By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
“Private is not the same thing as secret. The economics and negotiated terms of a private land transaction have nothing to do with what comes out of a stack. The public has every right to know what this facility is permitted to emit and what environmental standards it must meet. Those requirements are public.” — Casey Chapman, a representative for Fundamental Data
An anti-data center yard sign sits on the side of the road outside of the Billy Motel & Bar outside of Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Photo by Caity Coyne/West Virginia Watch)
By Caity Coyne
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection determined this week that Fundamental Data, the company proposing to build a massive data center and power plant complex in Tucker County, did have legal site control when it was approved for an air quality permit last year.
The family of U.S. Sen. Jim Justice and Kennedy Lewis Investment Management announced on Friday that the two had agreed to a joint venture for The Greenbrier resort, located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Chris Jackson /West Virginia Watch)
By Lori Kersey
A New York-based investment firm will now have controlling ownership in The Greenbrier, one of West Virginia’s top tourist attractions, company officials announced Friday.
Maj. Gen. Jim Seward, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, visits troops from the West Virginia National Guard as they continue to conduct flood response and debris removal operations in Weston and Buckhannon, West Virginia, on July 25, 2026. (Photo by Edwin L. Wriston/U.S. Army National Guard)
By Lori Kersey
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has extended the state of emergency for 12 counties that were hit hard by the deadly storms and flooding on July 21 and 22. Text
NATIONAL
Idaho Democratic state Rep. Brooke Green, her toddler Bridger Byington, and her baby Bryson Byington at the Boise River in Boise, Idaho, on August 6, 2026. Opposition to the two ways that Green had her children, IVF and surrogacy, is rising. (Photo by Otto Kitsinger for Stateline)
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
As of June, lawmakers in at least 17 states had introduced 36 bills this year that would codify personhood rights for embryos or fetuses, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights advocacy group. Opponents were able to defeat them by arguing that they might limit IVF, which remains broadly popular.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to intervene in a lower court decision that halts his $400 million White House ballroom construction unless he receives authorization from Congress.Text
ICYMI
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