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Of orange cones and orange flags

Why the state may benefit from letting municipalities share custody of roads West Virginia’s other state flower is already in bloom: the orange cone.   Pothole filling started early this year because of February’s mild temperatures, and around the time the first orange cones started appearing, orange flags seemed to sprout from street signs and stop signs in and around Suncrest.   The orange flags are part of a pedestrian project spearheaded by three neighborhood stakeholders. Vaike Haas, Tiphani Davis and Sumi Mehta secured a federal grant to create the ...

The Good, the Bad and the Stupid 11

The legislative graveyard The 2023 regular legislative session is over, and we’re bringing our “The Good, the Bad and the Stupid” series to a close. While over 300 bills passed and went to the governor for his signature, hundreds more didn’t. We’ve highlighted several bills already: ones we thought had great potential but died in committee. Today, we’ll look at several bills that passed at least one chamber but were ultimately laid to rest in the legislative graveyard.  Good: SB 124, to require boards of education to craft dating and sexual violence prevention ...

If CARES money used appropriately, audit should turn up no problems

On Monday, State Senate Finance Chair Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Office of Inspector General asking it to potentially look into whether Gov. Jim Justice and his administration mishandled CARES Act monies.   At issue are $28,375,985.34 in CARES money that ultimately went to non-COVID-19 related activities, like $10 million toward completing Marshall University’s new baseball stadium, as well as an unspecified amount for a minibus for Appalachian Bible College. Tarr also contends that CARES funds were improperly used for “Do It for Babydog” ...

Everyone did their best in search for Bryn Hargreaves

Many people’s suspicions were confirmed when the remains found in a wooded area near Whisper Creek Apartments two weeks ago were officially identified this week as Bryn Hargreaves.  A resident of Whisper Creek, Hargreaves was last heard from around Jan. 3, 2022. He was reported missing on Jan. 16, 2022, and search and rescue efforts began. His mother and one of his brothers flew in from England to help with the extensive search, which lasted for a month as law enforcement, rescue groups and volunteers combed the area.  As news broke that Hargreaves’ remains had been ...

Sunshine Week is over but our work isn’t

Sunshine Week — a celebration of access to public, particularly government, information — ended yesterday. Most years, we would have highlighted Sunshine Week either before it started or while it was going on. However, we were so busy doing the work of illuminating government activity that we didn’t have the time to celebrate the work.   Sunshine Week is structured around Freedom of Information Day, which falls on or near James Madison’s March 16 birthday. (Of the Founding Fathers, Madison is thought to have fought hardest for government transparency.)   News ...

The Good, the Bad and the Stupid 10

For today’s edition of The Good, the Bad and the Stupid,” we’re going to look at a handful of bills that we consider to be mixed bags: They have both good and bad aspects, and a few have some stupid provisions. In other words, these bills are complicated.  ○ SB 268, relating to PEIA. This bill basically became the catchall for various proposals related to the Public Employee Insurance Agency. The least controversial aspect of the bill is its increased reimbursement rate to 110% of what Medicare pays medical providers. The more controversial aspects of the bill included ...