By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
Tomorrow is a big day for our team — it’s West Virginia Watch’s third anniversary! For the last three years, I have gotten to work with three of the best journalists in West Virginia, and I’m honored and lucky to do so. Each day their reporting informs West Virginians how the state government is — or isn’t — spending their tax dollars.
The West Virginia Watch team — Lori Kersey, Leann Ray, Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Caity Coyne. (Photo by Michael Sullivan/Sullivan Photography Ltd.)
To help us celebrate, why not tell three friends about our website? You could forward our newsletter to three people — or else have three years of bad luck (kidding!). Spreading the word is a huge way to help out.
If you’re feeling generous, consider a donation of $3, $30 or $300. Any amount helps.
Thank you for supporting West Virginia Watch!
“We don't close our doors to a child because they have special needs, because they are experiencing poverty, or because they are dealing with trauma. We welcome, because the truth is public schools in West Virginia are never just a building where kids learn reading and math. Our public schools are the foundational rock of our communities.” — Will Hosaflook, president of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators and Jackson County Schools superintendent.
Kanawha County School Superintendent Paula Potter speaks at the launch of the “I love WV public schools” campaign on July 7, 2026, at Herbert Hoover High School in Elkview, West Virginia. (Photo by Amelia Ferrell Knisely/West Virginia Watch)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
Educators kicked off a statewide “I love WV public schools” campaign in hopes of increasing community and lawmaker support amid funding struggles.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks at a news conference about potentially using federal anti-poverty dollars to fund a private education initiative on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
The same day Gov. Patrick Morrisey touted a $370 million revenue surplus, a program that provides school clothes to low-income students didn’t kick off as expected. Morrisey said the program is under a funding review, but hasn’t provided many details about whether families will receive the assistance before school starts next month.
(Getty Images)
By Lori Kersey
A sweeping lawsuit over the state of West Virginia’s overburdened child welfare system can move forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Morgantown City Council voted Tuesday to approve a resolution that prohibits the city from installing “hostile architecture” in public infrastructure, such as benches with bars that prevent homeless people from sleeping on the bench. (Photo by Tatiana Stephanishcheva/Getty Images)
By Lori Kersey
Morgantown, West Virginia, has taken a step away from park benches and other equipment designed to discourage unhoused people and others from resting or lying down.
The West Virginia House of Delegates chamber. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
By Caity Coyne
Gov. Patrick Morrisey this week appointed an Ohio County-based business owner to fill the state House of Delegates seat vacated earlier this year by current Supreme Court Justice Bill Flanigan, according to a news release.
A Special Public Briefing from KFF and States Newsroom
Medicaid and the Road Ahead: Spending Cuts, Work Requirements and What's Next for States, Providers and Families
Thursday, July 23, noon ET / 9 a.m. PT
Significant changes to Medicaid are expected to put new pressures on states, healthcare providers and those who depend on the coverage. Join healthcare policy experts from KFF and journalists from States Newsroom who cover these issues at the state and national level for an in-depth discussion on the impacts that federal funding cuts, work requirements and state policy are having on healthcare in the U.S. They’ll explain the latest developments and discuss the political debate around these changes. Audience Q&A to follow.
NATIONAL
A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer cards for food aid is displayed at a grocery store in California. Upcoming shifts in the federal food stamp program are poised to cost states billions of dollars, raising fears that more Americans will lose access to the nation’s largest food assistance program. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By Kevin Hardy
Upcoming funding shifts in the federal food stamp program are poised to cost states billions of dollars, heightening fears that more Americans will lose access to the nation’s largest food assistance program.
By Jacob Fischler
President Donald Trump is running out of time to decide what to do with a bipartisan bill meant to lower housing costs by making it easier to build.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — Republicans are campaigning to keep control of Congress for another two years, but their message about being the “grown-ups” in the room keeps getting overshadowed by public feuds that have sidetracked work on major legislation.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — The former U.S Olympian charged with damaging a section of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool pleaded not guilty during a brief court hearing Thursday and was released on his own recognizance.
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — Students pursuing several advanced degree programs can now access higher loan caps, but the temporary relief has ushered in a wave of uncertainty amid an ongoing legal battle.
By Amelia Twyman
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s latest attack on the Smithsonian Institution represents an attempt to replace a shared American history with his own ideology, academics said as the Smithsonian defended its longstanding position as a nonpartisan actor
COMMENTARY
The state’s school clothing allowance application process did not open as expected on July 1, leaving families uncertain about basic school clothing. (Photo by Marcus Constantino for West Virginia Watch)
By Robert B. Miller
I write as one of West Virginia’s lost children: a child of poverty from North Central West Virginia who left my home among the hills to become a doctoral pediatric psychologist and graduate faculty member who supervised ten young doctors practicing in the United States and abroad.
After nearly 30 years of practice, I believe I have earned the right to speak beyond the office, clinic, and examination room. I do not mean I have earned the right to speak carelessly. Decades of listening to children and families have made me more cautious about simple explanations.
ICYMI
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