Jim Justice
Your 2023 West Virginia Watch Wrapped
Happy Spotify Wrapped Season to all who celebrate! The music app Spotify creates a list for each user in late November to show how many minutes they used the app listening to music and podcasts, and lists their top genres, artists, songs and podcasts. We just launched in July, but let’s look at what the […]
Justice ‘deeply concerned’ about potential downsizing or closure of South Charleston mail facility
Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday the United States Postal Service’s review and potential downsizing or closure of a South Charleston facility has “deeply concerned us in West Virginia.” In a letter to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, Justice said potential changes to the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center “strikes at the heart” of the state’s postal […]
Second lawmaker calls for investigation into DHHR’s handling of Sissonville abuse, neglect case
Del. Mike Pushkin, lawmaker and chair of the state Democratic Party, called on the governor to launch “an immediate and thorough” investigation into how the state handled a child welfare case where two children were found living in a shed. A Republican lawmaker already made a similar appeal for additional scrutiny. Public records, obtained by […]
PSC opens investigation into Charleston’s West Side gas outage
The West Virginia Public Service Commission said Friday it has opened an investigation into a gas outage that left more than a thousand residents on Charleston’s West Side without heat, hot water or the ability to cook. The announcement came a day after West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency in Kanawha […]
Manchin for president … of the United States or West Virginia University?
Last week in a pre-recorded video, Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia’s last remaining Democrat in Congress, announced that he will not seek reelection for his U.S. Senate seat that he’s held for the last 13 years. Sitting in front of a very presidential looking red background with a bald eagle statue on each side of […]
Settlement in jail lawsuit would pay some inmates who lived in alleged ‘inhumane conditions’
Current and former inmates at Southern Regional Jail could receive $4 million under a proposed settlement that would tie up a lawsuit over inhumane conditions at the facility. The proposed agreement was laid out before a federal judge on Thursday in Beckley, West Virginia. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2022, said that inmates were denied […]
Manchin will not seek reelection to U.S. Senate in 2024, will hit road to ‘unite the middle’
Flanked by two bald eagle statues and several American flags, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced Thursday that he will not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate. Instead, he said in the pre-recorded video, he will be touring the country in an effort to “unite the middle.” “I believe in my heart of hearts that I’ve […]
Justice finally facing some accountability for lack of action on jails and prisons
Back in August, as the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation was in the headlines yet again for the horrid conditions that both incarcerated people and correctional staff are exposed to on a daily basis — this time because of a new lawsuit — Gov. Jim Justice passed the ball at a press conference […]
Proposed PEIA increases draw criticism; Justice says he’ll propose pay raise to offset cost
A proposal to raise health insurance premiums for West Virginia state employees for the second year in a row is drawing criticism from state Democrats and from a union representing West Virginia teachers and school personnel. The Public Employees Insurance Agency is proposing to increase premiums for state employees by 10.5% for fiscal year 2025, […]
Possible settlement reached in lawsuit over Southern Regional Jail conditions
A proposed settlement has been reached between some parties in a lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at a Raleigh County jail. The plaintiffs, inmates at Southern Regional Jail, and state defendants — former Division of Corrections Commissioner Betsy Jividen; former Homeland Security Secretary Jeff Sandy; former interim corrections commissioner Brad Douglas; current Corrections Commissioner William Marshall […]
If Justice expects transparency in his administration, then he needs to lead by example
A couple of weeks ago, the West Virginia Democratic Party sent out a news release calling out Del. Elliott Pritt in response to a paraphrased quote I included in a commentary. “Delegate Pritt needs to disclose unlawful partisan bias in state agencies,” the headline states. Pritt, R-Fayette, told Politico in an article from August, that […]
Despite no public or official announcement, the WV First Foundation is reportedly meeting next week
The West Virginia First Foundation — a nonprofit organization started earlier this year to distribute an expected $1 billion in opioid settlement funds — is reportedly holding its first meeting on Monday. No details, however, have been officially released concerning the meeting, where it will be or what it will entail. According to reporting in […]