The WV legislature has been giving much attention to the HOPE Scholarship program, expanding its scope and operations significantly. At the same time the legislature has been reluctant to strengthen public education in the state. Jim Bauman believes this imbalance is setting public education up for failure, which will almost certainly have serious negative consequences for local communities.
The Thacker-Ridenour debate on August 10 turned on several issues falling within the province of biology, those being abortion and transexual rights. Jim Bauman gives an account of how the positions of the two candidates expose different takes on whether it is biology or religion that distinguishes their differing positions. There’s likely nothing that will change minds, but it helps to know why each candidate argues the way they do.
It’s common among Democrats to say that Donald Trump has taken over the Republican party with the consequence that the GOP does what they’re told to do, not necessarily even what they want to do. In this article Jim Bauman speculates whether Trump’s eagerness to offend is losing us friends. And, then, whether West Virginia and even Jefferson County are on the same track to become friendless.