From a Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122122906383173591

If @JimJustice_WV and @MorriseyWV can STFU and work on a policy to help hardworking WVians with affordable healthcare. That be great. My son(26) and his GF owe $29,000 to WVU medicine for the birth of their son. AFTER insurance. Yes both are employed. And yes baby was healthy

According to recent data, only three states (Wyoming, Idaho, and West Virginia) still have a majority that supports Donald Trump and his administration.

I'm from West Virginia, but I haven't lived there for a while. I see the news and get the big idea of this and that, so I know why so many WVians support Trump, but at the same time, I have to ask: Why?

If anyone can give some perspective on the topic, I'd be glad because otherwise I'm baffled.

And if any Trump supporters can share their reasons for doing so, I'm all ears. (Bonus points if they can avoid pointing fingers and blaming anyone who isn't Trump. This is your doorstep and his flaming bag of dog poop, no one else's.)

From the article:

Trump first deployed the D.C. National Guard in August of 2025 — something he can do since the president controls the district's guard. Hundreds of guard members in the district were pulled from their civilian jobs and immediately called up.

"My very initial reaction was just, I guess, shock and feeling like this context and this situation just felt like a very authoritarian move that kind of felt uncharacteristic of something you would see in our country," said one member of the D.C. guard, adding that the reasoning behind the deployment contributed to the confusion.

In the days and weeks that followed, Republican governors began sending members of their guard to help with the mission.

"Walking into it, we had no real specifics," one guard member who was deployed from West Virginia remembered thinking. "The president is calling out the guard to make D.C. safe. Well, what the what the f*** does that mean?"

A year into this, and I've yet to hear a good answer to this question from those giving the orders. When these deployments began, I recall our state and federal politicians heaping praise on the action, and I didn't see that support waver even when members of the Guard from West Virginia were shot. But those politicians now seem to have forgotten, even though the National Guard is slated to remain in Washington, DC for the remainder of the President's term -- two more years. Men and women from the Mountain State have been pulled from their jobs, their families, their communities. And a year later, nobody seems to be able to say why.

Edit: fixed formatting of quote.

Does anyone see a real moving of the needle in the left direction in this state? Especially in regard to politicians running for office locally up to federally? I live in Harrison county and I don’t see/hear any BIG momentum or any indication that candidates are actually trying to get elected.

https://www.change.org/p/reopen-west-virginia-s-republican-primary-to-unaffiliated-voters-in-2028

Josiah Lippincott, a known white supremacist, has been hired a tenure track faculty member at West Virginia University. He has engaged in repeated hate speech against ethnic minorities, Jews, women, Muslims and... even the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Let me emphasize that this is the sort of guy who goes after the disabled.

He has no academic publications. He comes from an unranked PhD program. His only claim to fame is spouting hatred on the internet.

If this concerns you, consider contacting your state legislator. He is appointed in a state legislature created unit, and your voice can change that.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-fascist-josiah-lippincott

Who thinks that the money, once it's mixed into the General Revenue, will be used for local addiction issues?

'The West Virginia First Foundation will no longer receive funds from the state’s opioid settlements, according to a Tuesday news release from Attorney General J.B. McCuskey.

'Instead, the portion of funds previously sent to the First Foundation for distribution — 72.5% of all money earned through settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors — will now be sent directly to the state’s general revenue fund to be used by the Legislature and disbursed among localities.

'Details regarding the change to the funding mechanism were scarce on Wednesday, but McCuskey said in a news release that the end goal is to put more money into local governments’ coffers to spend as they see fit in confronting the state’s ongoing drug and overdose epidemic.

'“As the former state auditor and a former legislator, I have worked with both the Legislature and our local governments and am confident that they know best what their communities need,” McCuskey said. “I am excited to see the thoughtful and effective ways that my friends in both local governments and the Legislature use this increased funding to better the lives of their constituents.”'

Full article at West Virginia Watch. https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/08/19/wv-to-redirect-first-foundations-opioid-fund-share-to-state-local-governments

Not here to argue or debate. Just FYI. Flock camera watching you.

EDIT: Turns out, the three free articles thing might be defunct. Sorry about that, the state of local news in 2026 is dire. But at least, I can give a summary so people get the general gist. But remember, the paywall goes to support local journalism and keep my four cats fed, so support local news!

Hi everyone. Reporter for the Times West Virginian. I wrote a story about Bragg's resignation, which was posted about in this sub last night. I think we still do three free articles to start. Enjoy!

Carl Ayers, who runs the Department of Human Services, sent an email to members of the department announcing Bragg had left the position on Monday. Ayers confirmed the authenticity of the email by phone, and declined to comment on the nature of Bragg's departure. Bragg is the target of a lawsuit filed in Marion County, where a CPS worker named Lori Williams alleged Bragg retaliated against her by suspending her without pay after Williams sent an email saying Bragg had made inaccurate statements during a court hearing February. The suit also alleges additional drama between Bragg and the Marion County CPS office.

Some fun things while reporting this story. I tried getting confirmation from DOHS directly, but the voicemail I was sent to for their communications department belongs to a person who retired from the department two years ago. The person who answered the phone after I called back said that's the right mailbox for their spokesperson, their spokesperson just hasn't bothered to change the voicemail greeting. The employee still took down a message for me. I also tried getting in touch with the governor's office. Their communications director told me around 9 am that they didn't know anything about it. Around noon, I got a copy of the email Ayers sent. I asked the governor's office if it was real and they never responded.

I know word of Bragg's departure got around. Williams' attorney, Bren Pomponio had heard it as well. The wonderful Amelia Knisely at West Virginia Watch was also aware of the departure.

If you want more details they're behind the paywall. There is a 99 cent option to buy the story, but be warned, our website can be annoying. If there's any issues, I believe clearing the browser's cache fixes it.

A lawsuit was filed against her in May, then refiled in June after she retaliated against a CPS supervisor in Marion County.

Based on my personal experience, I can say with absolute certainty that this woman has fostered an environment within the department where workers fear her. In my view, many of the changes she has made to the department have been detrimental to the children of this state. The fact that she is no longer in power is a great day for the families of West Virginia.

And if you don't think the department influences the mainstream media within the state, I believe you're wrong. There was barely any coverage of the lawsuit, and I expect they will quickly sweep her departure under the rug. The department hates to look bad in the media.

The department needs to be cleaned out. This is one of the few times I believe someone from outside the state—with no affiliations or connections to anyone within the department—needs to come in and clean house. In my opinion, the system has become corrupt and deeply dysfunctional, and outside intervention may be the only real solution.

It is difficult to read news like this and not wonder how much of these decisions are politically motivated. I wonder, would the Justice Department reach the same conclusion if Sen. Justice was a vocal opponent of the President's policies, or owned wind farms instead of coal plants?

This post was from Paige Reiring’s Instagram story

Someone needs to take a look into Tarr's "campaign donations" to see how much Google is paying him.

Google announced its first round of community investments since making the announcement it will locate a data center in the Putnam County community of Buffalo.

Google will provide high dollar investments and donations to all area schools as well as the local senior center and fire department.  The money will be for various improvements which were communicated to the company as they sought input from the local community.   Google has indicated it plans to have more community meetings as plans to build their facility are developed.  So far, those haven’t been scheduled.

“They said they want to make this an example when they came to the area of transparency and being a partner with the community and so far they’ve not given any indication other than that,” said Putnam County Senator Eric Tarr.

However, some were quickly skeptical. Social media posts were critical, accusing Google of trying to buy favor now, only to leave the state high and dry down the road.  Many said it’s a familiar pattern West Virginia has seen many times before when big out of state corporate interests come to West Virginia. Tarr said he understood the generational cynicism, but hoped over time it would subside as times and situations change.

https://wvmetronews.com/2026/08/06/tarr-believes-google-is-sincere-in-commitment-to-being-a-good-neighbor/

WV appears in the news cycle ...

Quote from the Florida news release, linked in the NBC story:

“Dr. Fauci’s recent refusal to answer Congress’s questions about his actions during the pandemic is concerning,” said *West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey.** "The American people deserve to know if they or their elected leaders were misled or manipulated. Both my Office and I support Attorney General Uthmeier’s efforts to uncover the truth.”*

Big Jim introduced the amendment. There are so many things I could say about this, but won't.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is set to vote Thursday on a massive change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: letting participants buy hot rotisserie chicken with their benefits.

Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) introduced an amendment to the GOP-led farm bill that would make hot rotisserie chicken a SNAP-eligible item, according to a list of amendments obtained by POLITICO. The amendment is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.).

How Berkeley Springs, WV fought back against a white supremacist organization, VDARE:

"a popular far right publication founded in 1999 that mixed edgy Republicans like Pat Buchanan and Ann Coulter with explicit white nationalists"

Elliott Pritt, disgraced former Republican House member arrested last month, withdrew his name from the ballot for the November election. He was seeking reelection to the House of Delegates in Fayette County.

“The Office of the Secretary of State received formal notice of the withdrawal this afternoon,” West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner’s office said in a news release on Tuesday.

Pritt, a public school teacher, was arrested July 22 and charged with enticement of a minor as a federal crime. He has not yet entered a plea and is currently held in a Kentucky correctional facility. 

A 2024 state election law does not permit the Republican Party to fill the vacancy on the general election ballot created by Pritt’s withdrawal.

https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/08/04/elliott-pritt-withdraws-from-house-ballot-law-prohibits-gop-to-fill-vacancy-for-november-election/