[This piece was originally published on Home Yesterday in April, 2015.] Senator Bill Cole has a big plan for West Virginia. It’s not his plan, mind you, but here it comes. Cole took center stage last week for legislative “interim” meetings. He announced that he’d like major changes

[This post was originally published on the first Home Yesterday in April, 2015.] Watch the videos and see the pictures. A mother slapping her child. Black men and boys throwing rocks at police. A police officer shooting a man in the back. Drone strikes on blurry human targets. Riot police

[This article originally appeared in the Washington Examiner in April, 2015] West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s op-ed in the April 16th Washington Examiner provides a starting point for a nationwide discussion. The discussion should not concern Morrisey’s latest longshot lawsuit against the Obama Administration, but rather the

West Virginia’s Legislature saw a version of the Indiana gay rights/religious freedom debate this year. Fortunately for Mountaineers, a public hearing and public outcry defeated the Republicans’ pro-discrimination bill on the House floor. After the public hearing, Delegates Arvon and Howell let their law die in committee. Not

[This piece was published on the original Home Yesterday in March, 2015.] The most productive country in the world ought to have a lot of money. It may not seem like it to most people, but the United States is the best-paid country in the world, based on what we

[This piece was published on the original Home Yesterday in March, 2015.] We haven’t had enough kind things to say about Senator Cole’s Senate and Speaker Armstead’s House at Home Yesterday. So let’s give it a try: These two Republican leaders are pretty transparent. When the

A bill passed by the West Virginia State Senate and moving into the House would repeal West Virginia’s long-standing requirement that a permit be required for carrying a concealed handgun in our State. How long-standing, you ask? The law being repealed dates to 1931. That year and our history

Wednesday, February 25th, 2015 should be a long-remembered day in West Virginia. Some are calling it the worst day yet for this Republican legislative session. I feel differently. I think it was the day equal rights for gay and lesbian West Virginians shifted from a long-held dream of some of

[This piece was first published in the Charleston Gazette in February, 2015.] West Virginia’s new Republican majority doesn’t lack ambition. Its radical agenda includes being the first Legislature in over half a century to roll back safety in the coal mines. It has moved to make nursing home

[This piece was originally published on the old Home Yesterday in January, 2015.] Bosses used to pay mine guards to beat workers with clubs. Now, they buy politicians to whip workers with paper. Last week, the bosses marched 54 of their own into the West Virginia House and 18 more