West Virginia
Unseen America: Further Reading
Some recommendations from the authors and editor of the Unseen America story package.
Losing the News
The Charleston Gazette-Mail, known for its dogged accountability journalism, survived a merger and bankruptcy. Will it survive a new owner with ties to the very industries its reporters have been watchdogging?
West Virginia Will Now Provide Free Community College Tuition If Students Can Pass a Drug Test
The program is the first in the country to introduce drug testing as an eligibility requirement.
West Virginia's Supreme Court Sends Mixed Messages in Cases Pitting Landowners Against Natural Gas Companies
The court has upheld a ruling preventing gas companies from prospecting on people's land without permission, but threw out a series of lawsuits complaining of the nuisance created by their operations.
West Virginians Bear the Brunt of Increased Natural Gas Drilling
As natural gas booms around the Marcellus Shale, nearby residents continue to feel the burden of the industry's growth.
Why Public-Health Experts Want More States' Vaccine Policies to Look Like West Virginia's
Legislation made the anti-vaccine movement possible—and as the example of West Virginia shows, it can also help fight it.
The West Virginia Speaker of the House Has Conflicts of Interest With the Natural Gas Industry
Roger Hanshaw, a Republican lawyer from Clay County, represents natural gas companies and gas industry lobby groups in his private legal practice while voting on measures that directly affect their businesses.
The Legal Strategy Behind Alabama and West Virginia's New Anti-Abortion Amendments
Both amendments were patterned after a successful policy change in Tennessee.
In West Virginia, Regulators Once Again Rewrite the Rules to Appease Energy Interests
After a federal appeals court blocked a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the state's Department of Environmental Protection is changing standards to subvert the ruling.
How One Judge in West Virginia Gave Natural Gas a Big Victory and Shortchanged Residents
Justice Beth Walker voted to re-open an already decided case around the time her husband owned stock in a variety of energy companies. And that's not even why she's been impeached.
A Federal Judge Rules Against West Virginia County in Natural Gas Pipeline Case
It's the second time in two years that the judge has overruled efforts by Fayette leaders to protect their county from what they view as the negative effects of West Virginia's natural gas industry.
Meet the Retired Furniture Maker Fighting for Climate Justice—and Coal Miners' Well-Being—in West Virginia
Jim Probst has dedicated the last five years to building a climate movement that's equally concerned with local coal miners' well-being as it is with the consequences of coal mining itself.
Letter From Morgantown, West Virginia: On the Ground at Bernie Sanders' Rally of the Sick
Even though a majority of West Virginians see government health care as fundamentally un-American, even evil, they know the Affordable Care Act is saving lives every day.
An Ethical Cloud Is Hanging Over China's Natural Gas Investment Agreement in West Virginia
At least one member of the state’s trade delegation who helped negotiate the deal—a gas industry executive—was also working to help his private company on the trip.
West Virginia Passes a Bill to Raise Pay for Teachers and Other State Employees
The State House and Senate agreed on a bill to raise pay by 5 percent for all state employees, including teachers and school service workers.
West Virginia Teachers Win Salary Increase
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced that educators would get a 5 percent pay raise next year.
West Virginia Teachers Will Continue Their Strike Into Tuesday
Union leaders are demanding that Governor Jim Justice and state representatives arrange a meeting to hear employee demands for higher pay raises.
Why West Virginia's Heroin Overdose Rate Doubled After It Mandated Doctors Use the State Drug-Monitoring Database
Could the program have driven some West Virginians to use heroin?
Proponents of Raw Milk Are No Better Than Anti-Vaccine Advocates
The perils of the “farm-food freedom” movement.
OSHA Takes a Closer Look at the Most Dangerous Job in America
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will systematically track who subcontractors were working for when accidents occur on cell tower sites.
Trial by Water: West Virginia's Elk River
The recent contamination illuminates just how tenuous and vital the safety of our water is.
The Problem With More Than 50 States
With what seems a never-ending list of wanna-be states, why hasn't there been a successful secession since 1863?
You Can't Ban Guns at the Public Pool
The National Rifle Association is about to claim another victory in its three-decade push to deny individual cities the right to regulate guns.