Hanshaw Has His Hands Full

House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R, Clay) has won re-election by his caucus to a third two-year term. The vote came during a Sunday closed-door meeting, with Hanshaw getting 53 votes to 30 for Delegate Brandon Steele (R, Raleigh). Steele made an all-out effort to unseat Hanshaw, complaining that Hanshaw stood in the way

Manchin: Will He or Won’t He?

West Virginia Republican hopefuls for 2024 are already declaring their intentions or positioning themselves for the next election.  However, the state’s leading Democrat remains non-committal. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin will not say whether he will run for re-election in 2024, but he doesn’t have to, at least not yet, no matter how many times those

What’s Wrong in our Schools?

The state’s two teacher unions, the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) and the American Federation of Teachers West Virginia (AFT-WV) are holding a series of public focus groups around the state. The organizations’ leaders—Dale Lee from WVEA and Fred Albert from AFT—acknowledge that the poor outcomes among West Virginia school students are unacceptable, and that

WVU Calms The Waters: Baker In, Brown Stays

The great upheaval within the WVU Athletic Department is now settling down. The shocking dismissal of Shane Lyons, and his subsequent candid interview on MetroNews Talkline, combined with the uncertain future of head football coach Neal Brown has dominated West Virginia sports news. The University’s tight lid on the Lyons’ replacement search and the ambiguity

Climate Change Shakedown

Poor countries have long wanted the United States and other developed nations to pay for damage they claim was caused by climate change. They finally succeeded at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt earlier this month. The agreement calls for the United States and other countries that have been large greenhouse gas emitters to

Keep Neal Brown

West Virginia University should keep Neal Brown as the head football coach, and that decision should be made quickly. It feels as though Brown has been hanging by a thread.  Disappointing defeats and subpar performances in multiple games this year increased the possibility that Brown would be fired after four seasons. The story took an

Would Jim Justice and the U.S. Senate be a Good Match?

In the 1972 movie The Candidate, Bill McKay (played by Robert Redford) runs for and wins a U.S. Senate race in California. At the end of the film, moments after the announcement that he has won, a stunned McKay asks his campaign manager, “What do we do now?” There is a distinct difference between running

A Holiday of Gratitude

Thanksgiving is deeply rooted in American tradition, beginning with the European settlers. It was first formalized in 1789, when President George Washington issued a proclamation for “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God.” In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called on

Teacher Exodus in WV Worsening

West Virginia’s teacher shortage is getting worse. Figures released by the state Department of Education show there are 1,544 non-certified teachers in classrooms this school year.  That is up from about 1,200 last year and more than twice the number from 2015, when West Virginia hired approximately 600 non-certified teachers. These non-certified teachers may be

Happy Hunting

It is a holiday in West Virginia. Okay, not really, but it may as well be.  Today is the first day of the two-week-long buck firearms season. If your spouse eagerly jumped out of bed before dawn, if the schools are closed, if half of your co-workers are absent and if the sound of gunfire

How Much Can WVU Pay for the New AD?

As West Virginia University embarks on the search for a replacement to Shane Lyons as Director of Athletics, there is a lot of emphasis on who would be a good fit. Interim Athletic Director Rob Alsop spoke to that in general terms earlier this week. “When you think of any type of leader, you want

Donald Trump Is No Ronald Reagan

Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday night announcing his candidacy for president in 2024 was dark, depressing and delivered in such a low-energy style that it left one wondering whether even he has grown tired of his shtick. Trump at once glorified and embellished his accomplishments while also painting a dystopian view of America. He said we

Mooney Enters Senate Race. More May Follow.

The race for the U.S. Senate seat in West Virginia in 2024 is already underway. West Virginia Republican Second District Congressman Alex Mooney announced on Talkline Tuesday that he is running. “It’s been talked about a lot, but I’m going to announce,” Mooney said. “I’m announcing right now that I’m running for the U.S. Senate.

How WVU Football Losses, NIL, Sealed Lyons Fate

West Virginia University’s announcement Monday that it was parting ways with Shane Lyons as Director of Athletics and Associate Vice President was a stunner.  Speculation in recent weeks had focused on the fate of football coach Neal Brown, but there were no hints that Lyons was on the hot seat. That changed Saturday when ESPN’s

Red Wave in WV Included County Races

Republicans expanded their majorities significantly in the West Virginia Legislature in last week’s General Election. Republicans will now occupy 88 of the 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 30 of the 34 seats in the Senate. The wave that gave the GOP historic wins in the Legislature extended to county offices. Here are

Thank You, Veterans

(This is a commentary I have posted previously on Veterans Day.) One-hundred and four years ago, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the fighting stopped along the battle lines in Europe, bringing an end to the hostilities of World War I.  The following year, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November

West Virginia’s Red Wave

West Virginia voters have propelled the Republican Party to historic numeric advantages in both the state Senate and the House of Delegates. In the Senate, Republicans won 16 of 17 seats up for election and, in the process, defeated four incumbent Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin and four-term Senator Ron Stollings. The Republicans

Election Day 2022

(Editor’s note: This is a commentary I posted on Election Day 2020, with a few changes.) This is General Election Day in America. The final in-person votes will be cast today and by tonight, hopefully, the country will know in most of the local, state and national races who has won. In West Virginia, voters

Americans Agree on One Thing: They Fear Political Violence

Tuesday will make the 44th election I have covered.  I have voted in each of those elections, so naturally I have my preferences—candidates I want to see elected or re-elected, and candidates I hope lose. But this is the first General Election where my primary interest is that nothing bad happen. I don’t believe we will

West Virginia’s Clean Elections

  A friend of mine who is originally from West Virginia, but now lives in Virginia, just early-voted there. It was a much different experience. He was met by both Republican and Democratic representatives as he approached the polling place who wanted to give him information. He described a “sea of signs” just outside the