Manchin goes back and forth on a presidential run, a state cabinet secretary is out and more

The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, July 27, 2024

Jul 27, 2024

In the news business, there’s long been a phrase that gets kicked around this time of the year: “silly season.”

Basically, it means that in the dead of summer — when both newsmakers and journalists want to get out and enjoy their lives — there’s less hard news to be had and, thus, media outlets put out frivolous stories to fill the page or airtime.

But there’s certainly been no such “silly season” in the summer of 2024. I’m not even going to begin to explain — because, well, if you’re reading this newsletter and consume news regularly, you know there’s been a lot to take in as of late.

For whatever reason, I got reminded this week of that phrase and its meaning and thought to myself, ‘Maybe there’s no silly season for traditional media this year, but Giles and I have our own version of silly season year-round here at The Weakly.’

In fact, “silly” is half the premise of this newsletter and baked into our ethos to some degree. Take, for example, Giles’ recent musing on fishing for brook trout:

On assignment: In search of native brook trout

Giles Snyder

July 17, 2024

Read full story

That’s not at all to say reporting on brook trout should be considered frivolous. But read Giles’ piece and you’ll see what I mean.

In case you’re new here (not to be creepy, but thanks to Substack’s back-end features, we know many of you are), The West Virginia Weakly is a couple of different things.

First, it’s the Weakly Reader — a recap of news around West Virginia that hits your inbox every Saturday (what you’re reading now). And secondly, it’s simply an outlet for Giles and I to force ourselves to write something on our own. Sometimes it’s lighthearted, sometimes it’s sincere and sometimes it’s serious. We call that reportage the Wednesday Extra, but we’ve decided to put that stuff up for paid subscribers only. But if you’re willing to throw us a few bucks, we promise not to disappoint. You may learn something — or simply get a laugh or two.

Whether you’re here for a recap of West Virginia news each week or want to read about whatever else we decide to conjure up, we’re glad you found us. If you like what we do, tell your friends about us.

🏛️ What would a week of news in West Virginia be — at least during this bonkers election cycle — without Joe Manchin grabbing a few headlines? Manchin seemed to tease the possibility of returning to the Democratic Party and running to win the nomination for president before backing down. As news broke last weekend that President Joe Biden had decided to end his campaign and step away from the Democratic nomination for president, reports circulated that Manchin was exploring a White House run himself.1 But by Monday, Manchin backed off that idea and instead is now calling for a “mini-primary” in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention.2 (I’m not going to lie, I spent more than a few moments Sunday night into Monday morning checking Manchin’s party affiliation on the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website in case he re-registered as a Democrat.)

🫏 Speaking of President Biden’s decision to bow out of his reelection campaign, West Virginia’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention have offered their endorsement of Vice President Harris.3 In a news release issued Monday, a number of delegates to the DNC are quoted offering their support to Harris.4

☔️ The governor has issued a state of emergency for all of West Virginia’s 55 counties due to drought conditions. In a news release issued Friday, Gov. Justice pointed to the U.S. Drought Monitor indicating extreme, severe, and moderate drought conditions that have impacted the entire state.5 “This drought has plagued West Virginia farmers, putting them at risk of losing everything,” Justice said. “We cannot and will not stand by and watch our hardworking farmers suffer from this severe lack of rain. We understand the immense stress and hardship this drought has caused.

🏛️ The Secretary of West Virginia’s Department of Administration has resigned. Mark Scott, whose resignation will take effect at the end of the month, reportedly was chairman of the political action committee Conservative Policy Action while serving in the role of Secretary of Administration. In a news conference Thursday, Gov. Jim Justice described concerns over a conflict of interest that led to Scott’s resignation, saying he was informed by chief of staff Brian Abraham.6 “There is a possibility that Mark Scott was doing stuff on government time that was basically the solicitation of some campaign funds and campaign dollars,” Justice said.

🏛️ Also during Thursday’s news conference, Gov. Justice indicated funding for people with disabilities could be restored later this year.7 After the Legislature slashed funding for the IDD waiver program during the regular session, Justice called lawmakers back into a special session in May to address that issue. But the special session fix put $180 million in a reserve for the Department of Health to dip into for limited reasons. “You’ve just gotta stay tuned a little bit longer,” Justice said in response to a question from West Virginia Watch during Thursday’s news conference. “I think you’ll see some new news come out in regards to IDD and funding for folks [who] are very, very deserving.”

🏳️‍⚧️ The U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether West Virginia’s Medicaid program covers gender-affirming surgeries. Following a 2020 lawsuit brought by LGBTQ rights advocacy group Lambda Legal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in April that West Virginia could not deny Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries. Now, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is fighting that decision and taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. At a news conference Thursday, Morrisey said he believes the state’s Medicaid program made “a reasonable decision to reserve scarce funding” and that the state is entitled to have priorities in how it operates the program.8

💊 The nation’s drug czar returned to his former home of Charleston this week for a tour of an expanded clinic at West Virginia Health Right. Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, is no stranger to West Virginia’s capital city — or West Virginia Health Right, for that matter. As the former director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and former state Chief Health Officer, he volunteered at the clinic on Charleston’s east End for 15 years.9

🏕️ Local officials in Monongalia County and Morgantown are accusing a non-profit of intimidation in regards to issues related to unhoused residents. Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom made those comments during a Wednesday meeting after Mountain State Justice sent certified letters to a number of governmental bodies in the area, requesting the preservation of evidence and information regarding the county’s Pedestrian and Vehicle Safety Ordinance that was approved last October.10

🏭 Residents of Jefferson County expressed concerns to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over a proposed permit for the ROCKWOOL plant in air Kerneysville. During a virtual meeting, nearly all of the speakers argued against allowing the permit to go through at the highly controversial plant that began operating in 2021.11 The proposed permit would set limits for the release of potential toxins from the plant.

☕️ Baristas at a Starbucks in Flatwoods have voted 10 to 1 in favor of forming a labor union. In March of 2023, workers at the same location failed to unionize with an 8-6 vote.12 Nationwide, nearly 11,000 baristas at 500 Starbucks locations are represented by Starbucks Workers United. But as representation has seen an uptick in recent years, the coffee company has come under scrutiny for its attempts to quash organizing efforts from its workers.

👨‍🚒 The leadership of the Tyler Mountain Volunteer Fire Department is in turmoil after the department’s chief and six of the seven members of the board resigned unexpectedly .13 The only remaining board member, Barry Holstein, addressed a confused crowd that gathered outside the department’s fire house Thursday and assured them that services would continue. Following the board resignations, some firefighters who had previously resigned (amid accusations of nepotism and misappropriation of funds from the board), have rejoined the department.

🔌 After idling in February, a Weirton steel plant that makes components for electrical transformers will reopen. The company that owns the plant, Cleveland Cliffs, announced a $150 million investment that will bring back some 600 workers in Brooke and Hancock Counties, which are represented by the United Steel Workers.14 Sen. Joe Manchin applauded the announcement that the plant will reopen and, in a news release, noted he introduced legislation that resulted in a rule from the Department of Energy that ensures grain oriented electrical steel can continue to compete in the market.15

From the West Virginia Weakly News Vault:

July 24, 1983: Glen Dale, West Virginia native and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett was involved in the memorable “Pine-Tar Bat Incident"16

Everyone’s Got One — A look at op-ed pieces that resonated with The Weakly ‘s editorial board this week: