By Lori Kersey| Deputy editor
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”What if I told you here today in 2026 that every county in the state has exhausted and already closed every school projected for a 10 year period six years into the cycle? I think it’s very telling,” — Paul Hardesty, president of the West Virginia Board of Education. Hardesty said multiple counties are headed to insolvency after lawmakers did not address school funding during the 2026 legislative session
The West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
West Virginia school officials shared a grim outlook for the state’s public schools on Tuesday, warning multiple counties could be headed to insolvency if lawmakers and the governor don’t address funding shortfalls.
A new West Virginia law mandates that the state change how it provides clothes and other necessary items to kids entering foster care. (Stock photo by Thanasis/Getty Images)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
West Virginia is changing how it provides clothing, beds, diapers and more to foster kids with immediate needs after lawmakers mandated an update to the program.
Lawmakers unanimously approved legislation, which went into effect this month, requiring the Department of Human Services to provide an electronic card to children entering foster care so caregivers can purchase clothes and approved necessary items at nearby stores.
The former Department of Health and Human Resources building at One Davis Square in Charleston, W.Va. (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch)
By Lori Kersey
With new federal Medicaid work requirements becoming effective next year, the West Virginia Department of Human Services has launched a new information website and is encouraging recipients to update their contact information with the state.
NATIONAL
Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2026. The hall was set up for a ceremony in which President Donald Trump would sign into law a broadly bipartisan housing bill, but Trump abruptly canceled the event. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
By Jacob Fischler and Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump derailed a housing overhaul that he was set to sign into law Wednesday, canceling a signing ceremony for the broadly popular bipartisan bill until Congress passes an election security measure.
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Parties, protests, displays of historic documents, odes to the Founding Fathers — and a massive political rally by the president — will mark a deeply polarized nation’s 250th anniversary on this Fourth of July.
By Jonathan Shorman
The U.S. Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots in states that refuse to turn over lists of voters under a proposed rule, the agency’s chief executive said Wednesday, angering Democrats who warn the decision will disenfranchise voters.
By Jonathan Shorman
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Department of Justice isn’t entitled to access the sensitive personal data of Michigan voters, a setback in President Donald Trump’s push to assert power over state-run elections.
COMMENTARY
(Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
By Paula Kaufman
Domestic violence is one of the defining public safety crises of West Virginia. And we’re not angry enough. Where is our outrage? Our fury?
Here’s the macabre question: How many women will die before West Virginia gets serious about domestic violence?
ICYMI
Federal court strikes WV’s SNAP restrictions on soda | Lori Kersey
Legal protections for nearly 350,000 Haitians at risk as US Supreme Court nears ruling | Medill News Service
US Senate joins House in rebuke of Trump over his war in Iran | Ashley Murray
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