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Opinion
GUEST VIEW: Stronger at home, more respected abroad
We must cut the things we don’t need, including Pentagon pork, to pay for the things we do. Americans agree it’s time to strengthen our nation at home and abroad — but how can we make it happen? We can start by making wise choices in the federal budget and with our efforts to cope with our nation’s debt ceiling problem. We can make smart military strategies, our troops, our veterans, and our families higher priorities than Pentagon pork a...
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A census first: Black voter turnout passes whites
WASHINGTON (AP) — Making history, America’s blacks voted at higher rates than whites in 2012, lifting Democrat Barack Obama to victory amid voter apathy, particularly among young people, new census data show. Despite increasing population, the number of white voters declined for the first time since 1996. Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to show an increase in voter turnout in November, most notably in the Midwest and Southeastern ...
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Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion
Although it seems that guns will remain at the top of every news cycle for months, we will only touch on them briefly this week. Past columns have attempted to make it quite clear that I believe the demagoguery regarding the Second Amendment is just plain asinine. I suppose everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I am likewise pleased that so many readers in the Southern coalfields have chimed in with support for what I’ve written. Most...
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Benefits of Medicaid expansion
In deciding to loosen West Virginia’s tight restrictions on the state’s Medicaid program, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin made the right call. Taking into account a variety of factors, the governor announced Thursday that the state will expand Medicaid under the controversial federal health care reform law that goes into full effect on Jan. 1. The chief result is that an estimated 91,500 state residents who now have no health insurance will have th...
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Report shows persistence of TV violence
NEW YORK (AP) — Violence, gore and gunplay were staples on prime-time television even in the most sensitive period directly following the Newtown school shooting. A study of 392 prime-time scripted programs on broadcast networks shown during the month following Vice President Joe Biden’s January meeting with entertainment industry executives on the topic revealed that 193 had some incident of violence, according to the Parents Television Co...
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GUEST VIEW: Almost losing our Bill of Rights
“ A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference. ” — Thomas Jefferson , U. S. President, 1801- 1809 As the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention recessed in 1787, the delegates were reasonably confident that their work on a strong national constitutional form of government with separation of powers and checks and balances would be easily ratifi...
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Spring in full bloom
On the first day of May, Kitty and I went to the Leonard Johnson Funeral Home in Marmet, WV, to pay our respects for a beautiful lady, Lahoma Quesinberry White. Lahoma was my age. We played together as children, went to school together, were in the same Sunday School, lived in the same small coal-mining community of Wevaco located near the head of Cabin Creek in West Virginia. While there, I talked with family members and friends I had know...
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GUEST VIEW: Placing a priority on safe teen driving
By Stephen Gray Wallace Prom and graduation season, the Fourth of July, and summer vacation give pause to parents of teenagers everywhere. Why? Because celebration paired with newfound freedom can trigger tragedy on our roads and highways. Indeed, young people themselves report that these times of year are the most dangerous when it comes to driving. And alcohol and other drugs are primary reasons. According to new research from SADD (S...
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Survey: Americans felt more secure in jobs in 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Confidence in the U.S. job market has rebounded to roughly a normal level from its record low after the Great Recession, a trend that could help boost the economy. Americans increasingly feel they could find a new job if necessary, according to the results of the 2012 General Social Survey, a long-standing poll of public opinion. And fear of being laid off dropped last year from its 2010 peak to roughly its average for the...
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Useless Baggage
With their big fuss over aviation punctuality, lawmakers make it clear that they’re not feeling the pain felt by the majority of Americans. They’ve hit a new low. Citing significant concerns about long lines at airports and flight delays caused by the furlough of air-traffic controllers, Congress let the Federal Aviation Administration override strict sequestration rules and redirect funds within its budget. And they did so with lightning...
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Column: Playing politics with crisis is inevitable
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours after the Boston Marathon bombings, President Barack Obama gave the standard presidential line following a tragedy: “On days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats — we are Americans, united in concern for our fellow citizens.” And, as usual, Republicans and Democrats alike quickly ignored his don’t-politicize-this plea. This was inevitable. Our leaders always play politics after catastrophe, whether mad...
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Transportation
The sequester. If we were allowed to define it in an updated version of the dictionary it would read — “The latest in a series of blunders committed by our federal lawmakers and executive branch leadership in Washington, D.C.” Why such harsh criticism? Because once again, action, or should that be inaction on Capitol Hill has created yet another series of problems for America that were absolutely unnecessary and could have been avoided....
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Capito definitely packed them in
Unlike some statehouse reporters, we never vacation here. Instead, we are always on hand to spin our web. * * * * * * Judging by the enthusiasm and size of the crowd, it may be virtually impossible for anyone to slow down Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito in her move to the United States Senate. Capito definitely packed them in and got a rousing response from those gathered at the Logan Country Club in Chapmanville over the weekend. ...
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Resurgence of deadly heroin
The drug culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s popularized marijuana, cocaine, LSD and other street drugs. But with the accidental overdose of rock singer Janis Joplin in 1970 and other high-profile deaths, none was considered more dangerous or addictive than heroin. Over the next few years, the surge of heroin use began to subside. The development of methadone helped treat the addicted, and the end of the Vietnam War closed out some ...
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The Constitution Protects Students Too
Young people in this country are frequently treated as if they’re not old enough to have rights. They’re often forced to put up with unconstitutional censorship, invasions of privacy, over reaching discipline and many struggle to get a good education in unsafe, underfunded schools. Katelyn Campbell, a student at Kanawha County’s George Washington High School, spoke out against a controversial “abstinence until marriage” assembly, triggering...
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Cheating in schools
West Virginia public school students rank so low in standardized test scores — trailing most states in science, equaling Bulgaria in math — that the 2013 Legislature overcame howls from teacher unions and passed a major education reform demanded by Gov. Tomblin. Nobody knows whether the law changes will boost learning levels. But the demand for better test results begets a different problem: cheating by some teachers and administrators to i...
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Home Schooling may be the best of all
Being schooled at home may be the best education we ever receive. I attended for 13 years in the public school system of West Virginia. Those were unforgettable years and teachers. I liked every one of my 35 teachers I had before high school graduation and all 95 I had in the pursuit of college and graduate degrees. The most memorable teachers were in my home schooling years. They enabled me to go beyond what I was taught in public schools,...
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Taxes
After approval of an extended and expanded home rule program for West Virginia cities, the Legislature this month gave the state’s Tax Department a little more authority. The question now is whether the department was given too much leeway, to the potential detriment of the program. The home rule program, which allows participating cities more freedom to try new approaches to municipal problems, was set to expire July 1. Lawmakers this mont...
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Project 24
Not 50th, not 49th. First for a welcome change. Last week Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and former Gov. Bob Wise announced that the West Virginia Board of Education and the state will be partnering with the Alliance for Excellent Education to begin a statewide review of classroom technology use and digital learning capabilities. Project 24, which stands for the next 24 months, is a program developed by the Alliance which is now guided by Wise. Th...
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30 years after report, schools remain at risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. students are falling behind their international rivals. Young people aren’t adept at new technology. America’s economy will suffer if schools don’t step up their game. “A Nation at Risk,” the report issued 30 years ago this week by President Ronald Reagan’s Education Department, was meant as a wake-up call for the country. It spelled out where the United States was coming up short in education and what steps could be ...
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Letters
Letters To The Editor, May 19, 2013
Memorial Day Celebration Editor, Greetings, my name is Rick Bradley. I am a retired-disabled U.S. Army veteran. I have enclosed an essay that I wrote in college that I wanted to share with m...
May 19, 2013 | 1 1 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Letters To The Editor, May 12, 2013
Jared Marcum incident Editor, I am appalled at the number of letters submitted by retired military personnel on the issue of the Jared Marcum incident. I can only surmise from their comments...
May 12, 2013 | 5 5 comments | 0 0 recommendations | email to a friend
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Letters to the Editor, May 5, 2013
First Amendment Editor, A benefit of the First Amendment is that when all people can freely express themselves, normal people are regularly reminded of how warped some can be in their thinki...
May 05, 2013 | 2 2 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
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Letters To The Editor, April 28, 2013
Looking for Donna Editor, Hello, I’m from Michigan and I have been looking for Donna Sue Browning Gardner for over 35 years. I was told she still lives in Harts? It is really important to ...
Apr 28, 2013 | 1 1 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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Letter to Editors, April 14, 2013
Cabell County DOH Editor, Although I am not the supervisor for Corridor G, I would like to take the time to express my thanks to the DOH employees from Cabell County working in Logan on Corr...
Apr 14, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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