Big front-page news!

"Blankenship Plans Booklet Release"

This is the top story on this morning's front page. (A potentially catastrophic hurricane is bearing down on Florida but it could only make it to page 5.) Okay, the story does have interest for some West Virginian's. Still, someone needs to explain to me why the ravings of a convicted criminal and first class narcissist deserves to be the morning paper's biggest story.

"Rep. Johnson Has Breakfast With Veterans"

This was the other above-the-fold story. For those outside the Ohio Valley, Bill Johnson is the U.S. Representative from across the Ohio River in eastern Ohio. While certainly not in the same class as McKinley, Morrisey, and Capito, Republican Johnson is clearly an Ogden favorite and that explains why this non-story is at the top of today's front page.

Sadly, there was no mention in the story of whom Johnson had lunch with.

Yes, it was just another PR release from a local favorite posing as a real news story.

The predictable editorial

"Alerting the Nation To a Major Threat"

When I saw that this editorial was about Tuesday's vice presidential debate, I wondered if it was possibly about Democratic candidate Tim Kaine calling attention to candidate Trump's misogyny, racism and nativism. (Just kidding.) I had a hunch where the editorial was going and it didn't disappoint:

The bottom line is that if Clinton has her way, electric bills will increase dramatically for most Americans. We are not talking a few cents a month, but perhaps as much as $1,000 a year.

(There's that bogus evidence again.) The editorial argues that Republican Pence has done the nation a service by talking about the "war on coal". As I've argued in a number of posts, the nation is already informed and that's why it's moving on.