The Polymer Alliance Zone of West Virginia has taken on the challenge of bringing activity back to a former industrial site in Huntington. It won’t be easy, but it’s important for the city for the project to succeed.

Reasons for reasonable gun restrictions abound. Among them: Nearly 47,000 people in America were killed with guns in 2021, the most recent year for which data are available. The homicide rate that year increased to 6.63 per 100,000 people, a three-decade high.

At age 67, I’ve got a lot to learn the next few decades before losing the race to Father Time. He’s undefeated. Sometimes I forget what I’m saying but as I write today, I feel focused with a mind like a steel trap.

A bill moving through the West Virginia Legislature would allow some teachers in public schools to carry concealed firearms on campus during the school day — for the safety of children and others, of course.

West Virginia and China, so far apart in most ways, have one glaring similarity. For very different reasons, both have significant population declines that affect current and future economic conditions.

About a dozen years ago I was at the Guyandotte boat ramp with my camera getting pictures of the East End bridge over the Ohio River when a fisherman struck up a conversation with me. What we talked about is lost to time, but I do remember him warning me that I shouldn’t be there at night. T…

A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there, pretty soon we are taking big bucks.

Rooting for my longtime favorite NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys, in their wild card scrap with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I found myself staring at the motto on the back of the Bucs’ helmets. It said: “Be Love.”

Naivete is a trait of the dim-witted, none of whom should be permitted to cross newsroom thresholds but whose ranks are increasing in those places, especially where hair spray is used more frequently than notebooks.

The early days of the West Virginia Legislature’s annual sessions often feature proposed laws that address the concerns of small groups but which do not generate enough public interest to keep them alive as crunch time nears in the final days.

Lying is as old as mankind. One of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Other biblical statements remind us, “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.”

The Toledo Blade published this editorial on Jan. 14. It was distributed by the Associated Press.

Once again our state legislature is off and running talking about how to spend the current tax surplus. They are calling it “investing.” Sounds cool, but investing in job-creating endeavors is the job of the private sector. I believe there is a law in our state that forbids the state from co…

One thing about the rushed transition to renewable energy sources is that it’s a one-size-fits-all strategy that sounds better than it works.

Buckle up! Indications I see in the news tell me that 2023 could well be a rough and tumble year for our economy, for public safety and for the fate of democracy.

The Wall Street Journal published this editorial on Jan. 9. It was distributed by the Associated Press:

To say that the health care landscape has changed over the last several years would be the understatement of the century. Looking back at, let’s say, the last 1,013 days, the health care industry was challenged to unprecedented levels due to the COVID pandemic. During this period, health car…

An area that struggles to maintain its population and create new jobs as old ones disappear undoubtedly will have trouble with vacant and dilapidated buildings. West Virginia is no exception to that rule.

America and West Virginia care nothing for the affairs of Coon Branch Hollow, an area in McDowell County so remote it can’t be found on a map. Like many places here, one knows it principally by being there. Its inhabitants dwell in obscurity, their existence hidden from humanity like grains …

This editorial appeared in the Toledo Blade on Jan. 7. It was distributed by the Associated Press.

January is my least favorite month for several reasons — cold, snow, darkness and W-2 forms.

Cleveland Plain Dealer published this editorial on Jan. 4. It was distributed by the Associated Press.

Microsoft founder and clean-energy investor Bill Gates brought a dose of optimism and a dose of realism to Appalachia when he visited Charleston on Monday.

It’s cool, dark and often rainy these winter days. There are plenty of shows to stream and unbelievable political stories to follow, but often a good book, like “Demon Copperhead,” is a great way to spend time during this part of the year.

Mountain Health Network continues to expand its reach in this part of West Virginia. Last week it announced it, Marshall Health, and Logan Regional Medical Center have formed a new collaboration aimed at bringing more opportunities for specialty care to southern West Virginia.

The man once known as Josef Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany and regarded as the Catholic Church’s most brilliant and influential theologian of the late 20th century, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, was laid to rest at the Vatican last week at age 95.

The Youngstown Vindicator published this editorial on Dec. 31, 2022. It was distributed by the Associated Press.

As my team heads into its seventh legislative session, we once again set off to advocate on behalf of agriculture, our farmers and West Virginia’s food supply. Each and every session, we work diligently to remind our lawmakers the value agriculture adds to the West Virginia economy and secur…

Over the coast of California, the great storm formed May 26, 1889, and began from there a slow march across America toward Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where some 2,200 souls waited to die, unaware of the looming sweep of the scythe.