From The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: A year ago today, devastating floodwaters ripped through Greenbrier County and other parts of the Mountain State. Lives were lost. Homes were destroyed. A federal disaster declaration was issued for a dozen counties. Not even the Greenbrier Resort was spared from the ravaging waters. But despite the[Read More…]
Month: June 2017
W.Va. taxes, gas, fees to increase
By CHARLIE BOOTHE Bluefield Daily Telegraph CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia residents will be paying more in vehicle fees and the cost of gasoline will also rise starting July 1. Gov. Jim Justice signed House Bill 1006 Thursday, raising more money for the State Road Fund, with about $140 million[Read More…]
‘I can see the light’: Year after flood, Clendenin recovery continues
By Lori Kersey The Charleston Gazette-Mail CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Once a busy grocery store, the interior of Smith’s Foodfair in Clendenin is dark, its parking lot practically empty. One year after the June 2016 flood, the only grocery store in town limits has not reopened, and its owners say they don’t[Read More…]
Editorial: State budget funds vital government services
From the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Daily Mail Editorial Page: To hear Gov. Jim Justice put it, West Virginia could have “absolutely eradicated this terrible drug epidemic” if only legislators had included a five-percent successful “bidders fee” to roads projects in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. Who knew that eliminating the drug[Read More…]
Editorial: Capito holds the fate of millions
From the Charleston Gazette-Mail: Sen. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., says she is studying intensely to decide whether to support the proposed Senate Republican replacement of the Affordable Care Act. She says she will “evaluate whether it provides access to affordable health care for West Virginians, including those on the Medicaid expansion[Read More…]
Opinion: Using miners for political gain nothing new, still repulsive
By Rob Byers Executive Editor The Charleston Gazette-Mail Earlier this spring, I was asked a question about my late father, who had been a coal miner in the 1970s and ’80s. It had to do with a familiar romantic storyline: Did he feel at home underground? Was it a calling[Read More…]
One year after deadly flood, there are still ‘tremendous needs’
By LORI KERSEY Charleston Gazette-Mail CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Bobbi Keiffer hates to hear it rain. So does her 15-year-old son, Tyler. It’s easy to understand why. They lost everything they owned a year ago in the June 2016 flood that led to the deaths of at least two-dozen people and[Read More…]
Flood 2016 gallery from The Register-Herald
Photo galleries from The Register-Herald’s 2016 flood coverage
Justice, lawmakers commemorate 2016 flood in WV
Staff report The Herald-Dispatch CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is among the thousands of people who will be participating in events today to commemorate the one-year anniversary of a flash flood that killed 23 people on June 23, 2016. Justice and other lawmakers on Thursday began their remembrance[Read More…]
Governor signs bill aimed to improve state flood protection planning
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CLENDENIN, W.Va. — The day before the anniversary of last year’s floods, Gov. Jim Justice ceremonially signed a bill that aims to help better coordinate efforts after a flood. Justice, House Speaker Tim Armstead, and Senate President Mitch Carmichael, along with a volunteer group from[Read More…]
