State Senators approve school vaccine bill and West Virginians wait for federal disaster declaration
The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, February 22, 2025
State lawmakers kicked off their first full week of legislating with southern West Virginia under water.
The flooding in the Free State of McDowell is being called the worst in the county’s history. County officials confirmed three people were killed, including an infant. Finding potable water is a problem for many and tens of thousands endured power outages in the region as snow and bitterly cold temperatures added insult to injury.
We’ll start with where we are in the recovery process and go from there, but first thank you for rolling with the WV Weakly. Dave and I do this out of a sense of responsibility to our home state. It’s our way of paying it forward.
The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)
😧 “We’ve been talking with FEMA. I am hopeful that we will be receiving some feedback fairly soon” — Gov. Morrisey speaking Thursday at a media briefing while the state waits for President Trump to grant a federal disaster declaration.1 Morrisey encouraged flood victims to upload photos and provide other information to the West Virginia Emergency Management Disaster Survey to help the state move toward obtaining federal assistance. Morrisey said there have been 135 water rescues in the flood zone this week, 200,000 bottles of water have been delivered and Bluestone Lake exceeded the record for rainfall in February. The disaster struck as President Trump moves to shrink the size of government. He has said he wants to eliminate FEMA.2 He approved a disaster declaration for Kentucky nearly a week ago.
😮 This dramatic video of a Ford Mustang convertible being carried away by floodwaters in the McDowell County community of Panther made the rounds on social media this week.3
💉 The West Virginia Senate capped the first full week of the state Legislature’s regular session by overwhelmingly passing the first attention-grabbing bill of the regular session. S.B. 460 would put Gov. Morrisey’s executive order to weaken school vaccination requirements into law by allowing for a religious or moral exemption. It also makes it easier to obtain a medical exemption. The vote was 20-12 with two absences. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.4
🏫 State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt told West Virginia lawmakers this week that a perfect storm is leading to a spate of school closures and consolidations around the state. Appearing before the House Finance Committee, Blatt pointed to declining student enrollment, the expansion of school choice and federal pandemic funding that helped some schools stay open is drying up. She said closures are likely to continue.5
😕 Our Substack pal Dan Parks at Country Roads News reported this week that the Trump administration’s budget cuts have reached into rural Tucker County, specifically at the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. And top officials in the high mountain towns of Davis and Thomas also expressed concern about the cuts, with Davis Mayor Al Tomson saying they could affect infrastructure projects that the town has planned. But he told CRN that he’s unsure of any federal cuts right now “because it is one confused mess.”6 In Parkersburg, rumors are going around about potential layoffs at the federal Bureau of Fiscal Service.7
🎩 Hat tip to Dan for turning the Weakly on to U.S. Senator Shelly Moore Capito’s remarks in a Washington Post story on Republican senators finding themselves in the odd position of having to lobby the Trump administration to release money already appropriated by Congress. She acknowledged the freezes have hit some West Virginia communities hard, but said she has faith that “good programs will eventually be unfrozen.”8
😒 Mountain State Spotlight is reporting that President Trump’s freeze could cost West Virginia some $90 million in federal funding allocated to help state regulators clean up abandoned natural gas wells.9
😬 On the same day that President Trump said on Truth Social that he’s firing all of the remaining “Biden-era” U.S. Attorneys,10 the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, Boone County native Will Thompson, submitted his immediate resignation on Tuesday.11 Thompson was nominated by Biden in August 2021.
📺 “It’s not free trade, it’s fair trade in creating a level playing field and I believe these tariffs are going to do that,” — Nucor CEO Leon J. Topalian, speaking on CNBC on Tuesday, a day after President Trump freshened the tariffs on steel he imposed during his first term.12 In a statement the United Steelworkers Union said it welcomes a crackdown on bad actors flooding the market with cheap steel, but that the U.S. needs to distinguish between trusted trade partners like Canada.13 The state has devoted some $390 million to support a Nucor steel mill being built in Mason County.
🤔 The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported this week on a grant fund created by the West Virginia Legislature that’s come under fire. The fund created in 2022 is administered by the state Water Development Board using $250 million in seed money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. According to the Gazette-Mail, only 37 percent of the funds distributed through Dec. 19 were awarded to public service districts to support water and wastewater infrastructure projects with more than $80 million awarded to non-water related projects, including millions for the Keith Albee Theater’s renovation in Huntington, a new baseball field at Marshall University and to that Steubenville, Ohio Catholic school that made news late last year. For what it’s worth, the law that created the fund also included language making economic development and/or tourism projects acceptable recipients.14
🎓 West Virginia University’s Board of Governors has decided on a successor to President Gordon Gee, who is set to retire this summer. After an hours long executive session on Thursday, Board Chairman Richard Pill said the name of the candidate will be made public as soon as a contract is signed.15 BUT — Hoppy Kercheval, the retired host of MetroNews’ Talkline is reporting that Gee’s successor will be Michael Benson, the president of Coastal Carolina University.16
🦌 A 64-year-old Ravenswood man was charged this week with fleeing with reckless indifference. The man led Jackson County deputies on a police chase after using his seatbelt to drag a dead deer with his vehicle Thursday morning.17
🤒 The good news is COVID infections are falling in West Virginia. The bad news? Flu numbers are rising.18 Check out the state Department of Health’s Breathe Easy Dashboard.
Weakly whatnot: News and opinion from around West Virginia
Why can’t West Virginians get clean water? (Editorial) ~ Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginians need child care so they can go to work. Lawmakers haven’t done much but have another chance ~ Tre Spencer, Mountain State Spotlight
Morrisey needs the Legislature (Opinion) ~ Hoppy Kercheval, The Charleston Gazette-Mail
Education: Homeschooling needs better assessment (Editorial) ~ Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Statehouse Beat: Roads to Prosperity leaves much to answer for (Commentary) ~ Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
The most clicked link for the week? The WVMetroNews photo gallery of the flooding in Mingo and Boone Counties. We pointed you to it on Monday.
Finally, stop by Roger May’s Newsletter. May is a documentary photographer from southern West Virginia. His latest post is about a sign in his Mingo County hometown of Chatteroy. He’s been photographing it for years.
Governor Morrisey media briefing on the flooding in southern West Virginia ~ Gov. Morrisey’s official Youtube channel
Accuweather post on Threads ~ Heather Bailey via Storyful
Senate overwhelmingly passes bill opening religious, philosophical exemptions for school vaccinations ~ Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews
Financial pressure to close local schools is likely to continue, superintendent tells lawmakers ~ Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews
Budget cuts hit staff at Canaan Wildlife Refuge ~ Dan Parks, Country Roads News
Officials react to potential layoffs at Bureau of Fiscal Service ~ Evan Bevins, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
After ceding power of the purse, GOP lawmakers beg Trump team for funds ~ Liz Goodwin, Washington Post
Trump’s funding halt imperils orphan wells plugging ~ Sarah Elbeshbishi, Mountain State Spotlight
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson resigns effective immediately ~ Staff reports, Charleston Gazette-Mail
USW opposes Canadian tariffs, welcomes efforts to contain global overcapacity ~ United Steelworkers statement
WV water board granted $272M+ to non PSD projects ~ Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Board of Governors chooses top candidate for next WVU president ~ Payton Mandell, The Daily Athenaeum
Kercheval: Coastal Carolina President Michael Benson will be the next president at WVU ~ Jeff Jenkins, WVMetroNews
West Virginia man accused of fleeing police with dead deer, deputies say ~ Staff reports, WCHS-TV
'One of our worst flu seasons’: Infections rise, Covid 19 drops statewide, in Kanawha ~ Sierra Marling, Charleston Gazette-Mail
