Buzz kill

So earlier this week the Spousal Unit and I went to our favorite Italian restaurant. We had a good meal and a good time but it kinda got spoiled. In order to prepare for the next Front Porch podcast, I promised to listen to the debate between WV's two main candidates for governor. It was a buzz kill.

I should have stuck to my usual practice of talking about stuff I know nothing about, like I do here.

Anyhow, here's a link to the podcast. I think it's better than the debate anyway.

From the horse's mouth

The city of Huntington is ground zero in WV's opioid crisis. When 26 people there overdosed in a few hours, the story made headlines nationwide. It was nice to see this editorial in that city's Herald-Dispatch about how to respond. Here's bit:

If locking up users and dealers were the "silver bullet," we would have won the war on drugs years ago. Largely because of tougher penalties for drugs, the American prison population rose from 400,000 in the 1970s to record levels of 2.3 million in recent years....

Local, state and federal government has spent billions fighting drugs for the past 50 years. A reasonable investment in prevention, treatment and recovery is long overdue.

The rest is here.

This is a much more productive approach than more mandatory minimums as proposed by Republican candidate for governor Bill Cole.

What he said

I mentioned in earlier posts that Republican candidate for governor Bill Cole has proposed increasing mandatory minimums and possibly building more prisons to deal with the drug problem. My friend Pastor Matthew Watts had a great response in today's Charleston Gazette-Mail. I highly recommend taking a look at this critique of one of the biggest policy failures of the last few decades.

Meanwhile, one possible partial solution to WV's budget woes could also help address our public health problems related to obesity. The idea in question is upping the tax on sugary drinks.

Finally, under the it's-not-all-bad category, WV's unemployment rate is at its lowest point since 2008, in spite of the serious slump in the coalfields.

Politics and roosters

The latest Front Porch program/podcast discusses issues in the WV governor's race, Trumpiana, and the passing of my favorite rooster. There is considerable overlap between political behavior and that of roosters. In fact, living around roosters has greatly deepened my understanding of politics.

Higher education in WV

Recently the Huntington Herald-Dispatch had a good editorial about the role of higher education in the state's economy. Here's how it started:

Whoever is calling the shots at the Capitol in Charleston next year may want to think twice about continuing the recent trend of reducing state aid for West Virginia's higher education institutions. Curtailing support for those institutions could undermine a key economic component of the state at a time when the Mountain State's struggling economy needs all the help it can get.

The point was underscored last week by a study from West Virginia University's Bureau of Business and Economic Research gauging the economic impact of 21 higher education institutions on their respective local economies. The study, sought by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, concluded that those universities and colleges contributed about $2.7 billion overall to the state's economy in 2014 either directly or indirectly. While by no means the main economic engine of the state, that number equates to about 3.5 percent of the state's total economy - a significant enough portion that warrants careful handling by the state's policy makers. Altogether, that spending supported about 22,000 jobs either at the institutions or by spinoff economic activity, the study found.

Sadly, higher education continues to be cut in the state budget. Why anyone would do that in the state with the lowest educational attainment rate is beyond my understanding. But then, the Republican candidate for governor wants to increase mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenses and build more prisons while others like state senator Craig Blair want to privatize colleges and universities.

I ask again, what could possibly go wrong?

The good, the bad and the anciently weird

Labor supporters in West Virginia got a boost recently when a Kanawha County judge issued an injunction temporarily blocking the implementation of the recently enacted right to work for less law. I hope she takes her good old time in making a decision, although the case is expected to be concluded within 90 days. It's totally OK with me if it goes longer.

On the downside, outgoing senate president and gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole came out for more mandatory minimums and building more prisons in a state that can't even afford to do adequate flood relief. This would undo the fairly recent growth of common sense on the subject that is supported by many Republicans.I'm hoping that's a nonstarter.

Then there's this odd item about ancient South America from the BBC. Enjoy!

More of a tweet than a post (but think about it anyway)

Reckon things like this could have anything to do with things like this?