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Charter Schools

We are a couple of years into West Virginia’s experiment with public charter schools, and a look at the results of the Statewide Summative Assessment for the 2023-24 school year revealed at least the two most established charter schools are making positive strides On Thursday, members of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board got the details of each school’s performance so far. For the two schools with results from the previous year to compare with the most recent results, there was noteworthy improvement. Morgantown’s West Virginia Academy and the Eastern ...

Boos & Applause

Applause to the organizers who helped dedicate and rename the Philip Barbour High School Fieldhouse at George Byrer Field at BC Bank Park in honor of Keaton “Beef” McDermott. Family, friends, football players and school officials gathered recently during a special ceremony for the unveiling. Multiple signs were placed at the facility, one with a photo of McDermott raising his hands in victory after a football win. Another sign features McDermott’s photo along with his No. 61. McDermott was killed in a three-car auto accident in Randolph County in June. He was a 2024 graduate of ...

Closure

One popular current national commercial asks us to “expect the unexpected.” Another urges us to protect ourselves from “mayhem.” Well, what happened at Elkins City Hall last weekend was definitely unexpected. And we feel sure most people would classify the results as “mayhem.” Officials announced Sunday, one day prior to Labor Day Monday, that City Hall would be closed Tuesday due to the discovery of “a large-scale sewage backup that has caused significant damage in multiple workspaces and public areas.” On Tuesday, officials announced that City Hall would remain ...

Helping Hand

This month, the West Virginia Veterans’ Home Loan program launches, after passage of state Senate Bill 261 earlier this year. The program will help eligible veterans purchase their first homes. In this real estate climate, any help they can get will be significant. Republican State Treasurer Riley Moore, state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and representatives of the West Virginia Housing Development Fund were on hand to talk about the Sept. 12 launch in Weirton earlier this week. (Moore is running for the U.S. House West Virginia 2nd District seat in November, and Weld is unopposed ...

Start the Conversation

Floods, nasty storms, high winds, fires, ice storms, power outages … nature can be rough on us here in West Virginia. But those are just some of the emergencies and disasters for which state agencies hope residents will come up with an action plan, as part of National Preparedness Month. This year’s theme is “Start a conversation,” and the West Virginia Departments of Health, Health Facilities and Human Services are hoping we’ll do just that. If it feels a little awkward or pessimistic, that’s OK. Start the discussion little by little, anyway. “Engaging in these ...

Public Health

West Virginia’s substance abuse epidemic (and, according to some public health officials, lawmakers’ response to it) has led to an increase in the number of HIV cases here as well. Particularly in rural counties, the worry is growing, as HIV clusters are appearing in places where there hadn’t been a single case in years. Dr. Anita Stewart, of the Nicholas County Health Department, told Mountain State Spotlight the problem is two-fold. First, in 2021 lawmakers passed a bill restricting how harm reduction programs could operate. After that, multiple county syringe exchange programs ...