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Coal towns left behind by empty promise

One of the few good things to come out of the West Virginia Legislature this past year has been nothing more than an empty promise. In 2021, the Legislature cobbled together a workgroup that toured the state’s coalfields, holding listening sessions and townhalls in former coal towns whose heydays are far behind. According to Mountain State Spotlight, that committee put together a list of 83 suggestions to revitalize these forgotten-but-still-hanging-on areas for the 2022 legislative session. All that work produced only one passed bill.  During the regular session last ...

Lawmakers gear up for another book ban fight?

Piggybacking off this past year’s law mandating teachers catalogue classroom libraries and provide that information to parents or guardians on request, some lawmakers are already preparing for a possible book banning spree. But ... “You gotta be careful,” said incoming Sen. Jay Taylor (R-Preston), “because as soon as you try to ban something, you’re declared racist or whatever and all that stuff.” Instead, he said, “It’s gotta be about ‘age appropriate.’ ” Taylor was one of four senators to attend a meeting hosted by Dennis Westover. Sen. Michael Azinger ...

Leave pipeline behind to advance permitting reform

On Dec. 8, a section of the Keystone Pipeline passing through Kansas ruptured, spilling 14,000 barrels (about 588,000 gallons) of crude oil across farmland and into a creek. Just a couple days later, Sen. Joe Manchin was throwing a fit because his “Building American Energy Security Act of 2022” — better known as the side-deal that got him to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act — wasn’t added into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Manchin’s bill would “streamline” the permitting process for a variety of energy projects, but it also mandates the ...

Do you have broadband?

You may remember that when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed, it allotted millions of dollars to expanding broadband access to unserved and underserved areas. Those dollars are set to be allocated to the states in June 2023, based on the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband map. That map is due to be finalized in mid-January, so West Virginians need to check the map accurately reflects the internet services available to them. It’s a relatively simple process. Ironically, though, you have to have internet access in order to do it. (Someone didn’t think ...

Marital exemption loopholes that endanger children

When Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher addressed legislators Monday and asked them to repeal language in West Virginia’s criminal code that allowed a marital exemption to sexual abuse charges, she brought up her concerns about how such an exemption impacts married minors. After all, she pointed out, 16-year-olds can get married with parental consent, but technically anyone under 16 — she used the example of 12-year-olds — can get married with a court order. Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph — who scoffed at the idea of spousal sexual abuse — scoffed even more ...

Remove marital exemption from sexual abuse law

It’s the year 2022, and somehow we are still equivocating over when sexual assault and/or abuse is acceptable. Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher addressed legislators Monday and asked them to repeal the exemption that allows spouses to get away with sexually abusing their partner. There’s a subtle but important distinction in West Virginia law between the criminal charge of sexual assault and sexual abuse. “Sexual assault,” in the legal sense, involves intercourse or penetration while “sexual abuse” involves only sexual contact. In West Virginia law, ...