As a father, it’s devastating to hear of children who have been victimized by predators, whether they be strangers or trusted coaches or mentors. My colleagues and I in the U.S. House of Representatives are taking action to protect our children and give law enforcement the tools they need to keep our children safe and stop sex offenders. Read more
An op-ed by W.Va. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Opioid abuse is devastating our state, and too often it starts with something as seemingly harmless as the prescription of an opioid-based pain medication.Read more
Does anyone actually know what our EMS, Firemen and police officers go through physically, emotionally and mentally every time they are called out to an over dose? Have you experienced their shortness of temperament?
Think about it. If you come to an over dose, the person is blue, no response, maybe a heart beat, maybe not; definitely not breathing. If you were susceptible to this more than once a day, knowing they done this to their selves, how do you think you would react?Read more
It's a beautiful morning in Downtown Huntington. AJ Dawg and I are sitting on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Tenth Street literally watching Huntington slide out of the shadows and into the sun.
The shadows have all but engulfed our city in the last few months and even weeks. On Easter Sunday, a day that signifies rebirth.... There were around twenty overdoses. Read more
Spring has sprung and the flowers, birds, and prostitutes are everywhere. Well, at least the prostitutes are sprouting on the West End. Sweeps last week and this week have netted eight prostitutes. Before I ask why there haven't been any johns arrested... Let me first share my grievances against prostitution.
Prostitution spreads diseases, brings sexual predators into our neighborhoods, provides customers to the local drug dealers, and is an eyesore in general. Read more
The Mountaineer Express, Gulf Xpress, and Leach Xpress pipelines proposed by Columbia Pipeline Group apparently interconnect from northern points in West Virginia (Ohio and Pennsylvania), heading to the Ceredo compressor station to Marathon’s Catlettsburg refinery and from there southward to the Gulf Coast for export. In all there will be nine high pressure pipelines in this area with two dangerously under the Ohio River. As the USA already exports gas products, will this not just free up more for export? Read more
The day I took office we began meeting with legislators to swiftly draft proposed bills to deal with the difficulties encountered in this office. I asked our employees to tell me the problems they confront on a daily basis while doing their work for the companies and voters we serve. We reached out to county clerks and business leaders to find solutions to issues they face. Read more
Editor's Note: Unofficial reporting suggests an Easter of heavy overdose sorrow. The payer, though, applies, no matter what the official final calculations.
DEAR EDITOR,
Double figures in overdose [estimates] today... [several] deaths.
Not today... Not Easter... I really cannot deal with this anymore.Read more
Have you ever seen Pickaway Falls or Taggard Falls in West Virginia? -
probably not as they are respectively 120 feet [equals 8 stories] and 190 feet [12.6 stories] below Dry Branch Road in Randolph County, West Virginia. Read more
Sometimes when people mention the United States Constitution, they might be able to recite the 1st Amendment’s rights to free press and freedom of religion, or they might speak of the 2nd Amendment’s right to bear arms. But what do you know about the other amendments to the Constitution?Read more
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey applauds the Senate Government Organization Committee for advancing legislation that will allow the state to more vigorously combat Medicaid fraud.Read more
In these days of turmoil over how best to solve West Virginia’s budget crisis, I hear a disturbing idea echoing throughout the marble halls of the State Capitol. The message is coming from one of our legislative Finance Committees: Refinance the state’s pension fund debt to save money.Read more
A bill currently under consideration by the WV Senate will cause water companies to use expensive filters, for which you pay, to filter more out heavier concentrations of toxins, chemicals, and carcinogens. Who pays for this and changing expensive filters? The customers of the water company. All of us.Read more
Something strange has been happening in the last month or so: Members of Congress (MoCs) from West Virginia have gone missing. They’re still turning up for votes on Capitol Hill, and they’re still meeting with lobbyists and friendly audiences back home and in Washington-but their public event schedules are blank. Odd. Read more
In 1729, forty-seven years before the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, Jonathan Swift – the same Swift who penned Gulliver’s Travels – wrote a satirical essay called “A Modest Proposal.” Read more
City leaders walked back part of the new media relations policy requiring reporters to be personally escorted through City Hall. Yet, the policy still requires interviews to be cleared with the communications director, and employees to notify their director of any contacts with a reporter.Read more
Huntington is taking a huge hit with the 57% Sewer Rate Increase City Council approved. Layoffs and cut backs have begun.
This City Council MUST review this rate increase and adjust it according to the "immediate needs" and not "future desires" of the Huntington Sanitary Board.Read more
Release from Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting:
Governor’s Proposal to Eliminate Public Broadcasting Funding IrresponsibleIn his proposed budget, Governor Justice proposes the elimination of all state funding for West Virginia Public Broadcasting.Read more
Due to the ever growing size of Tsubasacon's attendance, expanding over into the Big Sandy arena gave us more space. More space means more attendees. Unfortunately that means less hotel space. Holiday Inn and the Pullman Plaza hotels being prime choice due to location has, in turn, caused them to be all booked up, forcing people to have to drive to Hal Greer exit to stay in the 4 or 5 choices of hotel/motels there. Read more
The time has come to look for a different way to operate. Cutting police and fire is not an option. I will soon be putting into motion a committee to explore the options. We are circling the drain. There is no reason to allow the fiscal nightmare at city hall to continue.Read more
Waste, fraud and abuse are rampant nationwide and West Virginia certainly is no exception.
This reality harms safety net programs, such as Social Security, Disability, and Medicaid. The unlawful taking from any of these programs wastes tax dollars, deepens deficits, and jeopardizes the very programs designed to help those most in need.Read more
To all the citizens of Huntington. Let us remember some very basic facts.
All of our elected officials are simply that.
We elect these people to represent us at the various levels of our government. If someone decides to place themselves on the ballot for any office we have the belief that they like us want what is the best for us and themselves.Read more
Chelsea Manning has been incarcerated since May 2010, including in unlawful, unusually harsh solitary confinement for 11 months before her trial. She has spent the past six years helping others. Read more
A lady sent this to me .....this sewer tax will crush some folks in our city. If they truly care for the folks they will look for other avenues for the money instead of breaking the citizens back.
Mayor Williams, I am a 67 year old woman living on nothing but SS. Income of $732 a month. How am I suppose to pay for all the increases that you are asking for?Read more
While nearly everyone sings "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," it's stress out time for other with memory baggage: Good and Bad.
For me, Dec. 22 marks the anniversary of a truck hitting my Dodge Dart from behind near Grayson, Ky. My vehicle caught fire and would eventually explode. I had enough of a head to see flames licking out of the gas tank, and, think, movie: All of those action scenes where one or more characters jump from a moving car.
So, I pushed my dazed then fiance out the passenger side and then jumped with the car still in motion. Getting up from the roadway, Everything appeared like a scraped knee until I saw her faint. The car exploded. I screamed, "My car...." thinking of the exhaustive search to find a used one that had gas efficiency. Read more
I do want to clarify that I am not angry at City workers. I walk my dog very early downtown on Sunday mornings and I see workers out then. I see them in the cold and in the heat. Read more
Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and said he plans to unburden American industries from Obama-era requirements to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases causing the planet to warm. Read more
The American apparel industry is a $250 billion a year market and 98 percent of clothing in the U.S. is now being manufactured in foreign countries. Colleges and universities, professional sports teams, private clubs and other organizations have an opportunity to change that and create jobs in this country. Read more
