Mountain State Spotlight

08/16/2026

West Virginia had a chance to build a financial cushion for when coal and gas resources run out. The state's Future Fund was designed to save back a portion of the state’s severance tax from coal and natural gas extraction and use the interest from that fund to invest in projects the state needs, but the money was never actually deposited.

West Virginia legislators created the Future Fund to save severance tax revenues for the future. It never received a deposit.

08/13/2026

Months after a deadly chemical leak took the lives of two workers and injured dozens at a metal refining plant in Kanawha County, federal officials released an update on their investigation. The Chemical Safety Board’s report found that workers did not have gas monitors or adequate respiratory equipment to protect them.

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Federal investigators found workers lacked required respirators and gas monitors before an Institute chemical leak killed two employees.

08/09/2026

The State Fire Commission is charged with developing a plan for fire prevention and control, which includes assessing manpower needs, location of training centers, location of water sources, public education and information, among other factors. But they didn’t produce one last year, or any of the previous 49 years since the creation of the commission. Meanwhile, West Virginia has been one of the deadliest states for fires since at least 1990.

West Virginia’s fire death rate is one of the worst in the nation. The fire commission hasn’t made a prevention plan since it was founded in 1976.

08/05/2026

Respiratory therapist Marcy Freeman doesn’t need a research study to confirm for her a return to the dark days of coal mining. She finds evidence in a stack of more than 150 funeral programs, all for former patients at her pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in Norton, Virginia.

“Each one of these represents a life that’s gone because of black lung,” Freeman explained as she flipped through the programs, recognizing names and images.

“These are husbands. These are brothers…These men were just hard-working men and the only thing they did was go to work and provide for their families. And it cost them everything…This is the aftermath of black lung.”

The aftermath is more dire than even black lung clinicians and researchers expected, according to new data published Wednesday in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The data appears in a peer-reviewed research letter from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, a federal research agency.

Public Health Watch, Kentucky Public Radio and obtained a draft of the NIOSH research letter before publication.

NIOSH researchers found that working veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from the incurable and fatal lung disease at the highest rates in nearly 50 years.

Miners working in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia who’ve had at least 25 years underground have the worst rate of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease. One in three — 32.5% — tested positive in X-rays conducted by NIOSH during the last five years.

The last time the rate of disease was that high for miners with the same work history was 1978. In 2018 when NIOSH last reported rates of the disease, the rate was 20.6%.

The new research shows that even miners with as few as 15 years underground have higher rates of black lung — rates not seen in nearly 40 years.

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It’s now as bad as the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick and dying.

08/03/2026

Helen Swire Comer quit her job managing a bank to care for her aging parents in Lincoln County. After they died five months apart, she tried to rebuild her life, and then her food stamps were cut from about $400 to $24 a month under new federal work requirements. She started selling her belongings and relying on credit cards just to get by. And she’s not alone.

Since Gov. Patrick Morrisey took office, nearly 9,000 West Virginia households have lost food stamps. Food pantry workers in places like West Hamlin, Sod and Harts say they’re serving more families than ever, even as state funding and federal food supplies decline.

West Virginians losing food stamp benefits are turning to overwhelmed food pantries as funding and supplies fall.

08/02/2026

On a snowy December morning last year, Niamh Coomey was helping campers pack up their belongings as the last safe camping spot for homeless people in Wheeling closed. She said the experience was traumatizing for the campers, and there weren’t really places for them to go.

“They can't get into public housing. A lot of times they can't get into shelters. At that point, there's really no option for them,” she said.

Homelessness is a persistent problem in the Mountain State. Three young West Virginians share insights gained confronting it.

Three young people, on the front lines confronting homelessness ask for housing, treatment and support instead of barriers

08/01/2026

In Monroe County, dropped internet isn’t just an inconvenience; it can cut off therapy sessions, remote work and even access to emergency help. While officials say new broadband projects are coming, residents are still paying hundreds each month for service they can’t rely on.
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08/01/2026

Last week, a flood devastated portions of north central West Virginia and took two lives. Just a decade ago, another massive flood prompted state officials to dive into state coffers for relief money, and set up an office dedicated to softening the blow of future floods. But so far, little has been funded.
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07/30/2026

In Monroe County, dropped internet isn’t just an inconvenience; it can cut off therapy sessions, remote work and even access to emergency help. While officials say new broadband projects are coming, residents are still paying hundreds each month for service they can’t rely on.

From interrupted telehealth appointments to expensive backup internet plans, people across Monroe County say reliable broadband remains out of reach.

07/29/2026

Young people in West Virginia have a hard time finding work in a less-than-ideal job market and a shrinking workforce. Even if they want to live where they grew up, they find it difficult to afford it. Three young people address their struggles with opportunities in the state and why they feel the need to look elsewhere.

Scarce jobs, low pay and limited opportunities are pushing young West Virginians to move to other states.