Lynnda and I took our first airplane trip in over a year this week. We took some long trips to places like the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving with family and Kiawah Island, South Carolina for a half marathon with our daughter. We even went to Disney in Florida with our youngest and his family. ...

We all know a lot about what state and federal lawmakers are doing during their elected terms, but what about after they leave office? I had the chance to find out recently during a couple of pleasant and interesting conversations with former state representative Jack Cera. The Democrat ...

Sunday, May 2, through Saturday, May 8, is National Travel and Tourism Week. This annual tradition celebrates the value travel holds for the economy. Last National Travel and Tourism Week, we celebrated our resiliency. This year, we will celebrate our role in recovery. Belmont County Tourism ...

Remember when you were a kid and would dream about the things you wanted to do as an adult? What did you want to be when you grew up? I will admit that my vision on that point was rather murky. Yes, being a reporter, like Lois Lane or Clark Kent, did cross my mind from time to time. But so ...

National Teacher Recognition We has special meaning in 2021 after a long year of education disruption. May 3–7 will be our chance to recognize the extra burdens COVID-19 has placed on teachers. The first week of May is set aside each year as National Teacher Appreciation Week. But ...

It’s time for spring cleaning. That means different things for different people. In general, though, washing down walls and windows each year makes your home feel refreshed. Laundering curtains and scrubbing carpets and floors can make it seem almost like new. Many people choose to hose ...

This week Shale Crescent USA presented virtually to a large audience on Plastics News Ask the Expert, a luncheon program seen by processors who make the thousands of products we use every day. We were able to share our region’s opportunity for greater profitability, reliability and ...

As I have written here before, I have always been quite the history buff. Perhaps it is because I had parents and grandparents who were considerably older than those of my peers. I have always had an appreciation for doing things the “old-fashioned way” and for taking valuable lessons ...

For years, the United States has struggled to overcome an epidemic of addiction that has devastated communities in Ohio and across the country. Unfortunately, recent data suggests that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic worsened this crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and ...

Working from home has its advantages. Our neighbor, Bradley, came over at lunch last week. He is still going to school virtually. Bradley is 8 years old. Lynnda answered the door. “Bradley wants to know if you can come out and catch football.” I figured it’s lunch time so I went out to ...

Easter is a miraculous day. Obviously, the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection is the reason that Easter exists. The Bible tells us in the New Testament that three days after the Romans crucified Jesus on the cross, he rose from his tomb and ascended bodily into heaven. While this is the ...

Most authorities agree that a missionary, Mr. Roberts, first introduced the lovely Bermuda Easter lily, which so many of us enjoy today. Many of the Easter lilies which symbolize the Resurrection in churches everywhere are Bermuda lilies. Thousands and thousands of lily bulbs and stems are ...

I was in my local grocery store and saw something I had not seen in over a year, four cartons of disinfectant wipes in one spot! These were not the name brand. I went over to check it out. I assumed they were probably made in China. I assumed wrong. They were made in the USA and were cheaper ...

As I prepared to write this column, I began to think about the pre-COVID days in the travel and tourism industry. I feel comfortable saying that most in the industry could not have predicted the impact that a pandemic would have on their business. When COVID-19 hit, the travel and tourism ...

When I heard Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas say the southern border “is closed,” it immediately brought to mind claims by Iraq’s former information minister — dubbed “Baghdad Bob” and “Comical Ali” (aka Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf) — about Saddam Hussein’s ...

Last week, former President George W. Bush said he’s not worried about the current moment in American politics because “these populist movements begin to fritter over time.” I don’t know Bush well personally, but I served in his administration for eight years. As a senior staffer to ...

The acrid atmosphere at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, with its vivid murals of the 18th-century British seafarer James Cook’s discoveries throughout the Pacific, sounds very much like the acrid atmosphere almost exactly 60 years ago in the Beaux-Arts American and Soviet ...

Hopefully regular readers of The Times Leader noticed something new and different this month. As COVID-19 cases decline and businesses and activities begin to open up, our staff members are reaching out to more and more entities in our local communities in an effort to reconnect with them ...

A few weeks ago, I did a radio show and podcast with Egberto Willies Politics Done Right on KPFT in Houston, Texas. Egberto is from Puerto Rico and calls himself a progressive activist. We probably disagree on some issues. In our 30-minute interview we talked about creating jobs, the ...

West Virginia is unique among America’s 50 states. At a convention in Wheeling, Virginia, in 1861, delegates from Virginia’s northwest counties, which were loyal to the Union, voted to break away from that state over the issue of slavery and their refusal to be part of the Confederate ...