The Charleston Gazette - News Columnists

Statehouse beat: Who, what, where of state cars

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:57:05 -0500

In a recent legislative presentation, Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson bragged that, with the new Fleet Management Office, "I can tell you how many cars we have, and I can tell you who has them." A reader suggested, if th...

Innerviews: Twirling queen learns value of grit

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:45:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- She hurls three batons high in the air, catches them deftly, hurls and catches them again and again. She moves confidently, feeling the rhythm, focusing with the casual intensity of a master juggler.Even at 50, the champio...

Phil Kabler: Raises given out at Capitol

( ) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Having separate branches of government, and two houses of the Legislature, creates all kinds of fun and friction around here, particularly when it comes to pay raises. At the moment, county commissioners and other county officers ar...

Steelhammer: Raising the Barr of election insanity

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:45:00 -0500
For anyone who thought the 2012 presidential race hasnt become wild and crazy enough, Roseanne Barr may have a candidacy for you. Last week, the Green Party officially accepted Barr as one of several candidates vying to become that partys presidenti...

Joseph J. Mazzella: A joyful noise

( ) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0500
It has been a long time since anyone has enjoyed my singing. That is if "never" can be classified as a long time. While my singing voice sounds fine to me, to others it is no treat. I have been told it is far too high and off key at times and tha...

Springtime is worth waiting out winters

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:55:40 -0500

February has always seemed like a dreary month to me. Not quite winter and not yet spring, it stretches between the two like a dingy, worn-out blanket, frayed and full of holes. Winters debris seems to collect in this month ...

Linda McClure: Blessed

( ) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0500
January is a month that marks new beginnings, a time for venturing out to try something new and challenging. I enjoy the "Essay on Faith" column, especially those written by Evelyn Smith and Peggy Horton. For a long time, it has been a goal of mi...

Statehouse beat: The other side to be heard four years later

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:22:11 -0500
More than four years after he was fired without explanation by Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, former state Archives and History Director Fred Armstrong will finally get his day in (high) court next we...

Trucking champ was king of the road

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Talk about a road warrior. At 84, Frank Hutton looks back with pride on more than three decades as a crackerjack trucker, mostly as a driver for Mason-Dixon Tank Lines. Three times, in 1969, 1975 and 1979, he won n...

Phil Kabler: House exodus begins

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Barring some last-minute changes of heart leading up to the midnight filing deadline earlier today, no less than 18 members of the House of Delegates will have opted not to seek reelection. That includes some long-serving members in...

Steelhammer: Industry backing for fracking is lacking

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:29:27 -0500
According to an Associated Press story on Friday, the nations natural gas industry is looking for a new word to replace "fracking" to describe the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract gas from subterranean rock. Some industry execu...

Morning prayers brighten gray days

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:33:16 -0500

The morning was warm with the shadows of night still lingering. Daylight was struggling to break through the darkness while the landscape was still obscured by misty shadows. A sudden burst of song pierced through the stilln...

Statehouse beat: Viable GOP candidates for W.Va. races

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
Ending a two-month media blackout, state Republican Party Chairman Mike Stuart emerged from hibernation last week and assured us that, when the candidate filing deadline arrives at midnight Saturday, there will be viable GOP candidates...

Innerviews: Esquires horn player hits the high notes

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- He plays trumpet, saxophone and flute with the Esquires. He isnt flamboyant. He doesnt hog the limelight. He just stands there on the side of the stage and plays those horns for all hes worth. Thats who he is, how he sees ...

Phil Kabler: Court did state a favor on redistricting

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Its probably just as well that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay Friday that likely will allow the 2012 Congressional election to proceed under either the seemingly unconstitutional "Mason County flip" plan, or the curre...

Steelhammer: The court of puppet opinion

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:55:17 -0500
When I have trouble identifying a topic for these scribbles, my fallback position often involves writing something about either dogs or Ohio. Today, while suffering from what retired Gazette sportswriter Danny Wells once referred to as "writer...

Joseph J. Mazzella: A morning gift

( ) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0500
Every morning when I wake up, I find a neatly wrapped gift lying on my chest. Now I have to admit that in the past, I always pushed this gift aside without even looking at it. I was too rushed and determined to get things done to even consider opening it. ...

Leaving behind heritage for loved ones

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0500

A few scattered snowflakes drift lazily through the air on this cold January day, reminding us that it is still winter, even though weve had many mild days. Many folks call this "pneumonia weather" with the tempera...

Statehouse beat: Retirees take advantage of unused sick leave for PEIA

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:05:36 -0500
Public Employees Insurance Agency Executive Director Ted Cheatham made headlines last week when he suggested the reason there had not been an uproar over the PEIA Finance Boards vote to cap state subsidies of retiree premiums is becaus...

Innerviews: Assisted living pioneer beat green trend

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Shes a trailblazer of sorts.Thirty years ago, New Jersey transplant Karen Glazier saw the need for a small, homey place where older people could live independently with just a little help from caregivers.She opene...

Phil Kabler: Perfect plan revisited

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Senate Majority Leader John Unger, D-Berkeley, says hes building consensus in the Legislature for his "practically perfect plan" for congressional redistricting -- actually, he calls it the "more p...

Inspecting my winter driving survival kit

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
It took until the middle of January, but Mother Nature finally got around to planting a swift snow-boot kick on Old Man Winters backside, setting off the traditional milk, ground beef and toilet paper stampede at Kroger. As I loaded my chub pack...

George Hohmann: McJunkin offering details

business@dailymail.com (George Hohmann) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gleanings from the $100 million initial public offering prospectus filed by MRC Global Inc., formerly McJunkin Red Man Holding Corp.: * Andrew Lane, 52, the former Halliburton executive who has served as MRCs president and chief exe...

Peggy Horton: Change is inevitable

( ) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0500
According to statistics, more people die in January than any other month. The odds a death that happens in a given year will occur in January are 1 in 10.89 higher than any other month. Moreover, it is also reported that more suicides take place in January...

Memories warm during winters cold

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0500

The tantalizing fragrance of sassafras tea floats through the house today, while the dark, robust tea bubbles on the stove. No better potpourri can be purchased, and in my opinion, no better tea can be brewed. Mom always sai...

Main Street guru on resurging East End

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hes the quintessential young professional. At 28, Ric Cavender serves as a mayor of sorts for the venerable and increasingly vibrant East End. Hes executive director of East End Main Street, a nonprofit organi...

Steelhammer: The shape of things to come

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
After being hermetically sealed in a No. 2 mayonnaise jar since noon on Friday and left overnight to marinate on the steps of the now-defunct Dunbar Shoneys, my predictions for the year 2012 are now ready for public review. While I may be a seer, soo...

Michelle Wilshere: The missing wallet and more important matters

( ) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0500
Last July, my parents and I visited Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry in the eastern panhandle of the state. We were able to eat at the beautiful Bavarian Inn, walk the streets of historic Harpers Ferry, see the majestic Potomac River, and visit the local we...

Modern conveniences make us forget our difficult days

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0500

The first day of our new year came in on the wings of a cold north wind, bringing swirling snowflakes and frigid temperatures to our hills. Snow quickly covered each meadow and hillside, outlined the bare limbs of the trees ...

Innerviews: Opera singer prefers real estate role

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A gifted baritone, he sang for years in stage shows, for weddings, funerals and other events, more than 4,000 appearances in all. He loved the limelight, the joy of singing, the applause. But Jon Cavendish ...

Joseph J. Mazzella: The night peace found me

( ) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:24:42 -0500
My oldest son turned 24 recently. When it comes to the soul, however, time is irrelevant and memory can melt away the years in a second. When I looked at my grown son my mind took me back to one very special time only a few weeks after his birth. I had awa...

Let the new year be better than all the others

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:40:56 -0500

New Year
Dear Lord as this New Year is born
I give it to Thy hand.