Waiting for Oce

After a health care scare that still has him sidelined, The Charleston Gazette checks in on Oce Smith, the longtime West Virginia political fixture who has served as the House of Delegate's sergeant-at-arms since 1967.

Smith "still is recovering from an aortic dissection he suffered last year," the article said. "For the first time in decades, the 72-year-old Smith didn't attend the State of the State."

Smith told The Gazette "he keeps up on state politics by reading newspapers and talking with his friends in Charleston and Fairmont. 'It's still not like being there,' he said."