There have been many reviews of bills that passed and became law in West Virginia this year. However, there were far more bills that were introduced but not passed by the legislature. This month’s column points out some bills that did not pass but were sponsored by Delegate Hardy and Senators Barrett and Rucker Read the Full Story >>
Civic Engagement
Local voices offer their opinions and insights into political topics across the spectrum. Coverage focuses on local issues affecting residents in and around Jefferson County, WV.
Some Bills That Failed in the Legislature This Year – Part I
There have been many reviews of bills that passed and became law in West Virginia this year. However, there were far more bills that were introduced but not passed by the legislature. This month’s column points out some bills that did not pass but were sponsored by Delegates Clark, Espinosa, and Ridenour. Read the Full Story >>
Watching The West Virginia Legislature
The West Virginia state legislature convened on January 11 2023 for a sixty day regular session. Read the Full Story >>
Confusion on Plans for Water & Sewer at New Shepherdstown Elementary School
Jefferson County Board of Education has many questions about plans to provide water and sewer utilities to the new Shepherdstown elementary school site. Read the Full Story >>
Medical Marijuana Loses Traction in Charleston
The West Virginia Legislature passed a bill three years ago legalizing the use of medical marijuana. But that law has never really taken effect. Read the Full Story >>
How Will We Vote During Corona?
Given the current COVID-19 situation across the country, a recent press release from Washington Monthly stated: The 2020 election is at risk. Short of significant reform, voter participation is expected to plummet. Read the Full Story >>
Big Manufacturers Want a Big Property Tax Break
Once again, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA) is coming to the Legislature with a proposal to give large manufacturers and mining companies a property tax break. Read the Full Story >>
Clean Drinking Water Bill to be Introduced
On December 16, several members of the House of Delegates, I included, held a press conference in Charleston at which we announced that we would be sponsoring a bill that would significantly improve drinking water protection. Read the Full Story >>
Homework for the Children of Democracy (December 2019)
If you vote in West Virginia and you don’t read any West Virginia newspapers, you haven’t done your homework. You’ll be sent to detention, which is what we’re all having now, as we speak. Read the Full Story >>
Exit the Baby Boomers
For years, we’ve watched our young people leave West Virginia. The children of our friends, whom we’ve watched grow up, head off to college or a job opportunity, and they don’t come back. Now, their parents—our friends and neighbors—are entering or nearing retirement, and asking one another: Are you going to stay in West Virginia? It’s remarkable how many say no, or give a long sigh and shrug that says, “I don’t know.” It’s not that they have somewhere else calling them. It’s the politics. Read the Full Story >>
MARC Train Service Appears to Be Saved
As of this writing, the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA), at the direction of Governor Jim Justice, was actively involved in discussions with the Maryland Mass Transit Administration (MTA) for a multi-year agreement to continue MARC commuter rail service at its current level. Read the Full Story >>
The Macho Masculine Manly Man
Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” cartoon strip, exemplifies the “Manosphere” perfectly by writing that “… the psychological state of American men in 2016 is one of persistent humiliation for simply being male. Perhaps the biggest unreported story of this presidential election is the humiliation of the American male. You're seeing a celebration that your role in society is permanently diminished.” Read the Full Story >>
Understanding Mental Health by Tearing Down Some Walls
Diagnosing mental health disorders isn’t one of those easy professions, like, for example, brain surgery or rocket science. Enviably, those two specialties have clear and visible parameters for measuring success and failure, whereas defining “mental health” is fluid and debatable, at times dependent on functional and social norms. The diagnostic manual that defines criteria for Read the Full Story >>
MARC Train: Critical Public Hearing
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), which operates MARC, has said it will cut service from Martinsburg to Washington, D.C. (now three trains each way) to one train per day. Maryland has said the service to West Virginia costs it over $3 million per year, and West Virginia has not paid anywhere near that amount. The two trains that would be eliminated would still run from Brunswick to D.C. Read the Full Story >>
Citizens United, and the Making of America’s Frankenstein Monster
Citizens United needs no introduction; it will be forever remembered as the most polarizing Supreme Court decision of the contemporary era—so far. What’s easy to forget is that it began in 2004 when the non-profit organization “Citizens United” filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 911.” Six years later, it delivered a cash cow of political influence in the form of paid endorsements, Super-Super PACs, expenditures, ads, dark money, and even worse, a broader legal definition of corporate personhood. Read the Full Story >>
