“Here in West Virginia, we stand up for people that shower after work instead of before it.”
The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, February 8, 2025
Quick programming note to kick off the Weakly Weekend.
Longtime readers will remember that this newsletter was originally called 60 Days — for the number of days that make up the regular session of the West Virginia Legislature. We provided an update each morning of the session, with a focus on highlighting what we expected to happen on any given day at the state Capitol. Some might have called it a warning.
We still plan to send a daily warning morning email when the regular session kicks off next week, but it will be a more streamlined version and it will come to you under the banner of The West Virginia Weakly. We’ll let you know which major bills will be on the floor, highlight important committee meetings and provide the usual links to legislative news and opinion from around the state. We’re just not going to be as wordy about it as in the past.
Should make for a faster read on a busy morning. We’ll save our verbosity for the Saturday Weakly Reader in which we’ll recap the week at the state Capitol, along with other news from around the state.
The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)
⛈️ West Virginians are cleaning up this weekend after heavy rain led to widespread flooding. Damage from this week’s storms was reported in at least 18 counties and Gov. Morrisey declared a State of Emergency in Kanawha and Cabell counties.1 The Charleston Gazette-Mail and The Huntington Herald-Dispatch each published dramatic photos of the flooding that hit the region.2 3
🗣️ Gov. Morrisey will deliver his State of the State address this Wednesday night, February 12. We already know what he will likely focus on during his remarks — the $400 million budget hole he says he’s identified. And ever the culture warrior, Morrisey said this week that he will call on West Virginia lawmakers to take additional steps to curb transgender rights. Morrisey turned up at the White House on Wednesday when President Trump signed yet another executive order, this one to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.4 5 And on Thursday, he announced that the state will participate in a program intended to speed up the deportation process.6
😒 West Virginians opposed to President Trump and the conservative policy agenda Project 2025 turned out at the state Capitol in Charleston on Wednesday.7 The protest was organized on social media as part of a day of protests at all 50 state capitols around the country. There were demonstrations in other West Virginia cities, including in Wheeling, at the First State Capitol Building.8
🌊 “I think we’ll just have to see where this all goes. But for right now, I’m pretty comfortable with the direction that we see.” Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) during a Thursday news briefing. She was responding to a question from WVMetroNews about the waves Elon Musk and his DOGE team are making in Washington, D.C.9
💺 Gov. Morrisey has appointed Charleston attorney and former municipal judge Anne Charnock to the Kanawha County Senate seat vacated by Eric Nelson. Nelson left the Senate to serve as state Revenue Secretary in the Morrisey administration.10
⚖️ Another move in the legal drama over the Berkeley County House seat won by Joseph de Soto. On behalf of Gov. Morrisey, state Attorney General J.B. McCuskey filed court papers this week urging the state Supreme Court to reject a legal challenge filed by Democrats, who contend House Republicans unconstitutionally declared de Soto’s seat vacant. They also say the seat should go to a Democrat because de Soto switched parties a day before his arrest for making threats against his would-be House colleagues. A Morrisey-appointed GOP successor has already been sworn in.11
🚿 AG McCuskey is leading a coalition 21 Republican state attorneys general in a lawsuit filed this week against a New York law that creates a “climate superfund.” The law is patterned after one in Vermont. It seeks to recover billions from major coal, oil and gas producers to help pay rebuilding costs from floods and other disasters fueled by climate change. McCuskey is seeking to block the law. He argues it unfairly targets energy companies, saying at a Thursday press conference announcing the suit that “here in West Virginia, we stand up for people that shower after work instead of before it.”12 No matter which side of the climate divide you come down on, you have to admit that’s a pretty great quote.
😒 Former Raleigh County prosecuting attorney Benjamin Hatfield is no longer allowed to practice law in West Virginia.13 Court documents show Hatfield voluntarily gave up his law license this week. Hatfield stepped down from the prosecutor’s post back in October amid controversy over his personal and professional behavior.
🤐 Beckley is looking for a new city manager. Michael Resare stepped down after reaching an agreement with city council. It includes severance pay and an additional month of salary and benefits. It also bars Resare and city council from making negative comments about each other.14 Resare came to Beckley from Arizona and had been on the job for less than two months.
🤩 And Charleston’s Sierra Ferrell walked away a big winner at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. During an event held before the broadcast, Ferrell won four awards, including Best Americana Album for “Trail of Flowers.”15
Opinion and whatnot
A bold experiment: Let’s bribe West Virginia to reduce its obesity rate ~ Robert Charrow, STAT
Nonprofits feature fallout for West Virginia agency in funding freeze ~ Todd Ruger, Roll Call
Back Pew: Previewing the 2025 legislative session ~ Former state Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, The Real WV
Morrisey blames Justice, legislature for budget shortfall ~ Hoppy Kercheval, WVMetroNews
Shuttering DEI division a step backward for WVU ~ Charleston Gazette-Mail editorial
Morrisey needs to remember he works for West Virginians, not Trump ~ Leann Ray, West Virginia Watch
Photos: Flooding in Kanawha Valley on Feb. 6, 2025 ~ Charleston Gazette-Mail
Photos: Flooding in the Tri-State region Feb. 6, 2025 ~ Huntington Herald-Dispatch
Governor Patrick Morrisey joins President Trump as signing of executive order to keep to keep men out of women’s sports ~ Morrisey administration press release
"We are mad”": Protest against Trump, Project 2025 at WV Capitol brings warnings for those in power ~ Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
Story and video: Protestors shout out against Trump, Project 2025 ~ Joselyn King, Wheeling Intelligencer
Capito is ‘pretty comfortable’ with Elon Musk’s aggressive federal moves ~ Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews
Governor Patrick Morrisey appoints Anne Charnock to fill vacancy in 17th Senate District ~ Morrisey administration press release
Morrisey says Supreme Court should reject Democrats’ legal challenge over House seat ~ Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch
West Virginia joins multi-state lawsuit over New York superfund tax ~ Steven Allen Adams, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Benjamin Hatfield agrees to the annulment of his license to practice law in West Virginia ~ Jessica Philips, WVNS-TV
City of Beckley looking for new city manager following Resare’s resignation ~ Clayton McChesney, WVVA-TV
Charleston’s Sierra Ferrell wins 4 awards; Beyonce a big winner ~ Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
That quote about folks who shower after work... Not even remotely original. I've heard it dozens of times
The Charnock name rings a bell from my growing up in Charleston. Must have been a prominent family.
My family always showered before bed. It was a surprise to me to enter the dorm at WVU to hear the shower running in the communal bath in the morning. Now in my old age, I shower whenever I want to, and probably not as often as I should.
Steve Norcross
Portland, Oregon