West Virginia Watch

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The Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to every state ahead of Election Day, expanding a longstanding practice that’s spurred concern this year among Democrats and voting rights advocates because of President Trump’s push to influence elections, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

This year’s statewide ballot measures are written, on average, at a graduate-school reading level, according to a new report, reports @acvollers.bsky.social.

A Republican House of Delegates candidate in Berkeley County remains on the ballot after authoring several racist posts on social media that targeted Black women and Muslims. He reportedly called the Confederate flag “beautiful," reports @amelianews.bsky.social.

With polling heavily in Democrats’ favor throughout the nation, even ruby red West Virginia is seeing some healthy competition in the 2026 midterm election, reports Henry Culvyhouse.

Berkeley County Schools plans to sue state officials over public school funding as pressure mounts in the courts to deal with the issue, reports aknisely@westvirginiawatch.com.

Kanawha County leads the state in the amount of students participating in the Hope Scholarship during the 2025-26 school year, according to an annual report released Monday by the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, reports Henry Culvyhouse.

President Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour campaign to intervene in California’s vote counting encountered the first signs of resistance in federal court over the weekend, with appellate judges expressing deep skepticism over the legality of the effort, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

Both Democratic and Republican candidates during the heated midterm election cycle have had to navigate deep voter resentment of data centers that will power artificial intelligence, reports @ashleymurray.bsky.social.

A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats, reports Kevin Hardy of @stateline.org.

The proposed Valley North Project would span approximately 260 miles — a colossal infrastructure undertaking that could cut through 20 West Virginia counties and gobble up nearly 7,000 acres of farmland, forests, and residential property along the way, reports Mike Chalmers.

The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office subpoenaed at least six environmental groups, asking for records regarding climate change, in a move at least one advocated called a “fishing expedition intended to stifle our collective voice," reports Henry Culvyhouse.

The U.S. Department of Justice is stepping up its legal campaign over the midterm elections, suing Alaska over its U.S. Senate election and appealing a lawsuit against suspected noncitizen voters in California, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

Fewer than 5% of U.S. House races are seen by a top political analysis as truly competitive heading into November’s midterm elections, giving relatively few voters the ability to determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years, reports @jennifershutt.bsky.social.

COMMENTARY: West Virginia’s founding math is slowly strangling the most vulnerable parts of the state to death, writes @four4thefire.bsky.social.

Proposed legislation would close ‘voluntary intoxication’ loophole in WV sexual assault law westvirginiawatch.com/2026/10/23/p...

Kanawha school official declines to discuss role of Hope Scholarship in enrollment drop westvirginiawatch.com/2026/10/22/k...

Cost of employer-sponsored health insurance plans rises again, nonpartisan survey finds westvirginiawatch.com/2026/10/22/r...

Voters in six states are considering ballot measures in the midterm elections that would make it clear that only U.S. citizens may vote — and block local governments from expanding that right to others, reports @acvollers.bsky.social.

COMMENTARY: The Rural Health Transformation Program is providing our state nearly $200 million in federal funding for 2026. But there is a fundamental problem with presenting this investment as though it answers West Virginia’s rural health crisis, writes Ellen Allen.

The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons, reports @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social.

National Democrats are suing President Donald Trump, accusing his administration of intimidating election officials and asking a federal court to block him from interfering in the midterm elections, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

For decades, manufactured home builders have been working to shed the old image of boxy trailer homes reserved for the outskirts of cities and suburbia. Now, a small change in federal regulations could open the door for architecture welcomed in more neighborhoods, reports Robbie Sequeira.

COMMENTARY: Existing regulatory protections for West Virginia’s natural resources should remain in place. That is why I oppose the Trump administration’s proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, writes Robert B. Miller.

West Virginia voters can now vote in the 2026 general election at courthouses and community locations across the state, reports @lorikerseywv.bsky.social.

The U.S. Department of Justice is intensifying its campaign against voter fraud with a spree of arrests in the final weeks before Election Day, an effort that voting rights advocates warn risks instilling fear among voters, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

Please welcome our newest reporter, Henry Culvyhouse! Henry is a life long West Virginian. He has reported in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia since 2014. He graduated from Musselman in 2010 and Marshall University in 2014. He is the proud father of two children and happily married.

Dan Osborn is one of four independent candidates for U.S. Senate this year who are the main opponents of incumbent Republican senators. All hail from states where Trump won easily and Democrats struggle in statewide elections, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

Just in time for the winter, West Virginia regulators have tweaked a rule tucked away in the state’s controversial data center law, possibly avoiding hikes in electricity bills, reports Henry Culvyhouse.

Across much of the United States, a warm winter and persistent drought have decimated the natural foods that black and brown bears rely on. With nearly every station at the buffet in short supply, the adaptable eaters are turning to human food, reports Alex Brown of @stateline.org.

The Republican Party has a little more than 200,000 registered voters as it heads into the 2026 general election, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, reports Henry Culvyhouse.

More than 400 people got medical, dental or vision care at a one-day free health care event in Charleston, West Virginia on Saturday, reports @lorikerseywv.bsky.social.

A Kanawha County child abuse case involving students using the Hope Scholarship poses questions about how public schools can follow up on thousands of students using the program, including children missing school and in potentially dangerous situations, reports @amelianews.bsky.social.

Democrats have used Trump’s unpopularity to expand the midterm map, and analysts project the party carries momentum heading into the final two weeks of the election cycle, even as Democrats are expected to flip fewer U.S. House seats than wave elections this century, reports @fischler.bsky.social.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday establishing a Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health, reports Shauneen Miranda.

Immigrants living in the United States with humanitarian status from Ukraine and Sudan will retain their deportation protections and work authorizations for now, the Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend, reports @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social.

The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures, reports Tim Henderson.

A West Virginia native with expertise in trade operations is taking his passion to state college campuses, hoping to connect the upcoming workforce with skills to bring supply chains back home, reports @amelianews.bsky.social.

Organizers of the No Kings rally in Charleston, West Virginia, had a simple message Saturday for the crowd who showed up to the state Capitol: vote early, reports lkersey@westvirginiawatch.com.

After the DOJ sued California over its refusal to remove voters the federal government alleges are noncitizens, voting rights advocates fear the Trump administration is violating a court order blocking it from rooting out noncitizens with states’ voter data, reports @jonshorman@bsky.social.

President Donald Trump has a flurry of travel on deck in the final frantic weeks leading up to the end of the midterm elections, in which the GOP is vying to maintain its control of both the U.S. House and Senate, reports Shauneen Miranda.

More than 100,000 Ukrainians and roughly 2,000 Sudanese immigrants are bracing for the possibility they’ll lose their humanitarian protections by Monday, reports @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social.

In Episode 50, @mainemorningstar.com reporter Kaitlyn Budion discusses the concerns of New England conservationists who think the rollback of the roadless rule would hurt one of the few unbroken stretches of wilderness in New England.

In some states, defendants can be stuck in jail for days, weeks or months without access to an attorney, reports David Montgomery.

West Virginia’s HPV vaccination rates lag below the national average. The state has some of the highest rates for cancers associated with the virus, reports @lorikerseywv.bsky.social.

Suddenly there’s hope for cutting the reams of red tape that can make getting new energy projects a seemingly endless slog, reports David Lightman.

President Donald Trump Thursday announced that the execution of a man convicted of the Fort Hood shooting will not be livestreamed, a reversal after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public, reports @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social.

Peter Daniell of Broomfield, Colorado, took home the grand prize Wednesday night after winning the National Civics Bee Championship in the nation’s capital, reports Shauneen Miranda.

West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and counterparts from three other states announced plans Wednesday to sue OpenAI in state courts, alleging ChatGPT harmed children and violated each state’s consumer fraud act, reports Robin Opsahl of the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

As the nation’s physician shortage worsens, some fear the Trump administration’s immigration policies will dissuade or prevent doctors who earned their medical degrees in foreign countries from practicing in the United States, reports @chatlanis.bsky.social.

West Virginia Supreme Court justices heard arguments Wednesday about a judge who pushed back on his discipline for speaking out about critical Child Protective Services shortages in his judicial district, reports @amelianews.bsky.social.