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Did that box just bark?

Giving pets as presents It’s a classic Christmas scene: The oddly large box under the tree (maybe with a few holes poked in it) that shivers and thumps, from which quiet barks or muffled mews emerge. The kids open it with a chorus of delighted squeals to reveal a puppy or kitten inside, a red bow tied around its neck. And no wonder it’s a classic holiday movie trope: A 2021 survey by OnePoll found about 74% of kids have asked their parents for a pet (on average, over 1,500 times), about 62% of whom double-down during the holiday season, begging even more often. About ...

Lawmakers ignored reclamation fund issues for 40 years

We’ve said it before: Coal companies would much rather go bankrupt and forfeit their reclamation bonds — a kind of security deposit — to the state than clean up their own abandoned mines, because the bonds are a fraction of the actual reclamation costs. Which is why it’s no surprise to hear West Virginia’s mine land reclamation fund is ill-equipped to cover all the work that needs done. However, we didn’t expect to hear the fund is one coal company bankruptcy away from going bankrupt itself, which would leave taxpayers with the bill. Nor did we expect to hear that ...

Mooney supports culture wars over national security

Monday morning, Rep. Alex Mooney proudly sent out a press release announcing his support for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s months-long, single-handed blockade of hundreds of military promotions over the military’s policy of reimbursing traveling costs for reproductive care received in another state — including abortions. Tuesday afternoon, Tuberville finally capitulated to bipartisan, nationwide pressure and agreed to allow most military promotions to go through — except the highest-ranking positions, which he will continue to stonewall. Before we get into why this is both ...

Most of W.Va. has local news — for now

West Virginia is surprisingly lucky when it comes to local news: All but two of our 55 counties have some kind of local publication, according to recent research by Northwestern University and the Medill Local News Initiative. The good news: With the exception of Putnam and Marshall counties, all of West Virginia has access to at least one non-television local news source. A handful of places, including Mon and Preston counties, have access to two, and Kanawha County has three. By the numbers, West Virginia has 64 newspapers that print either daily or weekly, plus West Virginia ...

Justice will have to choose: D.C.or basketball?

In a recent press briefing, Gov. Jim Justice said he’s open to the idea of continuing to coach basketball if he wins the U.S. Senate seat. After all, he said, he’s done it all through his governorship and he’s regularly gone back and forth from his Lewisburg home to Charleston for the past eight years: “I do have the ability to go and come and go very quickly.” It might be premature to discuss this now, considering we’re still six months out from the primary and 11 months from the general election. However, this speaks to his approach to being a federal lawmaker and that ...

How to solve food insecurity: Stop trashing edible food

New York and California recently passed laws to keep edible foods out of landfills — and hopefully into the hands of hungry people. California’s law went into effect in January 2022, with the statewide goal of recovering (i.e., not trashing) 20% of edible food by 2025. Food producers and distributors must donate edible food and compost non-edible food. New York’s law is similar: Businesses and institutions that generate, on average, two tons or more of food waste per week must donate edible food and recycle (compost or send to an anaerobic recycling facility) inedible ...