By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
“These projects can create significant challenges and risks for water quality, water quantity and flooding as we have seen in Mason County. We cannot look at the potential revenue from development without also accounting for the costs and compounding burdens that development will place on communities and water systems.” — Maria Russo, policy specialist at West Virginia Rivers Coalition
West Virginia Office of Energy Director Nicholas Preservati speaks before lawmakers at the state Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisley
A member of the Morrisey administration told lawmakers Tuesday that data centers can improve the water quality and infrastructure in West Virginia, where brown fluid, chemical smells and more have plagued residents turning on their taps — particularly in the southern coalfields.
Jack Tomczak, vice president of outreach for Americans for Citizen Voting, and Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, spoke to reporters Tuesday in support of a ballot measure that would add an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting people who are not citizens of the United States from voting in West Virginia elections. (Photo by Lori Kersey/West Virginia Watch)
By Lori Kersey
West Virginia state code prohibits people who are not United States citizens from voting in elections. A measure on the ballot in the November election would take the prohibition further by adding it to the constitution.
West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Sarah Tucker speaks about the success of the Underwood Smith Teaching Scholarship to the Joint Committee on Education at the state Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia on Sept. 14, 2026. (Photo by Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
There was good news at the state Capitol on Tuesday: a competitive college scholarship is having great success at recruiting and retaining passionate public school teachers in West Virginia.
The offices of the West Virginia departments of Health, Health Facilities and Human Services are located on Capitol Street in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo by Leann Ray/West Virginia Watch)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
The number of West Virginia’s foster children is trending slightly downward but the state continues to send hundreds of children out of state.
NATIONAL
Students head into a New Jersey high school this month on the first day of classes. As student enrollment drops, more communities across the country are facing school consolidations and closures. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
By Robbie Sequeira
Declining birth rates mean fewer students. And that means more districts grappling with whether to close or merge schools.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — The cost of U.S. military operations in Iran has exceeded $40 billion and the war will continue to cost taxpayers between $2 billion and $3 billion per month, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — Three former U.S. Education Department secretaries and the union representing agency workers on Tuesday urged the department’s top watchdog to investigate the cost and impact of mass firings last year.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel sidestepped questions about FBI agents at polling places in the midterm elections at a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday that also featured a tense exchange between GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
By Author Name
The Trump administration will comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s order this week blocking new restrictions on mail voting for this year’s elections, but President Donald Trump was right to attack the ruling, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a wide-ranging White House press conference Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Inside a Kanawha County elementary classroom in West Virginia. (Photo by Lexi Browning/West Virginia Watch)
By Jeffrey Webb
Earlier this month, the principal at Brooke High School in Wellsburg, West Virginia, was arrested for allegedly hiding cameras in female changing areas. The story has made national news, covered by such outlets as Fox, People, and the New York Post. It has even made international news, the UK’s Daily Mail writing about it under the headline “Southern father-of-three school principal is charged after four secret cameras are found inside girls’ locker room.” The inclusion of the word “southern” is particularly interesting in that headline, almost as if the geographic location factors into the principal’s misdeeds (never mind that Wellsburg is north of the Mason-Dixon Line).
ICYMI
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