Dog racing in West Virginia is fading fast down the stretch

The West Virginia Kennel Owners Association issued a news release recently which sought to put the best possible face on the greyhound racing industry.  “Annual reports from the West Virginia Racing Commission for 2016 and 2017 tell a compelling story about the popularity of greyhound racing—and one that runs contrary to the unverified, but widely

For Christmas I get what I deserve, which is…

I’m on vacation this week, but it’s a staycation so don’t try to take any boxes off my porch! I don’t ask for Christmas presents anymore.  But here’s a provocative question: What do I deserve? Let your imagination run wild and post below what you think I should get from Santa. Merry Christmas to all!

Remembering Pearl Harbor… and Jim Downing

Last month, Ray Chavez, the oldest U.S. military survivor of the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, passed away at age 106.  His death reminded me of Jim Downing, who at 104 was the second oldest Pearl Harbor survivor. I interviewed the retired Navy Lt. when he came to Morgantown in November, 2017 to

Gov. Justice weighs in too late for state holiday

  Just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice tweeted that he was declaring the following day a state holiday in remembrance of President George H.W. Bush on the day of his funeral. The tweet was followed by a formal release from the Governor about an hour later. The late notice caught everyone by surprise

Extreme greens are in a tizzy over Manchin

Environmental extremists are blowing their green lids over the possibility that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) may become the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That committee wields significant power in determining the government’s policies on energy production and use in this country. First, we need to explain the odd circumstances

Six reasons to stop worrying and start loving the Camping World Bowl

So that noise you heard Sunday afternoon was the collective groan of disappointment as Mountaineer Nation learned that WVU had received a bid to the Camping World Bowl in Orlando.  The letdown is not about the bowl itself—I’ll get to that in a moment—but more about the bowls the Mountaineers are not playing in. The

Release State Police dashcam video now

Three separate investigations are underway to determine whether State Troopers Derek Walker and Michael Kennedy should be disciplined or possibly charged criminally in connection with the beating of a 16-year-old suspect. Police pursued the boy after he wrecked into a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department cruiser and kept going before eventually wrecking. The incident happened November

Public deserves answers to allegations of beating by troopers

The West Virginia State Police department has some explaining to do. Two troopers from the Martinsburg detachment are alleged to have beaten a 16-year-old suspect badly enough that he had to be taken to the hospital.  The troopers were arresting the unidentified boy after he allegedly struck a sheriff’s department cruiser with his vehicle, drove

Justice Administration brings best business practices to government

Politicians saying they will eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in government is a little bit like the old saying about the weather–everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.  However, credit the Justice Administration for bucking that trend in at least two areas. The first is oversight of a line of credit

Manchin on Afghanistan: “It’s time to come out of there.”

Three American soldiers were killed and three other service members, along with an American civilian contractor, were injured Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan.  The deadly attack made the news here amid the 24/7 coverage of President Trump, the conflict at the U.S. Mexican border, Paul Manafort, the Mueller investigation and the GM

Whitey Bulger’s murder highlights correctional officer shortage

Early on the morning of October 30th, James “Whitey” Bulger, the infamous crime boss from Boston, was beaten to death in his cell at the federal prison in Hazelton, West Virginia. Bulger’s murder set off a series of reporting on why Bulger, a noted FBI informant, was sent to Hazelton just hours earlier and why

Time to close the book on Supreme Court impeachment

It has been a year now since we first learned of the State Supreme Court’s out-of-control spending on office remodeling and furnishings. The infamous $32,000 couch in Justice Allen Loughry’s office became a symbol of Court arrogance. The revelations and the public outrage that followed led to a federal criminal investigation as well as a

Dana’s big night

Tonight’s game between WVU and Oklahoma is about many things—a trip to the Big 12 championship game, a first-ever win over the Sooners since joining the league, Will Grier’s Heisman campaign, just to name a few. It also just happens to be the biggest game for head coach Dana Holgorsen since arriving in Morgantown in

My Thanksgiving Message

It’s more than a little telling that as I was preparing to write this commentary about Thanksgiving, something happened at work that triggered an angry outburst. “Stop bothering me when I’m trying to write about my blessings!” Talk about missing the point. I am not by nature a “glass half full” person. When confronted with

Who will draw West Virginia’s political boundaries?

The year 2020 will be significant in West Virginia for several reasons. First, it’s a huge political year. The state will have races for U.S. Senate, Governor, the Board of Public Works, 100 House of Delegates seats and half of the 34 state Senate seats, as well as county elections. Additionally, the U.S. Census will

How a wounded war vet showed us how to return civility to our public discourse

Earlier this month on Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson mocked the appearance of wounded Navy SEAL and Texas Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw with a flippant remark about Crenshaw’s eye patch.  Crenshaw lost his right eye in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Davidson’s comment produced a national controversy that led to an appearance by

West Virginia’s shining moment in civil rights

(Editor’s note: This is a reprint of a commentary I post every year on the anniversary of the decision.) One-hundred and twenty years ago today, the West Virginia Supreme Court made one of its most significant decisions in the state’s history on the issue of civil rights. The case was Williams v. Board of Education

How ‘the next election’ has broken our political process

Yogi Berra supposedly said, “You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”  Berra’s convoluted logic applies to Washington now.  Elections produce winners, but losers don’t concede and cooperate, while winners bypass benevolence and avoid compromise. The Hill reported this week that immigration reform, which the country badly needs and the Congress has quarreled about for

West Virginia midterm election shows “blue geysers.”

There was a lot of speculation about a possible “blue wave” in last week’s midterm election. West Virginia, which has trended increasingly red in the last two decades, was never going to be part of that wave. However, a closer look at the election results shows West Virginia does have democratic strongholds, often (but not

Major gifts to WVU, Marshall will give entrepreneurial spirit a lift

West Virginia has received some of the best economic news in years.  No, it was not that a big company is opening a plant in our state or that Washington is moving a major division of the federal government here. The news instead was about incredibly generous financial gifts to the business schools at West