A contrast of messages at Charlie Kirk’s funeral

A stark contrast between Donald Trump and a fundamental tenet of Christianity was revealed at Charlie Kirk’s funeral. Kirk’s widow, Erika, adhered to the embodiment of Christian faith when she said that she forgave her husband’s killer. “That man, that young man… I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and

Trump administration fails the First Amendment

The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, a young life snuffed out by a deranged shooter.  It was yet another example of political violence that is anathema to what we profess to be as a country, a place that values and protects free speech and different ideas. We are rightly concerned about the safety

WV school immunization law needs legal clarification

West Virginia’s school year began with confusion over the state’s mandatory child immunization law, and matters are only getting worse.  Consider the following: –Governor Morrisey issued an executive order earlier this year arguing that the state’s Equal Freedom for Religion law trumps the vaccination law and thus parents can opt out of the immunization requirement

Jim Justice’s enviable poll numbers

Jim Justice is a generational West Virginia politician, which is ironic since he has spent his career in public office claiming he is not a politician. The latest edition of the MetroNews West Virginia Poll found that 61 percent of West Virginians view the Republican U.S. Senator favorably. Only 23 percent have an unfavorable opinion

Can Rich Rodriguez Come Home?

Thomas Wolfe’s posthumously published 1940 novel “You Can’t Go Home Again” is a cautionary tale. A New York Times review of the book at the time summarized the story this way: “In the last analysis, it means, of course, that one must go forward in life, that there is no return to the things that

Our WV National Guard is being used as a political prop

The West Virginia National Guard has a long and proud tradition. The more than 6,800 soldiers, airmen and civilians constantly stand ready to respond to threats and emergencies at home and abroad. I have personally seen these citizen soldiers in action many times in flood-ravaged parts of our state. They are among the earliest boots

MetroNews: Forty Years and Counting

The MetroNews Radio Network signed on the air 40 years ago this week.  It was August 12, 1985, at 5:55 a.m. when the first newscast aired statewide on our new satellite distribution system. It was an anxious day, as you would expect with any new venture, and we were not quite ready. Engineer Chuck Snodderly

Faith vs. Public Safety

West Virginia courts and public policy leaders continue to haggle over the state’s mandatory vaccination law. State Code 16-3-4 requires that children be immunized before admission to public, private and parochial schools. The law allows for a medical exemption, but not a religious one. Earlier this year, the state Legislature failed to pass a bill

Reflections on a long, hard ride

Iowa is not flat. I can tell you that with great certainty after peddling 406 miles across the state last week along with my wife, three friends and about 20,000 other bike riders during the 52nd annual RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, the oldest, longest and largest recreational bike event in the

WVU athletics needs a big revenue boost to remain relevant

Final approval of the multi-billion-dollar legal settlement between the NCAA and Division I college athletes means the schools will now share billions of dollars in revenue with those athletes. The agreement changes the face of college sports forever and in ways not imaginable just a few years ago. Going forward, schools will pay college athletes

Conspiracy theories come full circle for Donald Trump

Conspiracy theories are like springtime dandelions; they crop up, spread and despite all the best efforts to get rid of them, they keep coming back. In one way, conspiracy theories make sense because they appeal to the human inclination to look for patterns. According to Psychology Today, “We want the patterns we see to fit

Happy Independence Day

(Editor’s note:  This is a commentary I wrote a few years ago and post every year at this time.) John Adams’s letter to his wife Abigail was filled with enthusiasm, but also carried a tone of foreboding.  It was July 1776 and revolution was in the air among the delegates at the meeting of the

Morrisey’s political calculation on immunization

Governor Patrick Morrisey continues to double down on his opposition to the West Virginia state law requiring all children entering school for the first time to show proof of immunization.  This week, Morrisey endorsed a lawsuit filed by a Raleigh County mother challenging the law. At a stop in Beckley Tuesday, Morrisey stood behind a

Juneteenth is an appropriate state holiday

Today is Juneteenth.  It marks the day—June 19, 1865—when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the slaves in  Galveston Bay, Texas. Union General Gordon Granger delivered the news that President Lincoln had issued two and a half years earlier. “Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute

Our immigration fail

It is looking more and more like it will be a long, hot summer in America. President Trump’s immigration crackdown triggered protests in California last weekend that have now spread across the country. Many of the protests are peaceful, but some are violent, destructive and unlawful. Police have arrested dozens of individuals. Trump has responded

Morrisey takes right steps for child welfare

Governor Patrick Morrisey has promised to lift the veil on West Virginia’s child welfare system. As our Brad McElhinny reported, “The governor said the changes follow a series of listening sessions held across the state with key stakeholders and a thorough review of past child fatalities and near fatalities within the child welfare system.” Morrisey

Capito’s challengers face an uphill battle

State Senator Tom Willis (R, Berkeley) is the latest to enter the 2026  race against sitting U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito.  That makes three challengers to Capito so far in the Primary Election: Willis, Alexander Gaaserud and Derrick Evans. (Ogden Newspapers reporter Steven Allen Adams has more on the race here.) First, some background about

A debt that can never be fully repaid

(This is a reprint of a commentary I have posted previously about Memorial Day.) Imagine a debt that can never be fully repaid. That obligation is so great that it is nearly incomprehensible to think about, so we block it from our thoughts and pretend that it does not exist. But each of us who

‘Do your own research’

“Do your own research!” I can’t tell you how many times during my career as a talk radio host that I was told that. It was often an exclamation point by a listener who disagreed with a position I had taken who was suggesting that there was opposing information available that would expand my knowledge.

Morrisey’s executive order on immunization exemptions is wrong on multiple levels

Governor Patrick Morrisey is trying to force the state school system to abide by his executive order expanding exemptions for mandatory school immunizations.  In doing so, he apparently believes that his authority is greater than state law, the will of the Legislature and sound science. First the background: Morrisey signed an executive order just days