President Donald Trump visited our town last week for a rally. I had only seen a president in person once before, going to Denver’s old Stapleton Airport to see Ronald Reagan during his second term. (In copies of photos I sent to friends, I joked that the small speck in several pictures was indeed the…
Read more
We West Virginians can be excused for puffing out our chests a little bit over the recent news that Eric Eyre, a reporter for the Charleston Gazette-Mail won a Pulitzer Prize recently for investigative reporting. Especially since such awards routinely go to staffers from the New York Times, Washington Post and other major newspapers with…
Read more
After seeing a couple positive reviews last summer of Hillbilly Elegy, I made plans to read it. As so often happens when it comes to getting to sit down with a book, it takes a while to follow through with good intentions. I’m married to a woman from West Virginia. After twice leaving for other…
Read more
In just over a week (the same day that the nation observes Martin Luther King Day), Jim Justice will be sworn in as West Virginia’s newest governor. There is no telling how successful he will be; we’ll have to check back in four years and see what developed during the interim. Yet, I have to…
Read more
There is nothing like a thousand-year flood to give you a more balanced perspective. Right before monsoon-like rains struck West Virginia last month, I was in the midst of a pinch caused by a hefty, long-overdue invoice. While I was confident I would get paid eventually, it still feels a tad irritating when you know…
Read more
According to the researchers who check the pulse of America, I live in the most miserable state in the nation. West Virginia recently topped the ratings for the sixth consecutive year, dragged down by such factors as poor well-being, motivation, finances, safety, and health. Kentucky and Ohio, the two states bordering the area where I…
Read more
