Author: Frank Ahrens

NYC Said ‘See Ya Later’ to Amazon: Why W.Va. Should Say the Same to Other Moon-Shot Projects

In the mid-1980s, West Virginia joined other states in a heated bidding for a Saturn vehicle assembly plant. Saturn was considered a brand-saver for the struggling General Motors, and many states viewed the Saturn plant as salvation for their own economies, bringing the promise of generations of well-paying middle-class jobs. […]

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Fall of Local News Did Not Bring Us Authoritarianism in Washington but Might Lead to it Elsewhere

Paul Glastris, editor of the Washington Monthly, a small but influential left-leaning political publication, wrote a piece this summer provocatively headlined, “Did the Fall of Local News Bring Us Authoritarianism in Washington?” His thesis: “We still don’t know for sure that losing access to objective local news made people more […]

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Blankenship’s Defeat Is Part of a Hopeful Trend

There’s a saying in journalism: “Three of anything makes a trend.” I’m hoping that perhaps two things make a trend — this one a trend back to legitimacy for American political conservatives. American conservatism has been under attack since President Trump hijacked the Republican Party in 2016 and replaced many […]

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