UP: To West Virginia University at Parkersburg opening up its Entrepreneur Center to cosplayers and those in need of help with a Halloween costume, during the 2019 Makers Day Event. Technology such as 3-D printers, a laser cutter and engraver, a CNC milling machine, vinyl plotter, an industrial ...

When our outstanding local nonprofit organizations band together in a common mission, wonderful things happen. In the case of the Downtown Ambassadors program, volunteers from Recovery Point, in a project coordinated by the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley and Downtown PKB, spent more ...

Both Belpre City and Warren Local school districts showed some improvement on the 2018-19 state report cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education last week. Both districts bumped up from a D to a C. That is positive news, but clearly there is much room for continued improvement. While ...

West Virginia has authorized charter schools, as some education reformers urged, but it will be very difficult to open one. State Department of Education officials should not make it even more difficult than the law enacted earlier this year does. Fierce pressure, including a work stoppage ...

Most of us think we have a good understanding of how our government — particularly at the state and local levels — works. But quick: How many justices serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals? Are magistrates required to have law degrees? Does it matter whether a candidate for ...

Observers of the furor over the handling of problem (often criminal) employees or representatives by entities such as the Catholic Church or the Boy Scouts of America may wonder what in the world the Department of Veterans Affairs is thinking, in its own handling of a personnel crisis that ...

Some old-timers with the West Virginia Division of Highways understood years ago that gubernatorial election years meant good paydays. Most incumbent chief executives understood that the more potholes voters had to bounce and crash through on their way to polling places, the less likely they ...

UP: To Parkersburg City Council Vice President Zach Stanley, who during this week’s council meeting, reminded sparring council members “If you gentlemen disagree, you can vote and show it there.” Of course discussion of a matter is important. Questions are important. Going round and round ...

Left-leaning health insurance advocates got a little nervous this week when U.S. Census Bureau data showed a statistically insignificant change in the percentage of West Virginians with health insurance, from 2017 to 2018. There are (gasp) still 6.4 percent of Mountain State residents without ...

West Virginia is among states and local governments that have filed lawsuits against health care giant Purdue Pharma, over its distribution of opioid pain pills that helped fuel the devastating substance abuse crisis. More than 2,000 separate actions, consolidated into one case under a federal ...

For the most part students graduating from high school this year were not alive when nearly 3,000 people were killed during terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Certainly younger students have no memory even of the few years afterward during which Americans stood united, ...

Vaping — use of electronic devices rather than burning tobacco to inhale nicotine — at one time seemed to be a good alternative to smoking. But something seems to have gone badly wrong. We now know they are not a “safe” alternative to cigarettes. (And that they certainly should not be ...

Gov. Jim Justice missed the mark just a bit in reacting to some good news last week. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced the total number of drug overdose deaths in the state decreased from 2017 to 2018. Estimates show 952 drug overdose deaths in 2018, compared ...

More than a million people in our country are “known or suspected” terrorists, according to our government, in a claim that reaches astronomical heights of absurdity. It makes sense for U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to keep track of people who truly pose threats to ...

UP: To those who called in tips that led Parkersburg police to the whereabouts of Karen Yeager’s vehicle and the person driving it earlier this week. Because the 17-year-old driving the vehicle was found, police were able to locate Yeager’s body, and eventually make another arrest in the ...

West Virginians got good news this week: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin will remain in Washington. He revealed Tuesday he has decided not to run for governor next year. For months, Manchin, a Democrat, had been considering a campaign for governor. In all likelihood, at least for now, his opponent would ...

As residents of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and even North Carolina flee from the path of Hurricane Dorian, Gov. Jim Justice has offered them shelter here in the Mountain State through discounted rates at our state parks, room for their animals (pet fees waived at the parks and a reminder ...

West Virginians are big on the concept of being good neighbors. So, when the head of the second-largest natural gas producer in our state talks about “old-school values,” we do not feel any need to applaud — because that is what we expect from other people. Nevertheless, recent comments ...

Obviously, state Sen. Mike Maroney should resign if he is guilty of the prostitution-related charges filed against him in Marshall County — and the sooner, the better. But Maroney, R-Marshall, enjoys the same protection as any other person: He is innocent until proven guilty. Coming to ...

Americans love a three-day weekend, and this one is all about honoring the workers who built this country and keep it moving forward. (It is a cruel twist that so many of them work in jobs essential enough that they are not always able to take the day off). They build what we need, keep the ...