By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
“Even in small counties, we are, as teams, deciding that we're going to take care of the kids — that experience things that they never should.” — Angie Seay, coordinator for the Child Advocacy Center at Hoops Family Children’s Hospital.
The Child Advocacy Center at Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia, served 313 children in 2025. Marshall Health Network hosts an open house for its new Child Advocacy Center space on April 22, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Marshall Health Network)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
Child advocacy centers are expanding in West Virginia, now offering critical services to victims of child abuse. More than 95% of children in the state have access to the centers after the addition of a mobile center to serve Mason County, and the centers now cover 49 counties.
Cabell Huntington Hospital, a part of Marshall Health, is the first health care system in the state to offer histotripsy, a treatment for liver tumors. (Photo by Ryan Fischer/The Herald-Dispatch)
By Lori Kersey
Liver cancer patients in West Virginia will have a new option for treatment at a Huntington hospital. Marshall Health is the first health care system in the state to offer histotripsy, a treatment for liver tumors.
NATIONAL
White House budget director Russell Vought speaks with reporters inside the U.S. Capitol in 2025. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget, under Vought, has proposed a new rule that would overhaul the federal grantmaking process, worrying Democratic governors. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A coalition of 23 state governors and the governor of Guam, all Democrats, submitted a joint comment to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on Monday objecting to a proposed rule that would drastically change the federal grantmaking process, saying it threatens programs related to maternal health and reproductive care.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Monday he would like the South Carolina governor to select the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister to fill the Republican’s seat for the remainder of his term.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump “acted in bad faith” when he swiftly dropped his tax return lawsuit and directed his Cabinet members to establish a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday.
By Amelia Twyman
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump enlisted star IndyCar racers, a simulated pit stop and a pair of high-powered sports cars Monday as he sought to rev up excitement for a race around the nation’s capital next month.
COMMENTARY
The Aitken Bible sits on a desk in the Senate at the West Virginia state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Photo by Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
By Jack Bernard
TextWest Virginia Watch recently published my column detailing the failures of the West Virginia K-12 educational system. Instead of addressing these documented shortcomings, the West Virginia Senate, controlled by the GOP, passed a bill early this year requiring that the Aitken Bible be placed in schools throughout the state.
ICYMI
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