Give that indoorsman the book-off

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- What do you do when frequent posters on your Facebook site start badmouthing your political views, a beloved musician, or your favorite football team. Well, you could spend hours dreaming up humorous comebacks to gently put th...

Warm autumn weather is a balm to the soul

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500

I Thank the LordI thank the Lord for loved onesFor friends both far and nearAnd for all my many blessingsAt this special time of year.I thank God for the sunshineI thank him for the rain

PEIA hearings attract few people

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I was surprised during Public Employees Insurance Agency public hearings last week not only by the small turnouts in Charleston and Beckley, but also by the level of anger among those who did attend.Its clear that state and public ...

Innerviews: Weather guru loves second-guessing Mother Nature

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Everybody talks about the weather. Especially Alan Rezek.He cant do any more about the weather than the rest of us, but he loves the challenge of second-guessing Mother Nature.The chief meteorologist in the Charle...

Peggy Horton: Train a child in the way she should go

( ) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
Only two days after school started this year, our granddaughter, who is in the fifth grade, announced that she absolutely loved school. She stays with us a few evenings a week, until her mother gets home from work. Instead of coming in as she has in the pa...

Is bailout of pensions possible.

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Legislators are approaching this weeks special session with trepidation, which is probably reasonable, given the way the August special session on public employee "bonuses" blew up in their faces. While theres not likely to b...

Latest idea from the lunatic fringe

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:00:28 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An announcement late Friday that NASAs LCROSS lunar probe churned up at least 24 gallons of water when it splashed down in a dark Moon crater last month is good news for astronauts and lunar explorers. But I cant help wondering if...

Veterans are owed a debt we can never repay

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
The Unknown Soldier Theres a graveyard near the White HouseWhere the Unknown Soldier lies.And the flowers there are sprinkledWith tears from mothers eyes.I stood there not so long ago

Diaries trace daily life on a WWII destroyer

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- He was 17, fresh out of Charleston High School. He didnt dare think of going to college, much less getting a job. His country was fighting a war. "Everybody was in the service if they werent 4F,&quo...

Innerviews: Ex-cowboy rides out unemployment gap

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:17:03 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hes a cowboy, the real deal. In the mid-1980s, Roy Smyth herded cattle on the open range in British Columbia, just him, his dog, two horses and 250 cows out in the middle of nowhere. Crouched by the fire each nigh...

Statehouse Beat: Deductions for state vehicles (conclusion)

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:53:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Again, this is the last of the names of the 800-some state employees reporting commuting privileges in state vehicles. (Regular Statehouse Beat columns will return next weekend.) Division of Natural Resources (14)...

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The Rev. Lawton W. Posey: Listen for cries of the disenfranchised

( ) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
On a beautiful Sunday recently, my wife Bridget and I found ourselves in St. Christophers Episcopal Church just off Edgewood Drive on the West Side. We had come not only to visit this congregation which sprang from four previous churches, but to hear our f...

Who took deductions for state vehicles.

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hey folks, Ive been off this week, so in the absence of new columns, Ill use the space to finish up the list of all 800-plus state employees who took payroll deductions for the commuting value of their state vehicles. Division ...

Adventures in small-town journalism

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:37:28 -0500

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- To stay afloat in the realm of bush league journalism, youve got to be versatile.
There was a time when reporters were an exalted presence in our newsroom, an occa...

Each season brings its own blessings

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
The melancholy days have come, the saddest of the year,Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere;Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the r...

Are state workers entitled to a car.

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- With all the coverage of late regarding use of state vehicles for commuting and personal travel, a new ruling from the state Public Employees Grievance Board shows just how ingrained the supposed entitlement to a state car can be in so...

Innerviews: Former beauty queen enjoys royal life

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:45:00 -0500
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- She reigned as Miss West Virginia in 1974. At 55, she retains the regal elegance and golden good looks of a beauty queen. She also has a quick, creative mind and the efficient, sophisticated manner of a successful businesswoman...

Watching Manchin unravel, part II . . .

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I was talking to a legislator last week, who commented, "Poor Joe, hes been doing so many dumb things lately," said more with a sense of glee than concern.Ever since the end of the regular session in April, when the House lea...

Cradle-to-grave retail strategy

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:17:22 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Youve got to give West Virginias largest private employer credit for reaching out to new customers, following the launch of two new online experiments in cradle-to-grave marketing. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart began offering dispo...

Old superstitions live long in the hills of West Virginia

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:46:15 -0400
The moon is almost full, with a few black, wispy clouds floating over its surface. An eerie wind is blowing in gusts, picking up the dry leaves that is scattered in its path to toss in a mad, swirling dance. Many of the trees are stripped bare of lea...

Workers dont like fat tax proposal

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchins proposal last week for the Public Employees Insurance Agency to consider the possibility of imposing a "fat tax" in the form of higher premiums for overweight insurees went over like the pro...

Innerviews: Joy of theater rooted in audience rapport

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It took gumption, but Joe Romagnoli followed his heart. Smitten with theater, armed with a degree in drama and musical theater from the Boston Conservatory of Music, he moved to New York and spent 20 years eking out a living, study...

Commute list for state is long

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- From the governors chief of staff to the governors cousin to the Senate presidents wife to Marshalls head football coach, the list of state employees who commute to and from work in state vehicles is lengthy. A total of 814 employees c...

Safety is serious business

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:31:40 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- How many reporters does it take to screw in a light bulb. The question is irrelevant, after reading the new, mandatory, MSHA-mandated Ladder Safety Training Course workbook now making the rounds in our newsroom. Henceforth, changing li...

Fall sunshine mellows the golden hills

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:32:19 -0400
Birds Search for Summer "Summer is gone," say the Blue Asters by the roadside."Summer is gone," say the Long Shadows at evening tide.The crickets and the Katydids sang the whole night lo...

Im a good witch

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
WANT TO GO.Book signing with Rebecca Harless, author of "Beyond the Broom"WHEN: 4 to 7 p. m. Oct. 31WHERE: Taylor Books on Capitol StreetCostumes are encouraged. CHARLESTO...

Statehouse Beat: Fictions run deep in state law

philk@wvgazette.com (Phil Kabler) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:21:14 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State law in West Virginia is held together with any number of legal fictions.Under West Virginia law, beer is nonintoxicating, all bars and restaurants serving liquor by the drink are private clubs, and state voters authorized cas...

Innerviews: In tune with Nashville

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hes not a country singing star, big-time musician or recording company CEO. But everyone in Nashville knows Doak Turner.Two years ago, the energized St. Albans native took off for Music City and made a quick name for h...

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What once was lost now is found

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:01:24 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The key to short-term happiness, Ive found, is finding the key. I lost mine while running along Kanawha Boulevard one night last week. By "running," I mean the 50-something-year-old approximation of the sport as practice...

Alyce Faye Bragg: Dreary days help us appreciate sunshine

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:43:55 -0400
Autumn Oracle By Laura Lee Randall A sunset sky, and the west wind sighing, A threat of winter ... the wild gulls crying; Swift flocks of birds to the southland winging; Bare brown boughs in a fren...

Former mayor in historys lap as wartime code clerk

sandyw@wvgazette.com (Sandy Wells) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- After 90 years of use, the mind of Joe F. Smith remains as keen as it was in the prime of his anecdote-packed life. Memories pour from him in vivid detail, embellished often by historical asides gleaned from a lifetime of careful ...

Humming right along

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:45:00 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hummer, the brawny, costly, gas guzzling sport utility vehicle that came to symbolize Americas over-the-top love affair with the automobile, will soon be made in China. In a deal announced late last week, General Motors is unloadi...

Harvest moon holds an important place in our lives

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:51:17 -0400
The harvest moon was obscured by clouds Monday night, but last night it was hanging in the sky, round and majestic, although it had a ring around it. We have always thought that a ring around the moon foretold a change in the weather. (Remember Longfellows...

The directions, my friend, are blowing in the wind

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:28:09 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- According to an article last week in Slate magazine, Bob Dylan is considering offers to become a voice for automobile satellite navigation devices, joining the ranks of such celebrities as Mr. T and Burt Reynolds, who have already ...

Autumn in the W.Va. hills is beyond compare

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:15:26 -0400
Whos for the Hills. Whos for the hills.Ho, for the stress and struggle, and at lastThe gain of summit places sure and fast!Ho, for a clearer air, a fairer view,A hilltop nearer to the mighty blue!

Move over, Barbra, now theres Barbie

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com (Rick Steelhammer) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:26:14 -0400
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Who says there arent any good movie roles for 50-year old women. Barbie, the timeless, top-heavy blond bombshell who has played more than 100 roles during her half-century career as a doll, is finally making it to the big screen. ...

The most glorious of season is fast approaching

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:58:37 -0400
Sunny coreopsis greets the first day of autumn, growing in abundant masses along the roadside, their showy yellow flowers gleaming like scattered sunshine. There is a lot of white snakeroot blooming in large patches on the hillsides and also in woods and t...

Those who have love in their homes are truly rich

alycefaye@citlink.net (Alyce Faye Bragg) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:37:47 -0400
A tiny white butterfly has followed me around all day. As we walked by the creekside, where the pink spikes of smartweed (also called ladys thumb) were blooming in dense masses, it hovered above them. Then it floated above the yellow-eyed asters that were ...

The Charleston Gazette - News Columnists

Give that indoorsman the book-off

Warm autumn weather is a balm to the soul

PEIA hearings attract few people

Innerviews: Weather guru loves second-guessing Mother Nature

Peggy Horton: Train a child in the way she should go

Is bailout of pensions possible.

Latest idea from the lunatic fringe

Veterans are owed a debt we can never repay

Diaries trace daily life on a WWII destroyer

Innerviews: Ex-cowboy rides out unemployment gap

Statehouse Beat: Deductions for state vehicles (conclusion)

The Rev. Lawton W. Posey: Listen for cries of the disenfranchised

Who took deductions for state vehicles.

Adventures in small-town journalism

Each season brings its own blessings

Are state workers entitled to a car.

Innerviews: Former beauty queen enjoys royal life

Watching Manchin unravel, part II . . .

Cradle-to-grave retail strategy

Old superstitions live long in the hills of West Virginia

Workers dont like fat tax proposal

Innerviews: Joy of theater rooted in audience rapport

Commute list for state is long

Safety is serious business

Fall sunshine mellows the golden hills

Im a good witch

Statehouse Beat: Fictions run deep in state law

Innerviews: In tune with Nashville

What once was lost now is found

Alyce Faye Bragg: Dreary days help us appreciate sunshine

Former mayor in historys lap as wartime code clerk

Humming right along

Harvest moon holds an important place in our lives

The directions, my friend, are blowing in the wind

Autumn in the W.Va. hills is beyond compare

Move over, Barbra, now theres Barbie

The most glorious of season is fast approaching

Those who have love in their homes are truly rich