We begin our new occasional series 'Covid Chronicles' with a personal report from WestVirginiaVille's Minister of Paragraphs, Connie Kinsey, who was just recently diagnosed with a—we pray it stays that way—mild case of Covd-19.
-
-
Some formerly incarcerated West Virginians can’t vote. Others can, but may not know it.
The hue and cry has gone out—get out there and vote! But in West Virginia, advocates say education about voting rights for people with prison time or records, as well as after they get out, is often unclear—and that changes are needed to keep former inmates from being disenfranchised.
-
MINI-DOC | “What’s In a Name?” The Deeper Story Behind a WV Confederate Legacy
The removal of a Confederate general's name from the former Stonewall Jackson Middle School in West Virginia's capital city this Summer was more than just a cosmetic change. In 2020, America confronted the wounds that have haunted the country’s existence. The renaming of the school laid bare that history.
-
As opioid trial looms in West Virginia, the firms being sued get huge COVID-19 contracts from the Trump administration
The "Big Three" prescription drug firms responsible for fueling the devastating toll of West Virginia's opioid crisis are earning praise and contracts from the Trump adminstration as a key trial holding them to task approaches Oct. 19
-
WV governor ‘tweaked’ a Harvard COVID map. Their experts say the state’s changes are flawed.
The adminstration of WV Gov. Jim Justice has relied on outdated COVID-19 data for determing each county’s risk level and altered the methodology for determining the total number of cases. A Mountain State Spotlight reprinted investigation.
-
VIDEO: “Say Their Names”
There are a lot of names of black people, killed by police officers on this list. Below are all the names on the list. Some famous, a few historic. All of them individuals who were loved, who had dreams. Who, like you and I—had issues and challenges, joys and loves. Trying to figure out life, in all its messiness and pain.
-
VIDEO: Pulitzer Prize-winner Joins West Virginia Investigative Non-Profit
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eric Eyre will be joining the investigative staff of the new West Virginia non-profit watchdog outfit Mountain State Spotlight.
-
DRAGLINE: The Pro-Pipeline Editorial by the Pipeline Industry CEO/Publisher
“It’s damn easy to figure out what has been lost,” Doug Reynolds wrote in his West Virginia newspapers, “but for the life of me I can’t ascertain who won.” What Reynolds fails to mention is what exactly is losing: his natural gas pipeline construction company.
-
TRAILER: A Peek at “Bye-Bye, Stonewall” mini-doc
Here's a peek from the trailer to WestVirginiaVille's upcoming mini-documentary, "Bye-Bye, Stonewall," on the years-long backstory on how a school in a black neighborhood in West Virginia's capital city finally got free of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson's name and mug.
-
VIDEO: When the Confederate Flag Cuts and Runs
We direct your amusement to this Tiffany Thouartdope Finkton insta-rap. She made it after capturing a special moment outside the Kaoard of Education meeting to consider renaming Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston WV. The fellow who arrived with a Confederate flag was definitely not reading the room.
-
VIEW FROM THE PLAYGROUND: On Changing Stonewall Jackson Middle School’s Name
As adults decide the future of Stonewall Jackson Middle School's name at meeting Monday, July 6, 2020, we visited a playground in Charleston WV to find out what a group of students thought about the idea.
-
POINTS of VIEW | ‘If You’re Silent About Your Pain’
A LETTER TO NEUTRAL COLLEAGUES: "I realize you may be actually confused about whether blacks are offended or feel pain from reminders of that dark period. Zora Neale Neale Hurston once said: "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." So, I will clarify that we are offended. We are in pain."
-
‘ALEXANDRIA SPEAKS’: Why Stonewall Jackson Middle School Needs a New Name
Why rename a school long named for a Confederate general? Watch a 13-year-old student in Charleston WV tell why in an impassioned plea to the adults considering whether to rename her Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
-
PODCAST | A Coal River Homeless Camp Tale of Survival
Homelessness is something most people see on a regular basis here in West Virginia. But what about the homelessness we don't see? Kyle Vass takes us into a St. Albans homeless camp at the heart of community fight over their riverside existence.
-
Bringing Covid-19 Testing Home to a Huntington WV Community
As America passes the shocking number of 100,000 people dead from Covid-19, free testing has been rolled out across West Virginia. Part of the aim last week was to get the measure of the impact of the virus on African-American communities in the state.