Homesick Manchin leaning more toward Governor’s race

It’s Wednesday afternoon at the United States Capitol. The U.S. Senate had just voted 77-19 to confirm Thomas Barber as a U.S. District Judge in Florida. There was no debate. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin was a “yes” vote. That was just one of a series of judicial confirmation votes the Senate took that day. Oh,

McElhinny: Legislative focus on fun, fellowship and betterment

Special session just needs an attitude adjustment.

WV Commerce Secretary optimistic after meeting with China Energy

It was with great fanfare that the Justice administration announced in November 2017 a partnership with China Energy.  According to the memorandum of understanding, the Chinese energy giant would invest $83.7 billion in West Virginia projects over the next 20 years. The details of that deal have always been a little sketchy.  State officials said

Bloomberg goes after coal, natural gas

Back during the Obama administration, we heard a lot about the War on Coal.  The Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama did its level best to strangle the coal industry through regulatory fiat to try to affect climate change. The effort did serious damage to mining, industry suppliers and communities that rely on the good

Justice’s ‘Trump’ card

Governor Jim Justice is suffering of a lot of slings and arrows right now. Almost daily, there are media reports about one or more of his family’s companies not paying bills, fines or taxes. Just last week, MetroNews’ Brad McElhinny reported that some of Justice’s personal property in Greenbrier County could be seized to satisfy

Bishop Bransfield’s fall from grace

The Bible is filled with stories and lessons of sacrifice and humility.  John the Baptist wore clothes of camel hair, lived on locusts and wild honey and lineage of David to Jesus.  In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he wrote, “I was with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling.” Jesus explained in

Remembering D-Day 75 years later

Seventy-five years ago today, Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history. Operation Overlord consisted of 13,000 aircraft, 5,000 ships and 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops. In stormy weather, the soldiers landed at Normandy beaches code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.  Before their departure across the English Channel, General Eisenhower told

Strikes by West Virginia school teachers and other public employees are illegal

West Virginia public school teachers and service workers have demonstrated remarkable solidarity during work stoppages the last two years. Clearly, the nine-day strike in 2018 was a driving force behind an average five percent pay raise and a pledge by state leaders to try to hold down rising health insurance costs. This year’s two-day strike

Governor Justice must take the lead on education reform

So, the State Senate has now passed an omnibus education reform bill.  The vote was 18-15 with one member absent.  All 13 Democratic Senators present and two Republicans voted against the Student Success Act.  The bill now goes to the House, where it faces an uncertain future. Stop me if you’ve heard all this before.

West Virginia already has a solution to at-risk students

One of the education success stories in West Virginia is the Mountaineer Challenge Academy.  The program, run by the National Guard, accepts at-risk youth between the ages of 16 to 18 who have fallen behind in their traditional public school and are in danger of dropping out. The students, who go to the Academy in

Education reform and Groundhog Day

In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, TV weatherman Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray, finds himself reliving the same day over and over again.  We may be in for the legislative version of Groundhog Day when lawmakers return to Charleston to work on comprehensive education reform. Remember that earlier this year during the regular session

Charleston’s proposed abortion ‘buffer zone’ ordinance raises 1st Amendment issues

Charleston City Council is considering an ordinance that would provide a buffer zone between individuals entering the state’s only abortion clinic and pro-life protesters and counselors. WCHS Radio reports that Caitlin Cook, a Charleston Council member at large, introduced the measure at the request of the city police.  Cook said Charleston police have been called “multiple times

Mitch Carmichael’s Saturday session is a heavy lift

Saturday will be education reform redux at the State Capitol, at least on the Senate side of the building. Senate President Mitch Carmichael has called Senators back to Charleston to work on the latest attempt to legislate changes to how West Virginia delivers a “thorough and efficient education,” as required by the State Constitution. The

Johns Hopkins report misses mark on needle exchange program

Last week, the Harm Reduction Journal published a report by Johns Hopkins University critical of the decision last year to shut down the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s (KCHD) needle exchange program.  The report concluded that the suspension “should be viewed as a call to action for sustained evidence-based interventions in the face of sociopolitical forces that

Memorial Day, 2019: ‘No heroic sacrifice is ever lost.’

As we head into the holiday weekend, it is understandable that thoughts turn to the coming summer, the benefits of relaxation and relief from the confines of a West Virginia winter.  We might not give a second thought to the notion that living in a free and secure country enables us to pursue not only

Routine maintenance now a top priority to #FTDR

West Virginia’s Division of Highways is now zeroed in on routine road maintenance.  That’s not very exciting, especially when motorists are fuming over the potholes, slips and broken pavement. What we would all like to see is miles and miles of fresh black asphalt on the roads we travel every day.  However, the maintenance work

Education reform is a high, but reachable, peak

The is the climbing season on Mount Everest.  It’s the narrow window when conditions are most favorable for individuals to try to make it to the top (29, 035 feet) of the highest peak on the planet. There are at least 20 different routes to the summit that have been identified and tried over the

The heavy (and growing) yoke of debt

The graduating seniors at Morehouse College received an unexpected gift.  Robert F. Smith, a billionaire investor who was giving a commencement address to the 396 students at the historically black men’s college in Atlanta, announced he was paying off their student loans. Smith said he wanted the grads to begin their careers without nagging debt. 

WV Chamber report should also be part of the education improvement debate

The results of the West Virginia Department of Education’s town hall meetings and on-line surveys to gather opinions about reforms and improvements have been well documented.  The participants generally agreed that they want higher salaries for teachers and service workers, additional support services for students, more flexibility for high-performing schools and pay supplements to fill

Sisyphus and the heavy lift of education reform

The mythological figure Sisyphus was a cruel king. As punishment, he was forced to push a huge bolder up a hill only to have it roll back down, where he would start all over… for eternity. Sisyphus’ struggle feels like where we are now with education reform.  The regular session of the Legislature ended in