The Kanawha Trail Club will have a hike at noon Sunday at the Endless Wall Trail at New River Gorge. Carpool from the parking lot at the corner of Ohio Avenue and Randolph Street, across from the post office. The hike, about 4 miles, is an easy-to-moderate hike with some slippery, rocky footing. Endless Wall Trail has been rated the No. 1 national park hike in the United States. It has breathtaking views of the New River Gorge from Diamond Point.

Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department will host a photo fund drive with Tri-State Photo from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and again Jan. 22 at the Sissonville Fire Station. No appointment is needed. Funds are being raised to update rescue and firefighting equipment.

Elementary-aged children and their families are invited to enjoy crafts, activities and stories that celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at 1 p.m. Monday at the Main Library, 123 Capitol St. Children will make peace signs with watercolor, watch King's famous speech and write down their own dreams.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia provides children and young adults facing adversity with strong, enduring, professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters ensures that the children in its program achieve such measurable outcomes as educational success, avoidance of risky behaviors, higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships. January is National Mentoring Month. For more information, visit www.BigLittleWV.org or call Sara McDowell at 304-746-7900.

Items for Bulletin Board may be submitted by mail to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301; faxed to 304-348-1233; or emailed to gazette@wvgazettemail.com. Notices will be run one time free. Please include a contact person's name and a daytime phone number.

THE PARTNERS: 7 to 10 p.m. Cover $2. Big Otter Community Center, 3433 Big Otter Highway, Ivydale. Call 304-286-5523

COUNTRY FRIED with STEPHANIE SPINKS: 7 to 10 p.m. Cover $5. Elk River Community Center, 1047 Main St., Elkview. Call 304-965-3722.

A TRIBUTE TO LITTLE JIMMY DICKENS: 7:30 p.m. Tickets $10. Featuring Larry Groce, Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys, The Carpenter Ants, Julie Adams, John Lilly and Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. Carnegie Hall, 105 Church St., Lewisburg. Call 645-7917 or visit www.carnegiehallwv.com.

OPEN MIC with COUNTRY OUTLAWS: 6:30 p.m. Cover $5. West Side Jamboree, corner of Tennessee Ave. and Randolph St. Call 304-419-1902.

OPEN MIC: 7:30 p.m. Adults $5. Seniors, kids and performers $2. Unity of Kanawha Valley, 804 Myrtle Road. Call 304-345-0021.

BALLROOM DANCING LESSONS: 7 to 8 p.m.; 8 to 10 p.m. open dancing. Donations accepted. Ballroom, Social and Latin dancing. 2805 Kanawha Blvd E. Call 304-552-1456.

Ha Ha Ha. Mexico sure is going to pay for that wall. All of you deplorables sure have been had.

I think I am missing something from President Obama's supporters. If his leadership was so great why didn't the folks support him by electing a Democratic Congress?

Nowhere in our Constitution, which is what our country is based, does it say that our government is to supply every need that we have. There is nowhere that says our government is to give us health care. We need to have organizations and clinics to help the people who do not have health care. Health care is costing us and is going to ruin us.

What a wonderful way to spend New Years Eve. Kudos to the town of Thurmond. Ringing the Union church bells 2017 times and then eating shrimp boil. Maybe I can get in on this next year.

Look around West Virginia and see all the trash on the roads and highways. People that throw trash are trash.

If you look at the pictures the filthy air in Beijing, China, that is what U.S. cities will look like if EPA standards get removed.

I voted Republican but it is a disgrace that Congressional Republicans voted to eliminate the Independent Ethics Committee. It is even more of a disgrace that West Virginia Congressional Republicans wouldn't say how they voted which basically tells you how they voted. Disgraceful.

Meryl Streep, after making your comments holding the Golden Globe in your hand, why don't you just join the rest of your Democratic cronies and just go to Canada.

It's Monday morning and I just read a letter in the paper from Leonard Pitts to Michelle Obama. It was very nice and I agree with him 100 percent. She is indeed gorgeous, graceful and intelligent. I am ashamed that those two women from Clay County are from West Virginia.

Hollywood elites still can't get over the fact that Donald Trump won fair and square. They are all Hillary flunkies who lost big. If they can't stand the fact that Trump won, they can move. They are out of touch with most Americans.

Isn't it ironic that Appalachian Area Agency on Aging was the same agency that was supposed to be the watchdog, monitoring the Clay Development Agency, ensuring that they were compliant with all policies and regulations, has been placed in charge of the Clay Development Agency?

West Virginia seems to have plenty of room for refugees since 10,000 left our state last year and we have 731 fewer students. Looks like we would be glad to get anyone who wanted to live here.

It will be interesting to see how many teachers will be cut from Kanawha County compared to the number of administrators. I am anxious to see the numbers on this.

To the owners of the Gazette, the staff writers and the editorial writers and the venters who call in with their hate for Trump. Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States and you'd better believe that changes are coming.

If it comes to a matter of veracity between comrade Trump and CNN, I'll go with CNN.

I do believe the Russians have the dirt on Trump. He truly is a reckless person and they knew by supporting him he would be the easiest to take down.

If Gov.-elect Justice wants to know what is really going on with state employees and vehicles, ask them. Not the managers, but those in the know. Do an anonymous survey. The results should scare all of us.

Liberals are being brainwashed and don't realize it. Every comment in the news about Trump and the Russians contains the words unconfirmed, unproven and unsubstantiated. But his haters still keep saying he's guilty.

As far as the paying for others' meals go; my wife and I have had our meal paid for once. So we in turn paid for someone else's. I've also had my order paid for several times in drive-thrus. Again, I paid for another persons order. It's called paying it forward I was told. It really happens.

I love and welcome legal immigrants. My great-grand parents were legal immigrants. It's the illegals that I don't like. And never will.

Express your opinion on any subject you wish. Not all comments are published. Call 304-348-1775 or email readersvent@wvgazettemail.com.

WASHINGTON - We are in the throes of another round of what the economist Joseph Schumpeter memorably called "creative destruction."

Two icons of American business - Macy's and Sears - are struggling. Macy's plans to close 100 stores to improve profitability, and Sears has sold its Craftsman tools line for roughly $900 million to raise cash. Conceivably, one or both of these historic chains could go bankrupt.

Their distress is part of a larger consolidation of retailers under siege from e-commerce. The Limited is closing all its 250 stories. Kmart, owned by Sears, is shutting dozens of stores.

This is a rough process for workers, managers and shareholders, but it holds out the promise of improved business efficiency, aka productivity. The most inefficient stores will shut; the survivors will be more viable and stable.

Except it hasn't happened yet.

What's puzzling about this episode of creative destruction is that we've gotten much pain but are still waiting for the gain.

Instead of improving, productivity growth has slowed dramatically. From 2010 to 2015, average labor productivity increased only 0.4 percent a year, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's well below the average post-World War II productivity gain, which is about 2 percent annually.

What happened to the productivity dividend?

I have written about this subject before, because - though obscure - it is vital to our economic future.

Faster productivity growth is the basic source of higher incomes and living standards. If not reversed, the productivity slowdown implies something close to long-term stagnation in wages and incomes.

Changing the trajectory of productivity growth is a central challenge for the incoming Trump administration - as it would have been if Hilary Clinton had won.

To explain the puzzle, economists have offered many theories.

Here are four:

n Despite contrary appearances, American technology is actually lagging.

n An aging society weakens risk-taking.

n Too many government regulations discourage startup firms.

n The Great Recession, with peak unemployment of 10 percent, made both consumers and corporations more reluctant to spend, resulting in slower economic growth.

There may be something to all these theories, but none resolves the underlying paradox of plentiful technology and skimpy productivity gains. My explanation lies in what I call "parallel technologies."

We have two systems to do one job. Companies have to support the old as well as the new technology. People no longer buy everything in stores, but stores are still necessary. (In 2016, e-commerce totaled about 8 percent of retail sales.)

Still, the loss of sales makes brick-and-mortar stores less productive, and their loss of productivity offsets some or all of the gains from digital technologies.

This is, I think, the basic explanation of what's happening at Macy's and Sears. They have to invest in the new technology, even as the value of the old technology erodes. The effect is compounded because they've been slow to shut marginal stores. There's always the hope that these stores will bounce back and avoid large losses.

If these "parallel technologies" applied only to e-commerce and stores, it would be interesting but not decisive. But it applies to many industries and products, which magnifies its economic significance.

You can think of many cases: smartphones and traditional landlines; paper and digital newspapers; cable TV and streaming internet video; standard taxis and Uber. Doubtlessly, there are other examples.

We're in the midst of a massive reallocation of economic resources - workers, firms and capital investment - that initially weakened productivity growth. That's my theory at least. Could there be a silver lining to this dark cloud? Maybe.

Sooner or later, the adjustment will ebb as past inefficiencies are purged. But how long do we have to wait?

Yogi Kinder of reigning Class AA state champion Mingo Central has been selected to coach the South for the upcoming WCHS-TV Fox 11 North-South All-Star Football Classic.

Chris Daugherty of Wheeling Park was picked to coach the North for the June 17 game at University of Charleston Stadium.

Kinder, a longtime Mingo County coach, led the Miners to a 14-0 record and the consolidated school's first state title on Dec. 2 with a 32-7 win against Fairmont Senior at Wheeling Island Stadium. He stepped down following the season.

Daugherty directed Park to the 2015 Class AAA championship, which was also the first football crown in the history of his school.

Rosters for the teams will be released at a later date.

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PREP WRESTLING: Following a head-to-head dual win last week, East Fairmont jumped Independence for the top spot in this week's West Virginia Coaches Association/wvmat.com Class AA-A prep wrestling team poll.

The Bees move up one spot while the Patriots fall to No. 2. Herbert Hoover is the Kanawha Valley's lone representative in the AA-A poll, coming in tied for No. 10 with Wirt County. (See poll, Page 2B.)

In Class AAA, all 10 rankings from last week held with Parkersburg South, Parkersburg and Huntington occupying the top three. Ripley is at No. 4 with St. Albans representing the Kanawha Valley at No. 8.

Hoover's Peyton Carey took this week's top AA-A individual ranking in the 285-pound weight class. In AAA, St. Albans' Brandon Holt (106) and Josh Humphreys (145) hold No. 1 rankings along with Riverside's Brice Pomeroy (220).

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MARSHALL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Former Logan standout Shayne Gore had a team-high 25 points but it wasn't enough as the Herd dropped a 72-63 home decision to Middle Tennessee State in a Conference USA contest.

Middle Tennessee (9-6) received 49 points from the duo of Ty Petty (game-high 26 points) and Alex Johnson (23 points) in earning the win to remain unbeaten in conference play at 4-0.

Marshall dropped its third straight game to fall to 10-6 and 2-3. Khadaijia Brooks had a double-double for the Herd with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

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SOUTH CHARLESTON LITTLE LEAGUE: Registration for baseball, softball and teeball begins Saturday at the South Charleston Community Center. The following are the sign-up times: Jan. 14, 21 and 28, Feb. 4 and 11, all from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Jan. 22 and 29 and Feb. 5 and 12, all from 1-4 p.m. Early bird rates (before Feb. 4) are $65 for one player, $90 for two players and $125 for three or more. Regular rates are $80 for one player, $100 for two and $140 for three or more. Tryouts are Feb. 25 and 26. For more information, call 304-543-0082 or 304-590-0599.

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WVU WOMEN'S SOCCER: WVU signed California midfielder Malia Kaleiohi, the younger sister of current WVU junior Heather Kaleiohi. The San Diego native has enrolled at WVU for the spring semester.

WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, who coached the team to the national championship game in December, praised Kaleiohi's speed, competitiveness and versatility. A member of the Albion Soccer Club, Kaleiohi helped lead the team to the 2015 United States Youth Soccer National Championship semifinals, where she was named to the Best XI Team. Additionally, she was a Puma V Elite Player selection in 2015.

HUNTINGTON - It isn't just that Marshall's Morgan Zerkle is one of 20 players selected to the 2017 U.S. women's national softball team.

You can break that down further. That team, which will play in World Cup of Softball XII this summer, isn't entirely composed of college players. Eleven have finished their college careers, a few of them four or five years ago.

Thundering Herd coach Shonda Stanton framed the Milton native's achievement in more impressive terms.

"There are only nine current college student-athletes on the team," Stanton said. "Out of the whole country, there are nine. She's one of nine. There are 300 Division I programs, not to mention Division II and Division III, and she's one of nine."

With the players selected last week, the U.S. team will convene in June for training camp, preparing for the World Cup July 4-9 in Oklahoma City. In the meantime, she'll play her senior season at MU, which starts Feb. 10.

So far, she has had a sterling career.

As a freshman, she stole a school-record 48 bases and was an all-tournament selection as the Herd advanced to the Conference USA championship game. As a sophomore, she hit a school-record .506 with an NCAA-Division I-leading 47 stolen bases. Her .442 career batting mark is 31 percentage points higher than MU's second-best.

Off the field, she is a two-time C-USA All-Academic selection, majoring in exercise science.

As a junior last season, she hit .482, knocking in 13 runs and stealing 28 bases despite missing 22 games with an ankle injury - and it wasn't a garden-variety sprain.

"I tore all three ligaments, bruised my talus bone," she said.

Ouch.

Somehow, she came back for the Herd's final 12 games, doubling in her second at-bat back. She returned to center field and won a C-USA tournament game with a two-out, walk-off bunt single.

"There's a lot of hours she invested with Dr. [John] Jasco and our trainers," Stanton said. "Having a facility over there [sports medicine center across the street from the softball field] helped, but she did a tremendous job of coming back from an injury like that."

By the time MU's season was over May 11, she was full-go for national team tryouts. She was mentally ready, too, having tried out the summer before and landing on the USA Elite team - basically a USA No. 2. That squad went 4-2 in World Cup XI, losing only to eventual winner Japan and annual contender Australia.

When she returned to Clearwater, Florida, her nervousness from last summer was gone, but her odds were perhaps longer. There is no Elite team this time around, only two from that 2016 group made the big team - and the other player was taken as an alternate.

Stanton followed Zerkle through her career at Cabell Midland High and at MU camps, and watched her grow from a 5-foot awkward kid into a 5-foot-8 athlete with top-notch speed. The Herd's typically tough early schedule helped get her noticed - the USA women's program is led by 20-year South Florida head coach Ken Eriksen.

"We try to go down there every few years when we think we have somebody of that caliber," Stanton said. "Rebecca Gamby benefited from it back in [2012]; she made the Elite team that 'Z' had made. ... We played at USF twice, played some good competition, and [Eriksen] was impressed with what he saw and he asked her to try out.

"Her performance spoke for herself."

Zerkle was initially recruited by Marshall - and by any number of schools elsewhere - for her speed. She could hit for a high average, but needed some oomph behind her swings.

She is not a home-run hitter, but she led her team last year with a .598 slugging percentage. She hit three doubles, two triples and two homers in her 112 at-bats.

Stanton said she had three home runs, a triple, a single and a double during the national tryout, plus she hit two to the warning track for long outs. And that came against world-class pitching.

"From the tryout, I think power is what got me on the team, for sure," Zerkle said. "Speed has a lot to do with it, too [but] the fact I developed the power with the speed.

"I'd say within the last year or two, I focused on working on hitting instead of slapping, getting stronger in the weight room in other areas."

Stanton said, "She's got that rare combination of power and speed a lot of athletes don't have."

This spring, Stanton needs Zerkle at shortstop instead of center field. Depending on how the lineup develops, she could bat lead-off or second and get more at-bats (and steals), or bat third to knock more runners in.

But not to worry, Zerkle will take fly balls outside of regular practice with an eye toward the World Cup. Every bit helps, as she isn't just competing to get in the lineup, she's auditioning to stay on the team.

If she can do that, the Olympics will beckon. The sport returns in 2020 after a 12-year hiatus, and a trip to Tokyo is on the line.

"It kind of puts pressure on you every day," Zerkle said. "There are so many good people there, the best athletes in the country. So you can't have just one good day, you have to show up every single day, every at-bat."

Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.

Staff reports

George Washington freshman Lauren Harmison had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Patriots to a 57-48 road win at Capital in girls basketball Thursday night.

Tory Self, another GW freshman, added 14 points and Katy Darnell chipped in with 13 for the Patriots (4-5). Alex Gray scored a game-high 19 points for Capital (3-7) and Sade Moore had 11 points.

Winfield 70, Herbert Hoover 20: The Generals raced out to a 27-point lead after the first quarter en route to the easy road win. Mara McGrew had 17 points to lead Winfield (12-1) and Megan Cavender added 12. Mandy Parrish and Allison Dunbar had six points each for Hoover.

Cross Lanes Christian 60, Buffalo 24: Myra Cuffee poured in 23 points to lead Cross Lanes Christian (9-1) to the road win and Jessica Kendrick added 10 points. Autumn Persinger led Buffalo (4-6) with 17 points.

Tolsia 67, Mingo Central 58: Mariah Finley had 21 points and seven assists to pace the host Rebels (4-6). Taylor Parsley added 18 points and Sarah Jude 15 for Tolsia. The Miners (7-3) received 26 points from Tyshira Joplin.

Logan 55, Scott 26: Ally Sipple hit for 20 points to lead the Wildcats (3-5) to a home win. Emily Foley had 14 points to lead Scott (5-5).

Summers County 74, James Monroe 33: The Bobcats had three players with at least 20 points in the easy home rout. Brittney Justice led the way with 22 points, Whittney Justice had 21 points and six steals, and Hannah Taylor 21 points and nine rebounds for Summers (5-2). Madison Cox had 13 points for the Mavericks (3-5).

Parkersburg South 72, University 40: Jordan Johnson scored 15 points to pace the Patriots (10-3) to a road win over the Hawks (7-5). Lexi Moore and Devin Hefner added 13 points each, and Hefner pulled down 10 rebounds. For the Hawks, Ashton Boggs scored 11 points and Chloe Mollohan had 10 points.

Spring Valley 71, Hurricane 23: Haley McComas scored 11 points to lead the Timberwolves (6-3) over the Redskins (0-9) at Hurricane. Morgan Vaughn added 10 for the Timberwolves.

Ravenswood 85, Wahama 29: Riley Heatherington tossed in 24 points and Isaiah Morgan added 20 as the visiting Red Devils (8-1) shot 67 percent in recording a runaway victory. Philip Hoffman scored nine points for the White Falcons (6-5).

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee seized the lead in Conference USA in convincing fashion Thursday night, overpowering Marshall 69-57 at the Murphy Center.

With the Blue Raiders (14-3, 4-0) holding the Thundering Herd (11-7, 4-1) to 37-percent shooting and dominating in rebounding 58-25, they were in control most of the way. The Herd, scoring 89.9 points per game entering the contest, was held under 30 points in each half.

It was the first time the Herd failed to score 60 points since a 62-45 loss to Western Kentucky in the first round of the 2015 Conference USA tournament.

The Herd hit just 5 of 19 from 3-point range, but didn't fare much better inside the arc, 15 of 35. And when they missed, they weren't getting the offensive rebound, only doing so three times.

At the other end, MTSU had 22 offensive boards. In the most damning stat of all for the Herd, that equaled MU's 22 defensive rebounds.

The resulting 16 second-chance points marred what was a pretty good defensive effort by the Herd. MTSU still shot just 40.3 percent and committed 19 turnovers, 13 on steals. MU turned those turnovers into 25 points.

"Just guarding their sets and guarding their outside, we did a great job," MU coach Dan D'Antoni said on his radio postgame. "They shot about 25 percent, 28 percent. But their physicality took over, and it not only took over on that end, but the other end.

"We stopped moving the ball, we weren't quick, we didn't have our quick movement and pace."

JaCorey Williams scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Raiders, with Giddy Potts adding 14 despite 4-of-13 shooting. He hit two 3-pointers, but both were clutch tosses at the shot-clock buzzer.

Ryan Taylor led the Herd with 12 points and eight rebounds. Stevie Browning added 11 and Jon Elmore 10 points and six rebounds.

But Elmore, the league's leading scorer entering the night, had a game to forget. He was 2 of 7 from the field, missing his three shots inside the arc, and had just one assist vs. four turnovers.

The Herd led three times in the first half, the last 20-19 on Browning's three-point play. The Raiders retook the lead and pulled ahead 32-22 with 3:25 left, and led 37-29 at the half when Tyrik Dixon's 3-point drive spun out and back into the basket.

MU began the second half with a 3:18 scoring drought, allowing the Raiders to take a 41-29 lead. MTSU led by at least nine the rest of the way, with the biggest margin of 18 points, 56-38 with 8:35 left.

The Herd stays on the road, heading to Alabama-Birmingham for a 2 p.m. contest Saturday at the Bartow Center. UAB (10-7, 3-1) wasn't threatened Thursday night in a 72-54 win over Western Kentucky.

MTSU now owns a 10-3 lead in the all-time series, with the Herd 0-6 in Murfreesboro.

MORGANTOWN - As problematic as the schedule seems to be for No. 10 West Virginia this season, travel throughout the Big 12 could be worse. At least these Mountaineers have the benefit of private charters. They're certain they wouldn't make it through a season academically, never mind athletically, without that.

"You couldn't do it," coach Bob Huggins said. "Couldn't do it. How are you going to get to Lubbock [for Texas Tech]? How are you going to get home? The thing about it is, it's kind of easy to talk about the travel and all that, but the reality is, do you know how much school they'd miss? There's no possible way these guys could do what they have to do in school."

WVU (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) embarks on its sixth road trip of the season Friday as it heads to Austin, Texas, for Saturday's 4 p.m. ESPN2 game against the Longhorns (7-9, 1-3). It's the fifth time the Mountaineers will board their own private plane, following flights to Brooklyn, New York, for the NIT Season Tip-Off, Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. WVU traveled by bus to Charleston in December to play Western Carolina in the Civic Center.

Huggins is the first men's basketball coach to enjoy the benefit of full-time chartering at WVU, and that should help with the rest of the schedule. WVU has three 9 p.m. EST start times on the road in a five-game, 14-day span. It plays Saturday-Monday games for three straight weekends next month and has one road game in one set and two road games in another.

John Beilein's teams ordinarily used commercial flights, but Huggins made sure his teams would charter whenever they needed to.

"We talked about that very briefly before I signed a contract - I went down to the business office, and they said they had it in the budget," said Huggins, who returned to his alma mater to replace Beilein in the spring of 2007. "Then, all of a sudden, they didn't have it in the budget. I basically told them, 'I think you hired the wrong guy. I'm too old to do that, man.' "

As a compromise, Huggins agreed to work with the Mountaineer Athletic Club so the team could charter for the 2007-08 season. That created the Legacy Fund, which no longer finances the charters and instead covers travel costs for recruiting. Huggins and the MAC "raised some money, but it wasn't enough for all the charters," but the team nevertheless had its own plane wherever it went.

"It never was an issue again," he said.

The cost for chartering has been a part of the athletic department's budget ever since. For the 2015-16 season, that covered around $940,000. Since joining the Big 12, which required bigger planes for longer trips, the annual cost has roughly doubled.

The value goes beyond players, coaches and managers picking their own seats and being surrounded by familiar faces instead of being crammed next to strangers and screaming babies. WVU leaves the day before a game and flies home after the game ends. The Mountaineers have to keep a schedule, but they also make the schedule.

Flying commercial would mean leaving the day before the game and typically flying home the day after the game. The schedule would also be up to the airlines. In some instances, like Saturday games that start at 11 a.m. CST, the Mountaineers could try to fly home the day of the game. They'd have to plan carefully and hope against long games, overtime or any other delay, like traffic, a long line at the security checkpoint or anything else that would jeopardize making the flight.

This season, WVU's earliest starting time on the road is a game at TCU on Feb. 25 that will tip off at either 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. CST. The team isn't flying home after that game, though, because it plays two days later at Baylor at 6 p.m. CST.

"For weekdays, you're talking about every time we go on the road, it's three days," Huggins said of commercial flights. "You'd have to go the day before the game. You can't come home afterward because there are no flights, so you come home the next morning. You're missing three days of school."

Chartering lightens, but does not remove, travel burdens. The shortest flight is still more than two hours, and that comes after WVU boards a bus at the Coliseum, drives about 40 miles south to Clarksburg and boards the plane there. Sometimes, depending on if a larger plane is required, the team has to go through security.

"When we were in the Big East, we flew those regional jets because we had one flight over an hour. South Florida was the only one over an hour," Huggins said. "Now they're all at least two hours. We were excited to get back from Lubbock in less than three hours. It was 3:45, 3:50 out there, because you're fighting the Gulf Stream."

There are 10 Big 12 schools, and WVU can land in the city of six campuses: Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech. WVU has to fly in and out of Topeka, Kansas, for games at Kansas, Oklahoma City for games at Oklahoma and Des Moines, Iowa, for games at Iowa State.

A bus can make it to the team hotel or from the arena to the airport in under an hour.

When the Mountaineers return home, they land in Clarksburg and are still an hour or so from the parking lot at the Coliseum. The players and coaches go from the plane to the bus while managers transfer the equipment and luggage.

"Our managers did it when we were in the Big East, but then they were going to have people in the airport so they could pay those guys or whatever, but it took forever," Huggins said. "I said, 'That's it. We're not doing that anymore.' We've got seven or eight managers. They're quick about it. They grab the bags and throw them on the bus, and away we go."

Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.

Randall Ross Ballard, 80, of Spars Creek Road in Danville, went home to be with the Lord on January 10, 2017, at home.

He was born October 13, 1936, in Charleston and was a son of the late Adrian Athol and Myrl Lewis Ballard. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two daughters, Drema Sue and Sharon Ballard Randall; and sons, Patrick and John Ballard.

He is survived by his wife, Bonnie; sons, Randall Ross (Cindy Gaither) of Martinsburg, Paul (Donna) of Sissonville, Adrian (Debbie) of Miami, Fla., Michael (Lora) of Madison, Perry (Tricia) of Martinsburg, and step-son, Kevin (Andrea) White of Cambridge Shire, England; daughters, Deneaise (Victor) Gore of Madison, and step-daughter, Wendy (Craig) Price of Morganton, N.C.; 19 grandchildren and six step-grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

He was a conductor for CSX Railroad. He was an honorary deacon at Spruce Laurel Freewill Baptist Church.

Graveside service will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, January 14, at Ballard Cemetery at Washington Heights, Danville.

Arrangements by Handley Funeral Home, Danville.

You may express your condolences to the family at www.handleyfh.com.

John H. Ayers Sr., age 84, of Dark Hollow Road, Alderson, passed away Thursday, January 5, 2017. A celebration of Mr. Ayers's life will be held 2 p.m., Sunday, January 15, at the Lobban Funeral Home Chapel, Alderson. Friends may call noon to 2 p.m., Sunday, January 15, at the Lobban Funeral Home, Alderson. Arrangements by Lobban Funeral Home, Alderson.

Ms. Sherry R. Arthur, 43, of Winfield, passed away peacefully in her home on January 11, 2017.

Sherry was born June 1, 1973, in Charleston, W.Va., to James and Deborah Arthur of St. Albans. Sherry lived in Kanawha County for most of her life. A former Benefits Coordinator for DEP, she was also an extremely devoted mother with a laugh and smile that could brighten anyone's day.

Surviving her is her only daughter, Haley Arthur; three sisters, Shellie Wingett (Kevin) and "Herd," Shawna Carte (Bobby), Shannon Arthur (and son).

Sherry was preceded in death by her mother, Deborah Ann "Debbie" Arthur of St. Albans.

A celebration of Sherry's life will be conducted Friday evening, January 13. This will be a private event only for immediate family and close friends. Her remains will be cremated and released into the possession of her daughter.

Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.hardingfamilygroup.com.

Gatens - Harding Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Poca, is serving the Arthur family.

Baxter Brown Akers, 88, of Cool Ridge, passed away January 10, 2017. Funeral service will be 1 p.m., Saturday, January 14, at Rose and Quesenberry Funeral Home, Shady Spring Chapel. Friends may visit with the family from 11 a.m. until service time on Saturday at the funeral home.

Bess, Robert Shirley "Shay" — Noon, Kanawha Valley Memorial Gardens, Glasgow.

Call, Dallas — 4:30 p.m., Ferrell

Clarke, Dora (Harrison) — 11 a.m., Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Charleston.

Combs, Lisa Ann — 6 p.m., Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, Charleston.

Copley, Maria — 8 p.m., Akers

Dahler, Deborah — Noon, Henson & Kitchen Mortuary, Huntington.

Ferrell, James — 2 p.m., Round Bottom Community Church, Peytona.

Fletcher, Joshua Lee — 2 p.m., Tyler Mountain Memory Gardens, Charleston.

Griffith, William A. "Griff" — 1 p.m., Curry Funeral Home, Alum Creek.

Haas, Buddy Ray Sr. — Noon, Waybright Funeral Home, Ripley.

Hunt, Michael — 1 p.m., Akers

Jett, Rodney — 1 p.m., Cooke Funeral Home Chapel, Nitro.

Knabb, Ezra — 11 a.m., Madison United Methodist Church, Madison.

Lawson, Matilda McGuire "Tillie" — 11 a.m., Lobban Funeral Home Chapel, Alderson.

Martin, Bonnie Elaine — 1 p.m., White Funeral Home, Summersville.

Matheny, John Jr. — 4 p.m., Seasons Place.

McDaniel, Carol — 11 a.m., Sacred Heart Carholic Church, Point Pleasant.

Stover, Susan Phyllis — 1 p.m., WV Memorial Gardens, Calvin.

Thomas, William A. — 1 p.m., Bartlett

Van Camp, Phyllis — 2 p.m., Tyler Mountain Funeral Home, Cross Lanes.

Wilfong, Hazel — 2 p.m., VanReenen Funeral Home, Marlinton.

WASHINGTON - Ascendant Republicans drove a budget through Congress on Friday that gives them an early but critical victory in their crusade to scrap President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The vote trains the spotlight on whether they and Donald Trump can deliver on repeated pledges to not just erase that statute but replace it.

Demonstrating the GOP's willingness to plunge into a defining but risky battle, the House used a near party-line 227-198 roll call to approve a budget that prevents Senate Democrats from derailing a future bill, thus far unwritten, annulling and reshaping Obama's landmark 2010 law. The budget, which won Senate approval early Thursday, does not need the president's signature.

"The 'Unaffordable' Care Act will soon be history!" Trump tweeted Friday in a dig at the statute's name, the Affordable Care Act. Trump takes the presidential oath next Friday.

But the real work looms in coming months as the new administration and congressional Republicans write binding legislation to erase much of the health care law and replace it with a GOP version. Republicans still have internal divisions over what that would look like, though past GOP proposals have cut much of the existing law's federal spending and eased coverage requirements while relying more on tax benefits and letting states make decisions.

Friday's final vote was preceded by debate that saw hyperbole on both sides and underscored how the two parties have alternate-universe views of Obama's overhaul. Democrats praised it for extending coverage to tens of millions of Americans, helping families afford policies and seniors buy prescriptions, while Republicans focused on the rising premiums and deductibles and limited access to doctors and insurers that have plagued many.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the health care law was "so arrogant and so contrary to our founding principles" and had not delivered on Obama's promises to lower costs and provide more choice.

"We have to step in before things get worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission," Ryan said.

"Our experimentation in Soviet-style central planning of our health care system has been an abject failure," said freshman Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Ryan was peddling "mythology" and said the GOP was moving toward making things worse for health care consumers.

"They want to cut benefits and run. They want to cut access and run," she said of Republicans.

"This is a sad day in the history of this country as Republicans begin the process of destroying health care in America," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who said the GOP has no replacement in hand.

"All you have is smoke and mirrors, and the American people are getting ready to get screwed," he said.

Approval of the budget means Senate Democrats won't be allowed to filibuster the future repeal-and-replace bill - a pivotal advantage for Republicans. They control the Senate 52-48, but it takes 60 votes to end filibusters, which are endless procedural delays that can scuttle legislation.

Congressional Republicans have made annulling Obama's law and replacing it a top goal for the past seven years. GOP rifts and an Obama veto prevented them from achieving anything other than holding scores of votes that served as political messaging.

Trump also made targeting Obama's statute a primary target during his campaign. At his news conference Wednesday, Trump - who's supplied few details of what he wants - said his emerging plan will be "far less expensive and far better" than the statute.

Despite their conceptual unity, plenty of Republicans have shown skittishness in recent days about the political repercussions of charging into a battle that, with Trump in the White House, puts enacting new laws within reach.

Many congressional Republicans expressed opposition to leaders' initial emphasis on first passing a repeal bill and then focusing on a replacement - a process that could produce a gap of months or longer. Trump has also pushed Congress to act fast.

Twenty million Americans are covered by Obama's expansion of Medicaid or by policies sold on exchanges, and millions of others have benefited from the coverage requirements It has imposed on insurers. Many Republicans have insisted on learning how their party will re-craft the nation's $3 trillion-a-year health care system before voting to void existing programs.

There are internal GOP chasms over Republican leaders' plans to use their bill to halt federal payments to Planned Parenthood and pare Medicaid coverage. There are also disagreements over how to pay for the GOP replacement, with many Republicans leery of Ryan's proposal to tax part of the value of some health insurance provided by employers.

Even with their disputes, the GOP's rallying behind their budget spotlighted the political imperative facing Republicans to deliver on a battle cry that has sustained them for years.

Moving ahead on the budget was "a bottom-line, party survival vote," said Thomas P. Miller, a health care authority at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Kanawha County Democrats have until Jan. 30 to apply to fill a seat on the Kanawha County Commission.

The vacancy comes after Commissioner Dave Hardy resigned this week to take a position as secretary of the state Department of Revenue. State law requires Hardy's replacement to come from the same political party.

The appointee will serve through 2018, when an election will be held for the remainder of Hardy's term, which runs through 2022.

The position pays a salary of $41,395 annually.

Applicants will be interviewed during a public meeting by commissioners Kent Carper and Hoppy Shores, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.

Applicants should mail or hand deliver a cover letter and resume to the Kanawha County Commission Office, attention County Manager Jennifer Herrald, 407 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301., or by email to jennifer@kanawha.us.

All resumes and cover letters must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 30.

In Washington, there is bipartisan enthusiasm over a new law designed to spur medical innovation.

The 21st-Century Cures Act takes aim at serious problems in American health care, sets many admirable goals and lays out strategies for medical research.

The law has admirable features, but it also generates reasons to temper optimism over what it will produce. No doubt, it will encourage some innovators, but in doing so, will it discourage others? Might it actually decelerate some vital areas of innovation?

Here, we look briefly at some of the law's key provisions and at reasons for a wait-and-see attitude.

In a politically fractured city, the Cures Act's bipartisan support was unusual. During the postelection lame-duck session, the House voted 392-26 in favor of the legislation; the Senate voted 94-5. President Barack Obama signed the law December 13.

The law allots $4.8 billion to three efforts:

n The president's Precision Medicine Initiative aims to develop digital and genomic technologies to transform the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.

n The vice president's Cancer Moonshot Initiative seeks cures for the whole array of cancers.

n The president's BRAIN Initiative hopes to unlock secrets of the human brain and combat illnesses like Alzheimer's disease.

In addition, the law seeks to combat the opioid epidemic, modernize the Food and Drug Administration procedures for approving new drugs and medical devices and encourage the use of Electronic Health Records.

But does the law go too far in centralizing and micromanaging innovation?

Think of how information technology (telecommunications and computing) catapulted in recent decades. The internet's original architecture emerged from the Department of Defense, but hundreds of thousands of applications came from unknown individuals in unexpected places - like Apple's and Google's founders working in garages.

It was fierce private market competition and government's relative absence from those markets that allowed world-changing technologies to proliferate.

Had the federal government anointed and heavily funded a favored search engine in the early 1990s (or put the Postal Service in charge of the effort), would that have prevented the rise of Google?

If the Precision Medicine Initiative tips the scale toward particular technologies, will that favoritism prevent the emergence of other superior, technologies?

Encouragingly, the law includes some funding through the Eureka Prizes - retrospective awards in which the government rewards winners after the fact, rather than trying to pick winners beforehand.

The Cancer Moonshot Initiative, modeled after the Apollo Moon Landing project, carries much emotional weight. (Its founding steward was Vice President Joe Biden, who lost his older son Beau to cancer.)

But Tom Stossel and I suggested that the Obama administration's own approach to space exploration - competing private launch and payload developers - is a far better model for cancer research than Apollo's monopolistic, centrally planned approach.

The Cures Act strongly recognizes that the FDA impedes the pace of drug and medical device development. The law expedites and clarifies the approval processes (and whether approval is even needed for certain technologies).

In 2015, Richard Williams, Adam Thierer and I wrote of the FDA's excessively risk-averse incentives, arguing that the FDA might be "unfixable" - unable in its present form to shed its anti-innovation bias. Do Cures Act reforms mark the beginning or the end of loosening the regulatory framework?

The law recognizes that Electronic Health Records will be central to managing and improving health and care in this century. The law focuses on "interoperability" - the internet-like ability to share dissimilar data across computer and software systems. Encouragingly, the law speaks of "voluntary" standards.

Dr. Darcy Nikol Bryan and I recently outlined principles to make future EHRs (which we call Digital Health Biographies) dynamic and competitive in the way IT has been. We believe a key element is for the government to abstain from picking winners in the EHR space - to allow markets voluntarily to choose, improve and discard technologies.

The success or failure of the Cures Act will depend heavily on how it is implemented. Will the law's administrators attempt to guide each minute step of the innovation process?

Or will they adopt the hands-off approach that allowed the internet to flourish?

Time will tell.

Robert Graboyes is a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

One year ago, I announced my candidacy for the office of governor of West Virginia.

Before I did so, my wife, Amy, and I discussed the impact it would have on our family and our respective careers. We made the decision that it would all be worth it to be able to tell our two sons that we did everything we could possibly do to make sure West Virginia would be a place where they could and would want to stay.

We gave it our all. Despite the hard work and the humbling generosity of thousands of people across West Virginia, we came up short - this time.

In the year since, I have become more troubled about West Virginia's future. West Virginia now has an enormous and simultaneous deficit in financial and social capital. This has led to anger, despair, distorted thinking and self-destructive behavior.

The epidemic of opioid abuse is but one example. Many West Virginians see no reason to hope. People are leaving our state in droves, and many who are still here are hurting. There is a massive hole in our budget, but our needs have not decreased.

A sense of community, belonging, empathy, shared experiences, networks of school friends and all those things that allow a society to function are fading.

Community schools, local main street businesses, civic clubs, newspapers and even churches are weakening and disappearing. So too are workplaces where we belonged and pensions were guaranteed.

The solution posed by our current political leaders is, as George Will recently put it, to "Make America 1953 Again."

They promise to bring back coal and overseas jobs despite harsh economic realities. They promise to build walls to keep "others" out, with no recognition of the contributions immigrants have made to our state and our nation. Such promises are corrosive.

I have not lost my abiding faith and belief in my fellow West Virginians. We are a people of strong faith and character.

Reality will lift this cruel fog of lies - likely within a year - and West Virginians will see the truth of our plight.

We will see the hard work we must do. We will recognize there is no quick fix to our problems. As our ancestors did when they hitched up their wagons and turned them up mountains, we will - with tenacity, toughness and talent - begin again to build a vibrant society in these hills.

Most businesses today are not place bound. They are looking for quality of life when choosing locations. We must make this a state where people want to be - and we should be inviting people in.

We must invest in education as our top priority. We must establish a West Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps to put people back to work rebuilding our state's treasures.

We must rebuild our crumbling roads, buildings and schools. We must extend true broadband statewide. We must leverage funding to build and maintain community-centered recreational facilities, tourism destinations, and related public-private partnerships.

We must divert the millions now spent to lure out-of-state manufacturers to our neighbors' small businesses. We must work together to create a pervasive sense of community and commitment to excellence that will serve as the magnet to attract the entrepreneurs that we need for West Virginia's renaissance. We must make West Virginia the best place in America to live, work and raise a family.

We must build upon facts, not false promises. We must grow by working hard and not by blaming others. We must act as a family with respect and empathy for one another. We must face reality and, as one people, build a home among these hills that all will want to share.

I ran for governor because I love this state. Amy and I will continue to fight for our future, for our children and your children - always.

Booth Goodwin is the former U.S. Attorney for the state's southern district, a candidate for governor, and now partner with the law firm of Goodwin & Goodwin, LLP.

Wild, Wonderful West Virginia has been recognized as the "Best State for Outdoor Adventure" in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine's 2017 "Best of the Blue Ridge" readers' choice awards.

"It's exciting to see Wild, Wonderful West Virginia recognized for its world-class outdoor recreation," Commissioner of Tourism Amy Shuler Goodwin said. "Whether you're coming here to ski, bike, climb or paddle, you'll discover more than an abundance of opportunities for outdoor adventure. You'll find great local food, excellent nightlife and true Southern hospitality."

More than 85,000 readers voted in the poll, choosing The Mountain State for the top spot in the Blue Ridge region, which includes nine states and the D.C. metro area.

"West Virginia encompasses all that is great about the Blue Ridge," said Katie Hartwell, marketing director for Blue Ridge Outdoors. "Our readers want to know where to go for hiking, biking, rafting, climbing, skiing and all things outdoors - and for 20 years we have been sending them to West Virginia."

So, dear reader: you've got family, friends, relatives, co-workers from out of state. Tell 'em about the many good things West Virginia has to offer, and join them in-state on your next vacation!

Fifty-two people became United States citizens on Monday at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse, taking the oath of allegiance after completing a lengthy citizenship process.

The ceremony was held in U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin's courtroom, as Goodwin presided over the ceremony, U.S. Appeals Judge Stephanie Thacker administered the oath of office and Ibtesam Barazi - vice president of the Islamic Association of West Virginia - spoke to the new citizens. Proving that many immigrants come and contribute greatly in the U.S., Barazi entered the country at the age of 17, learned English and eventually earned a Ph.D.

The new citizens come from 33 different countries, with the largest number, seven, coming from India. All inhabited continents are represented, with 26 new citizens coming from countries in Asia, nine from Europe, seven from Africa, five from North America, four from South America and one from Australia.

nnn

to WVSU's Oree Banks

You couldn't blame retired West Virginia State University football coach Oree Banks if he felt a little miffed when the board of the American Football Coaches Association didn't ask for his input on what former coach of a historically black college or university (HBCU) should receive the 2016 Trailblazer Award.

Banks, who had served as head coach of Coahoma Community College starting in 1960, South Carolina State in 1965 and at WVSU in 1977, helped found the award.

About 14 years ago, Banks brought the idea to college football coaches and the AFCA of the need to recognize the contributions of coaches from historically black schools from 1920-1980.

But Banks recently learned why he wasn't asked for advice. The AFCA named Banks the 13th coach to receive the award.

This puts him in the same league as many of America's coaching legends, including Hampton's Charles Williams, Florida A&M's Jake Gaither and Grambling State's Eddie Robinson.

And while Banks' seven years as WVSU's coach were commendable - he led the team to its first winning season in more than a dozen years, followed by three more - his accomplishments since then may be even greater.

Since his final season on the State sidelines in 1983, Banks has remained a professor at State and deeply involved in the AFCA, advocating for universities to hire more African-American head coaches.

Of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, only 13 have African-American head coaches now, reported the Gazette-Mail's Derek Redd. This comes at a time when, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, African-Americans accounted for 53 percent of all FBS student-athlete participants in the 2015 season.

Banks said that can improve with younger African-American coaches dedicating themselves to working their way up the ladder and players taking the coaching route out of college rather than solely focusing on a playing career.

"I say to them, 'You're going to have to take that no-paying job, work on your master's, but get on the staff as a graduate assistant,'" Banks said. "That's the key, and I think that will be coming forth soon. That gets you into the system.

"I want people to understand there was a time we experienced that we have to grow from," Banks said. "Segregation was segregation back years ago, but we did not give up. We did not give up. We found ourselves moving ahead in trying to establish the fact that we needed to be a part of the system, and we couldn't be part of the system unless we were all together."

Hats off to West Virginia State University's Coach Oree Banks for his accomplishments in West Virginia, and for working for positive change.