minimum wage — up from the current national minimum of $7.25 — would do to the nation’s economy. It would raise 900,000 people out of poverty while at the same tim…
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
On Feb. 3, members of the Kansas Athletics Inc. board were told the sobering news: The University of Kansas’ athletic department is now expecting about a $30 million decline in revenues for its current fiscal year.
In 2017, the city of Huntington garnered $10 million as the grand-prize winner in America’s Best Communities competition. Since then, a variety of initiatives to rehabilitate and revitalize the Highlawn, West End, and Fairfield West neighborhoods, respectively, have been initiated. As a nati…
A number of years ago, the Cabell County Commission had no use for an old grass airfield that had, through disuse, turned into an eyesore, overgrown with weeds several feet high. A local, Carl Bailey, offered to take over the property to see if he could bring it back to life. A long-term, no…
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
Marshall University avoided the worst-case scenario from the coronavirus pandemic, but the university still has challenges it must face in the long term.
Referencing President Joe Biden’s inaugural address, CNN’s Jake Tapper spoke about “a cancer” affecting America, and described it as “an inability of people to come together around a set of established facts.”
Monday, February 08, 2021
The Orange County Register published this editorial on Jan. 29:
This editorial appeared in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Feb. 5:
Sunday, February 07, 2021
The West Virginia Legislature’s supermajority of Republicans has revived the idea of phasing out the state’s personal income tax. With the regular session scheduled to begin this week, the idea is likely to be included in one or more pieces of legislation. This is territory where things must…
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Saturday, February 06, 2021
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Thoughts from an occasionally cranky old man:
Friday, February 05, 2021
What happens when an emergency drags on for weeks and months until it becomes, for lack of a better word, normal?
Thursday, February 04, 2021
Almost every American city or state capitol has statues or plaques commemorating some politician, important person or memorable incident. Huntington has well-appreciated statues or memorials to Collis P. Huntington, “Diamond Teeth” Mary McClain, Carter Godwin Woodson and the Marshall plane crash.
Wednesday, February 03, 2021
As Ohioans start to dream about spring and a time when pandemic restrictions could begin to loosen, one aspect of Spring 2021 is still up in the air because of the coronavirus: standardized testing in the state’s K-12 schools.
If it looks like there are more locomotives parked at the Huntington CSX shops, it’s because there are. CSX is reducing the size of its active locomotive fleet as it adapts to how it runs trains and to customer demand.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2021
Several West Virginia counties are falling behind in their bills to the state’s regional jail system. It’s a problem that comes up every few years, and it’s come up again.
