On July 18, 1877, Governor Henry Mathews arrived in Martinsburg—on the scene of the first nationwide strike in U.S. history. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers had walked off the job in response to a pay cut. The strike soon spread along the rails from Baltimore to Chicago.

Emmy-winning actor Jeff Daniels is also an accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, who recently appeared on Mountain Stage along with the Ben Daniels Band, led by his son Ben, which also includes Jeff's  daughter Amanda.

After the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in the Kanawha Valley, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition created the Safe Water WV initiative. The idea is simple: to strengthen a community’s connection to their drinking water and encourage them to work together to better protect it.

A couple years ago, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties decided to build off that initiative in a unique way – using the conservation of farmland and Civil War battlefields as a model for drinking water protection.

On this West Virginia Morning, after the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in the Kanawha Valley, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition created the “Safe Water WV” initiative.

The idea is simple -- to strengthen a community’s connection to their drinking water and encourage people to work together to better protect it. A couple years ago, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties decided to build off that initiative in a unique way -- using the conservation of farmland and Civil War battlefields as a model for drinking water protection. Liz McCormick explains.

On July 17, 1922, a deadly battle took place between striking miners and mine guards at the Richland Coal Company mine at Cliftonville, just east of Wellsburg. While the Mine Wars are typically associated with southern West Virginia, this shootout in the Northern Panhandle was among the bloodiest of the entire period.  

The events began the night before, when some 300 to 500 striking miners—all heavily armed—gathered in nearby Avella, Pennsylvania. To keep nonunion strikebreakers out of the mine, the union men took up positions around the mine at Cliftonville.

This story was updated on 7/16/19 at 4:35 p.m. EST.

A coal company with mines in Kentucky and West Virginia has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Best-selling author Sheila Redling, from Huntington, West Virginia, has written nine books under the pen name SG Redling. After losing her will to write, she is back on track and more books are on the way. In this interview she talks about the importance of protecting your ability to write and gives advice to writers.

Redling explained that after a fast start, writing several books, she burned out.