West Virginia News

Stop me if you have heard this one before. The West Virginia Education Association--the state's largest teacher's union--is proposing a massive pay raise to bring West Virginia teachers up to the national ... via West Virginia Metro

Shepherd University says it's attracting record numbers of students from outside West Virginia. via WTOP

A West Point graduate who lived in West Virginia has been killed in Iraq . The Defense Department says 31-year-old Capt. via West Virginia Metro

“There are going to be a lot of opportunities for ancillary jobs for us.”

CHINA, the world's largest coal producer, has much in common with West Virginia, one of the United States' most experienced underground coal producers. via Charleston Daily Mail

Posted Friday, November 9, 2007 ; 09:30 AM Updated Friday, November 9, 2007 ; 10:20 AM Man killed in IED explosion. via WTRF-TV

“This is going to be a big boom for the whole area.”

The Fairmont Community Liaison Panel climbed aboard buses Wednesday to visit the Fairmont Coke Works site on the city's East Side. via The Times West Virginian

“I've always wanted to win this award at least once.”

Kenny Chesney captured country music's top prize - Entertainer of the Year - for the third time today in an awards show that also saw big wins for Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. via The West Australian

“East Coast producers of coal, like CONSOL Energy, now have the option to ship additional tons of coal into the European market”

Coal is piled at the International Coal Group mine in West Virginia in this January 2006 file photo. via CBS News

West Virginia has begun approving wireless communications and tracking systems for its 250 or so underground coal mines. via WFIE-TV Evansville

“By far, the largest number of poisoning deaths are attributed to drugs. Nine out of 10 poisoning deaths in 2004 were drug-related.”

Drugs of all kinds - but mostly prescription drugs - are killing West Virginians at an alarming rate, with the numbers increasing dramatically in recent years. via The Times West Virginian

Laws intended to ensure that West Virginians have access to information about and proceedings of their government are referred to in various terms, such as "freedom of information," "sunshine laws" and "open ... via Wheeling News

“I am pleased that Director Wahlquist plans to uphold the OSM's obligations as clearly directed by law”

Wyoming will get the first installment on more than a half-billion dollars in federal abandoned mine lands funding in December with "no strings attached," says Rep. via The Times West Virginian

“If no one came out today, imagine how that would make Megan Williams feel”

Hundreds of people marched through the state capital Saturday to urge prosecutors to bring hate crime charges against six whites charged in the beating, torture and sexual assault of a 20-year-old black woman. via The Times West Virginian

“This settlement reflects our commitment to ensure that defense contractors pay their appropriate share of costs arising from environmental cleanups at military facilities”

Hercules Inc., a former defense contractor, has agreed to pay the federal government nearly $13 million toward the cleanup of the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory site in Rocket Center, W.Va., according to a ... via Environmental Protection

Posted Friday, November 2, 2007 ; 03:34 PM Updated Friday, November 2, 2007 ; 03:40 PM Are state school's falling short for students and what's coal's future in West Virginia On this week's decision makers, ... via WOWK

“I figured the technology was out there somewhere but we couldn't find it.”

An 18-year-old autistic man who was lost for four days in the West Virginia wilderness now has a high-tech lifeline should he wander off again. via Hampton Roads Daily Press

“Amtrak carries people between our biggest cities and our smallest communities”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Robert C.Byrd, D-WV, applauded the passage of bipartisan legislation that will keep Amtrak running for the next six years, and preserves routes important to West Virginians. via Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers a...

“Lawmakers create deals under the banner of job creation and economic development, but the truth is that if a state needs to offer such packages, it is most likely covering for a woeful business tax climate.”

Columnist Rob Capehart says West Virginia needs a tax structure characterized by broad bases, low rates and few tax preferences. via WOWK-TV

West Virginia is hoping that a little wheel can make a big difference in the state's obesity problem. via Belleville.com

“Mining is not easy work, but it's not as backbreaking as it once was”

When Joshua Hoffman's parents, a computer scientist and law-enforcement officer, sent their son to the University of Missouri at Rolla (UMR), a coal mine was probably the last place they imagined higher education taking their son.

Yet, as an explosives engineering major, Mr. Hoffman is now excited to don a hard hat and pursue the black rock. His parents, however, are less than enthused.

"My dad was, like, isn't [coal mining] horrible?" recounts Hoffman. It took some convincing, but he managed to persuade his parents that mining has evolved past pickaxes and black lung and is increasingly a smart career for well-educated individuals. Read more