By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
“The government claims that they want people to use them in a positive way and, you know, get the help that they need until they can get on their feet. But yet, when you're trying to get on your feet and you're doing all of the things the way that you're supposed to be doing it, you're actually getting punished … I don't understand why I'm being punished for owning my own business.” — Ashtin McCloud, a business owner that had to dissolve her LLC in order to receive childcare assistance from the state
Ashtin McCloud, 25, owns A-List Artistry, a salon, in Huntington, West Virginia. She dissolved her LLC for her business after being told she would lose childcare assistance from the state. (Photo courtesy of Ashtin McCloud)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
Families on average spend over $10,000 a year on childcare in West Virginia, making the state’s childcare assistance a lifeline for parents and caregivers.
More than 11,000 West Virginia children are enrolled in the childcare subsidy program, which provides financial assistance to eligible parents who are employed or in school. West Virginia funds the program through federal anti-poverty dollars.
The former Save a Lot building at 748 Virginia Street West in Charleston. (Photo by Lori Kersey/West Virginia Watch)
By Lori Kersey
Mountaineer Food Bank plans to open a volunteer center in a former grocery store on Charleston, West Virginia’s West Side.
NATIONAL
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis by the nonprofit Food and Water Watch. (Photo by Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
By Kevin Hardy
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis.
In Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire and West Virginia, water bills grew about twice as fast as household incomes, the analysis found.
Costs varied widely across the country: In Idaho, the average household spent $286 on water bills last year. In West Virginia, the average cost was $1,383.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — Democrats are more motivated to vote in November’s midterm elections than Republicans, potentially giving the party an advantage to flip at least one chamber of Congress, according to a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan health organization KFF.
By Jonathan Shorman
As President Donald Trump refuses to rule out taking extreme action in the midterm elections, voting rights advocates and civil rights leaders are bolstering their voter protection efforts in anticipation of possible federal interference.
By Jacob Fischler
A leading Democratic campaign committee is projecting confidence in U.S. Senate toss-up races four weeks before Election Day, though it has yet to commit resources to the reddest states that have recently entered the Senate map.
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — The number of women in the U.S. Senate is unlikely to increase and may decline following the November midterm elections, though there are still opportunities for candidates to make history in the upper chamber.
COMMENTARY
As changes to both Medicaid eligibility and the provider tax loom, hospitals have warned that this will destabilize their operations. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
By Jessica Dobrinsky
H.R. 1, also known as “One Big Beautiful Bill,” may soon reduce Medicaid enrollees in West Virginia by as many as 75,000, according to the Urban Institute. This reduction in enrollment will depend mostly on how states implement new rules, including work requirements and six-month redeterminations that begin Jan. 1, 2027.Text
ICYMI
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