Morrisey Bungles Nuclear Power Campus Rollout… Then Pulls Out

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey has fumbled badly with the release of critical information about the state’s months-long pursuit of a federal nuclear energy hub.  The missteps have contributed to concern and confusion over the state’s potential hosting of a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus.   And now the state has pulled out altogether. What was missing

The Hard Truth About Poverty in West Virginia

I wrote about West Virginia’s poverty level in last week’s commentary, based on U.S. Census figures. However, those numbers do tell only part of the story of the financial challenges in our state. The United Way’s ALICE report is more revealing. ALICE stands for asset limited, income constrained and employed.  It’s a measure of those

West Virginia’s Mixed Report on Poverty

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new figures on poverty in America, and for West Virginia the findings are mixed.  I’ll get to those numbers shortly, but first here is some context: The data come from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The agencies look at poverty two ways:  The official poverty figure

Remembering 9/11

(Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a commentary I posted several years ago around the anniversary of 9/11.) Has it really been 25 years since the September 11 attacks? Consider this: Nearly half the U.S. population—45 percent—was either not yet born or too young to remember when the World Trade Center towers burned

Crafting the 2026 WVU Football Season Narrative

Fans judge their favorite team’s season on myriad events—wins and losses, overall and individual performances, the level of competition, game-changing plays, untimely penalties, the cost of attending a game, and on and on. But every season also develops its own narrative—a simple statement or two that summarizes everything that happened. As time passes and the

West Virginia Remains Trump Country, But He is Losing Support Among Independents

Polls across the political spectrum continue to show a steady decline in Donald Trump’s approval rating. For example, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll put the president’s approval rating at 33 percent, down 14 points from the start of his second term. Not all polls have his numbers that low. However, a Cook Political Report aggregate of

Why Socialism is Gaining Traction

Socialism is having a moment in the United States… again. Recent election wins by candidates who identify as Democratic Socialists have generated interest in what supporters believe is a new and better way of governing.  The movement has gained momentum among younger voters in particular. A recent Axios-Generation Lab poll found that 68 percent of

Measles is Spreading, But Not in West Virginia

Whenever I see one of those “ranking” stories about the states, I brace myself. Is this going to be another report on some measure where West Virginia finishes near the bottom? But the latest list brought welcome news for our state. Recent stories based on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the

When the Snake Oil Stops Working

The traveling snake oil salesmen of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had their share of success for several reasons. They were effective pitchmen who sold hope in the form of miraculous cures from exotic—but ultimately ineffective—elixirs. They understood the importance of moving from town to town, knowing that the deception would eventually catch

Another Destructive and Heartbreaking Flood

Severe weather this week brought massive rainfall, high winds, and possible tornadoes to West Virginia. The resulting flooding has devastated parts of north-central West Virginia, particularly the corridor between Buckhannon and Weston. The National Weather Service in Charleston reported that three to five inches of rain fell Tuesday in just a few hours. One location

The Death of Deep Reading

The late Don Marsh, who served as my Talkline co-host for several years, was a man of letters.  He was extremely well-read and would often recall quotes and bits of wisdom.  Once when he pulled out a literary nugget relevant to the topic at hand, I asked him, “Marsh, how did you know that?”  He

His Majesty’s Celebration

The kingdom was preparing to celebrate its birthday. Grand celebrations were planned. However, inside the castle, the king was unsettled. He shifted uneasily on his newly acquired throne. The gold-leafed, jewel-encrusted gift had arrived only days earlier after the king’s family secured lucrative investments in the donor’s kingdom. For the king, it was just another

Fix Social Security… No, Seriously.

Washington’s policy making debate is often a tangle of jargon, hyperbole, shape-shifting rhetoric and outright lies.  All that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the average concerned citizen to understand what is going on. And that makes the most recent report on the financial status of Social Security refreshing… and deeply disturbing. The annual

All Country Roads Led to Omaha

West Virginia University fans were big winners in Omaha. The Mountaineer baseball team’s historic season came to an end Wednesday. It’s a sad end to an electrifying season that saw West Virginia earn its first appearance in the College World Series. And West Virginia fans showed up in every possible way. Mountaineer followers have always

The joy, verve and poetry of WVU baseball

In the endearing baseball movie Bull Durham, the character Annie Savoy says when the team gets on a hot streak, “For one extraordinary June and July, the Durham Bulls began playing baseball with joy and verve and poetry.” And so it is now for the West Virginia University baseball team. The Mountaineers are riding a

How to bring college sports back from the brink

College sports are a mess. The House v. NCAA settlement cleared the way for college athletes to be paid for their labor, name, image and likeness. That was long overdue.  However, the unintended consequences created a landscape of unlimited transfers, pay-for-play, unenforceable rules and a toothless NCAA. We are rapidly headed toward the untenable paradigm

We need more West Virginians

As a lifelong West Virginian, I try hard to be optimistic about our state and its future. However, that hopefulness frequently bumps up against data, and the latest U.S. Census figures are illustrative of one of West Virginia’s most consistent challenges: population decline. West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Senior Policy Analyst Sean O’Leary

Our unending debt

(This is a reprint of a commentary I have posted previously about Memorial Day.) Imagine a debt that can never be fully repaid. That obligation is so great that it is nearly incomprehensible to think about, so we block it from our thoughts and pretend that it does not exist. But each of us who

Trump’s get-out-of-jail free card

In the 1998 action movie Armageddon, the Bruce Willis character tells the federal government what his team members want in return for taking on a dangerous mission to destroy an asteroid before it strikes earth. “None of them want to pay taxes again… ever.” It’s a funny bit because it borders on the absurd. Fast

Primary Election Post Mortem

A few post-election observations: –This election saw an historic divide within the state’s Republican Party, with candidates endorsed and funded by Governor Morrisey and related PACS vs. Senator Tom Takubo’s slate.  In Kanawha County, Takubo survived withering and well-financed attacks to win re-nomination, as did Senator Vince Deeds in Greenbrier County. However, as our Brad