The West Virginia legislature passed 35 bills during a special session in August 2023. Read the Full Story >>
Civic Engagement
Local voices offer their opinions and insights into political topics across the spectrum. Coverage focuses on local issues affecting residents in and around Jefferson County, WV.
West Virginia Legislature’s Meeting Schedule
Explaining the schedule of the West Virginia Legislature. Read the Full Story >>
West Virginia Retools Social Services Delivery
House Bill 2006, passed by the legislature in February of this year, is intended to improve DHHR services. The 2023 bill ultimately reorganized DHHR into three parts — the Department of Health, the Department of Human Resources, and the Department of Health Facilities. Read the Full Story >>
The Burdens of Defunct HOAs
Are you stuck in a neighborhood with an HOA board that has gone rogue by not following its own rules or not taking care with your HOA fees? Know someone in an area where nobody knows who is supposed to maintain the roads? You might be living in a “zombie HOA.” Here in West Virginia, we have great neighbors, but we don’t have an effective way to protect our neighborhoods from rogue and zombie HOAs. Read the Full Story >>
Some Bills That Failed in the Legislature This Year – Part 2
There have been many reviews of bills that passed and became law in West Virginia this year. However, there were far more bills that were introduced but not passed by the legislature. This month’s column points out some bills that did not pass but were sponsored by Delegate Hardy and Senators Barrett and Rucker Read the Full Story >>
Some Bills That Failed in the Legislature This Year – Part I
There have been many reviews of bills that passed and became law in West Virginia this year. However, there were far more bills that were introduced but not passed by the legislature. This month’s column points out some bills that did not pass but were sponsored by Delegates Clark, Espinosa, and Ridenour. Read the Full Story >>
Watching The West Virginia Legislature
The West Virginia state legislature convened on January 11 2023 for a sixty day regular session. Read the Full Story >>
Confusion on Plans for Water & Sewer at New Shepherdstown Elementary School
Jefferson County Board of Education has many questions about plans to provide water and sewer utilities to the new Shepherdstown elementary school site. Read the Full Story >>
Medical Marijuana Loses Traction in Charleston
The West Virginia Legislature passed a bill three years ago legalizing the use of medical marijuana. But that law has never really taken effect. Read the Full Story >>
How Will We Vote During Corona?
Given the current COVID-19 situation across the country, a recent press release from Washington Monthly stated: The 2020 election is at risk. Short of significant reform, voter participation is expected to plummet. Read the Full Story >>
Big Manufacturers Want a Big Property Tax Break
Once again, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA) is coming to the Legislature with a proposal to give large manufacturers and mining companies a property tax break. Read the Full Story >>
Clean Drinking Water Bill to be Introduced
On December 16, several members of the House of Delegates, I included, held a press conference in Charleston at which we announced that we would be sponsoring a bill that would significantly improve drinking water protection. Read the Full Story >>
Homework for the Children of Democracy (December 2019)
If you vote in West Virginia and you don’t read any West Virginia newspapers, you haven’t done your homework. You’ll be sent to detention, which is what we’re all having now, as we speak. Read the Full Story >>
Exit the Baby Boomers
For years, we’ve watched our young people leave West Virginia. The children of our friends, whom we’ve watched grow up, head off to college or a job opportunity, and they don’t come back. Now, their parents—our friends and neighbors—are entering or nearing retirement, and asking one another: Are you going to stay in West Virginia? It’s remarkable how many say no, or give a long sigh and shrug that says, “I don’t know.” It’s not that they have somewhere else calling them. It’s the politics. Read the Full Story >>
MARC Train Service Appears to Be Saved
As of this writing, the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA), at the direction of Governor Jim Justice, was actively involved in discussions with the Maryland Mass Transit Administration (MTA) for a multi-year agreement to continue MARC commuter rail service at its current level. Read the Full Story >>