Government

Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday there are 215 West Virginians hospitalized with the coronavirus. Of that figure, 71 of those patients are in an intensive care unit, and 23 are on ventilators, according to data from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

A 51-48 cloture vote in the Senate on Sunday sets the stage for a final confirmation vote Monday evening — just over a week before the general election.

A new strike team has been formed to more quickly tackle COVID-19 outbreaks in West Virginia’s nursing homes. The effort is also aimed at better helping smaller facilities in rural areas.

The final debate showed candidates far apart on issues like health care, climate change and criminal justice. Trump tried to focus on alleged corruption, but the pandemic remains 2020's central issue.

With concerns over election security heightened less than two weeks from Election Day, West Virginia’s top elections official says state voter registration data has not been compromised.Federal homeland security officials announced Wednesday evening that foreign nation-state actors had accessed voter information in Alaska, Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion, Justice Department officials announced Wednesday.

Early voting is now underway in West Virginia and many voters are taking to the polls to avoid potential crowds on Election Day. Polling places opened as tens of thousands of West Virginians have already cast an absentee ballot.

Two farmers from north central West Virginia are vying for the position that guides and promotes the state’s agriculture industry. The Republican incumbent and the Democratic challenger both say they’re passionate about communication, which experts say is key, given the makeup and conditions of the industry in the Mountain State.

This decision comes after a chaotic first debate that was widely criticized for its largely unstructured nature. President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are set to face off on Thursday.

Forty professionals from across Appalachia have been selected to attend economic skills training at the Appalachian Leadership Institute. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) selected forty fellows to participate in online seminars that started this week.