Editorial

COLUMN: Huntington Has Been Sentenced: Glue Everyone to a Seat at "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri"

Huntington's crime is out of control. The city has been judged. Here's my sentence --- Strap officials and residents into seats at a showing of "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri." Read more

REVENUE SECRETARY OP-ED: We are so close to seeing Workers’ Compensation fully funded

By Dave Hardy

Secretary of Revenue

 

  After an arduous climb up a seemingly insurmountable mountain, the State of West Virginia is quite close to reaching a summit, one where our embattled Workers’ Compensation Old Fund is fully funded. After 11 years it will be a sight to behold. Read more

COLUMN: Protecting Your Personal Information From Identity Theft

As the holiday season approaches, it becomes increasingly important for consumers to exercise caution to protect financial information. Read more

What color is Santa Claus in Appalachia?

by Melissa Martin

Have you ever thought about the race of Santa Claus? Is Santa black, white, or a racial mixture? What ethnicity is an Appalachian Santa Claus?

Let’s review a little history. The region of Appalachia includes 420 counties in 13 states and is home to more than 25 million people. Appalachia extends from southern New York to northeastern Mississippi. Read more

COLUMN: Prayer, Compassion Still Needed for Addicts in Recovery

Addiction is a very human infliction. It has shredded our communities dignity, raised our crime rate, and took loved ones from us. We will only put the pieces of our community back together through forgiveness and compassion. The drug epidemic is far from over but people are recovering. I see it everyday.. Read more

COLUMN: WV AG... Human Trafficking Can Happen Here

When many hear the phrase “human trafficking,” they may think of people from abroad being smuggled into this country to work. Read more

News and Fake News What to Believe?

Every day we are inundated with information – perhaps even too much information – but what can we believe? What is real news or fake news? Fact or fiction? Truths, half-truths or lies? Or even so-called alternative facts? Read more

COLUMN: Incentivizing Change To Combat Opioid Abuse

As the chief legal officers of our states, myself and other attorneys general are taking action on many fronts to fight the opioid epidemic. Read more

W.Va. AG Column: Incentivizing Change To Combat Opioid Abuse

 As the chief legal officers of our states, myself and other attorneys general are taking action on many fronts to fight the opioid epidemic. Read more

Massacre Gunshots: Were They Automatic, Tampered, or ....

By Norm Miller

For HNN

The sound of gunfire captured on videos recorded during the massacre indicates that Paddock used at least one automatic weapon, a type of firearm that is highly regulated in the United States though a fairly common find at gun shows and firing ranges, including one near Las Vegas that allows customers to shoot military-grade weapons. Read more

Secretary of State Mac Warner Weighs In on NFL Controversy Involving the National Anthem

Chaos Theory and Leadership
By Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State

A butterfly flaps its wings in New Mexico causing a hurricane in China – so goes “the butterfly effect.” It’s a dramatic example of chaos theory wherein our world goes nonlinear. Sometimes the results are good, sometimes the results are bad. Read more

COLUMN: Law Enforcement Must Cooperate in time of Crises

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Unlawful actions and misconduct by rogue police officers are creating a serious negative image for law enforcement and a significant and unbudgeted financial expense for the governments they serve. For years, police who protect and serve were held in the highest regard by the public. However, because of social media and the Internet a negative story about police misconduct today instantly becomes national news across the country and throughout the world. Read more

COLUMN: Lack of Communication Causes Problems for City

The closing of the West End Pedestrian Tunnel has created a public relations nightmare for the City of Huntington's administration. The silly thing is they may not even be aware of it. The administration failed to foresee how the public would react to the closure. This failure, in turn, made it seem as the city did it out if spite. Gauging social media would have told the city that many thought the cleaning of the tunnel was symbolic of the city coming together. Read more

OP-ED: A Cyber Terrorism Strategy in WV is Important to Safeguarding Election Systems and Voter Databases

By Mac Warner, Secretary of State

The most challenging war we may need to fight in the future will be in cyberspace. It’s a fight I am preparing for as your Secretary of State. Read more

COLUMN: Isolation Increases Risk of Suicide

BY Tracy Renee Lee

Last night I was surfing social media when I came upon a friend’s post stating that upon reflection, he was taking a break from social media.  He stated that since the passing of his wife six months ago, his opinion posting had become offensive to his son.  He was confused and hurt by his son’s chastisements, and to discontinue causing his son discomfort or embarrassment, he had concluded that his withdrawal was in order.  His post was filled with sadness, despair, pain, and anguish.  Regret was apparent that he had not foreseen that his posts might wedge a wound in his father/son relationship, and he was solemnly announcing his intention to bend to his son’s harsh rebuke. Read more

OP ED: Protecting our children from predators

By Rep. Evan Jenkins

 

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

Column: Painkiller Alternatives May Reduce Risk of Prescription Opioid Abuse

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

LETTER TO EDITOR: Consider OD Toll on First Responders

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

Just a Little Tolerance

CARTOON: Created by Mike Adams

To  begin this hilarious tour of society's delusional contradictions, here's  a poster called "tolerance." Read more

OPINION: Hope Springs in Huntington on new Facebook Page

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let's Round Up the "Johns" Too

Dear Editor,

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

OPINION: Addiction Counselor Favors Networking with Addicts to build Hope & Trust

"Everyone who overdoses needs followup,"  said Huntington councilwoman Joyce Clark.

I agree with Clark. Those words in my opinion are the key to solving the drug epidemic. Read more

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Southwest WV a Sacrifice Zone; Pipeline Comment Period Ends Today

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

Op-Ed: Legislature Addresses Elections, Business Filings and Efficiencies for Secretary of State’s Office

By Mac Warner, Secretary of State

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

AN EASTER PRAYER: Help in the Season of Rebirth and Hope

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Pipeline Could Destroy Underground WV Rivers

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

OP ED: West Virginia has Strong Connection to Youth and Voting

By Mac Warner, Secretary of State

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

W.Va. AG Urges Legislature To Strengthen State’s Fight Against Medicaid Fraud

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

OP-ED: Refinancing state pension debt would cost taxpayers an additional $3 billion

By Dave Hardy, Secretary of Revenue

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

LETTER TO EDITOR: Tell State Senators to not Support Greater Water Toxicity

Dear Editor,

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

LETTER TO EDITOR: West Virginia Members of Congress Constituents to Hold Citizens’ Town Hall to Make Their Voices Heard

Dear Editor:

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

OPINION: Davis Asserts Huntington More than Broke

We use a working budget and we spend all of that and never adjust to pay old debt. Read more

Shelly’s World: Another Modest Proposal

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