Mountain State Spotlight

One of the most dangerous chemical plants in America sits in one of West Virginia’s only majority-Black communities. For decades, residents of Institute have raised alarms about air pollution. They say concerns have “fallen on deaf ears.”

In September, Gov. Jim Justice announced he would direct additional money to hospitals and nursing homes. EMS administrators say their agencies need more support from the state and federal governments.

Some landowners have miles of the pipeline already installed on their properties. Contractors for Duke and Dominion also cleared trees along more than 110 miles across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, leaving about half of the felled trees on the property.

West Virginia’s Republicans in Congress all voted against the federal stimulus spending that makes up a big chunk of the broadband initiative: the American Rescue Plan.

There are problems in out-of-state group homes. West Virginia officials say they are going to ‘ensure this doesn’t happen again.’

Redistricting is complicated. Here's the breakdown of what’s at stake, and how it works, as West Virginia lawmakers prepare to hold a special session to decide on the lines that will determine their political futures.

On this West Virginia Morning, kids in foster care are already facing a tough road, but a new investigation reveals that some are sent to out-of-state facilities, some of which have been flagged by the state's own Department of Health and Human Resources as problematic.

In several cases, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has continued or renewed contracts with the facilities despite its own inspection reports revealing abuse.

Foster children are at a significantly higher risk of developing mental and physical health problems than those who haven't been in the system — challenges West Virginia kids are already more likely to confront compared with their peers elsewhere.

At a critical time for West Virginia’s foster care system, the state faces two key shortages: It doesn't have enough Child Protective Service workers, the employees responsible for checking on the safety and well being of the kids. And there aren’t enough foster families.