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Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Meet us in person: Join reporters in Wheeling for a roundtable discussion about the 2024 election
July 15, 2024
Reporters and editors from Mountain State Spotlight will meet with other community members to help guide election coverage.
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West Virginia communities got money to help tear down abandoned buildings. It wasn’t nearly enough
July 11, 2024
A pilot program is spending $30 million to clean up the state’s abandoned buildings, but a new report to lawmakers warns that another $150 million is needed.
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In Lincoln County, some young folks have decided to stay. They want better jobs, roads and cell service
June 18, 2024
Mountain State Spotlight spoke to young people in Lincoln County, where many of their peers have moved away to find better opportunities. Those who have come home say they want better roads and jobs that aren’t an hour’s drive away.
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What you need to know about West Virginia’s child welfare crisis
June 10, 2024
Numerous child abuse and neglect incidents have made headlines in recent months. But West Virginia’s child welfare systems have struggled with adequate staffing, inaction and lack of transparency for years.
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Thousands of West Virginia voters lack choices on their ballots. Here are the consequences of uncontested elections
May 12, 2024
Mountain State Spotlight researched 1,800 candidates for its voter guide, and learned how many races are uncompetitive, particularly in counties with smaller populations. But there are some easy ways to fix the problem.
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As schools consolidate in rural Harrison County, students and alumni worry kids will suffer
February 23, 2024
Parents of West Virginia students are moving their children to private and home schools. As public school attendance drops, Harrison County is consolidating and teachers are leaving, fueling concerns that students left behind won’t get the attention they need.
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West Virginia is required to have a five-year plan outlining its energy priorities. It hasn’t published one in nearly a decade.
January 24, 2024
When asked about the missing energy plans, the head of the Office of Energy told Mountain State Spotlight there were drafts but no finalized reports. The lack of a plan could set the state back.
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Walgreens closure is latest blow to Parsons in decades-long fight against decline
January 18, 2024
Once a bustling town of nearly 2,000 people, Parsons has struggled with a shrinking population and shuttered businesses since a flood four decades ago.
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West Virginians could get stuck cleaning up the coal industry’s messes
December 01, 2023
The state’s program for reclaiming abandoned coal mines has long been plagued with problems, but state and federal officials have done little to prepare for this reckoning.
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Despite suburban sprawl, apple orchards and farmers find ways to survive in Berkeley County
October 24, 2023
While runaway growth has seen the gobbling up of farmland, those left behind find new ways to adjust.
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Lawmakers gave WV firefighters a one-time cash infusion. Volunteer departments need a long-term solution.
September 18, 2023
Despite conversations in Charleston, volunteer fire departments across the state are going underfunded. Here’s what that means for the boots on the ground.
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Spurred by government funding, controversial waste-to-energy plants eye West Virginia
September 06, 2023
Waste-to-energy incinerators have been lauded as an eco-friendly alternative to landfills. But in West Virginia, residents near a proposed medical waste incinerator site have raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the approval process and possible negative environmental and health effects.
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‘This stuff is killing me’: After decades of delay, new black lung protections come too late for some West Virginia coal miners
August 31, 2023
For decades, coal operators, federal regulators and politicians have come up short in preventing miners from getting the disease. For miners with black lung, the inaction has been deadly.
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West Virginia lawmakers pour around $100 million into improving the jails system. It’s not nearly enough.
August 20, 2023
State officials say the understaffed and overcrowded corrections system needs over $300 million to increase pay and repair decaying facilities. Lawmakers just approved some funding for the facilities, many of which are in rural communities, but it falls short.
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Regulators asked water districts across West Virginia if their fire hydrants work. Only half responded
August 11, 2023
The home of a Kanawha County school board member burned this spring as firefighters searched for a working hydrant. Now, regulators are struggling to find out how many hydrants are working across the state.
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