On this West Virginia Morning, more than 68,000 West Virginians cast ballots early this year, according to the secretary of state’s office. That’s about 13,000 more than voted early in the 2014 midterm primary. Kara Lofton spoke with chairs of both the Republican and Democratic parties to talk about whether West Virginia’s recent teacher strike helped motivate the larger turnout.

U.S. and Confederate Congressman Alexander Boteler died on May 8, 1892, shortly before his 77th birthday. Before launching his political career, Boteler was a farmer and the owner of a hydraulic cement plant on the Potomac River at Shepherdstown. He entered the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig in 1859. That same year, he interviewed John Brown extensively after Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. A skilled artist, Boteler also made a sketch of the imprisoned abolitionist.

Having gone into effect at the beginning of this year, West Virginia's new voter identification law sees its first statewide election during the May 8  primaries. While state legislators responsible for passing the law say it strikes a balance, experts opposed to such measures -- here and elsewhere in the country -- say it is a "solution in search of a problem." Some organizations, though, are teaming with the Secretary of State's office for public outreach programs to help educate voters about the law and what they need to bring with them to the polls.

Nearly half a century after an explosion tore through the Farmington No. 9 mine in West Virginia, the families of the 78 men who died there are still looking for justice.

Many of the children of the lost miners are now grandparents and older than their fathers ever were. Some have given up hope of ever holding anyone accountable for the disaster. But others are looking to a federal appeals court for some measure of closure.

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from a young girl in North Carolina who shares her story of growing up in Appalachia; we hear about the new Voter ID law that went into effect this year; and the Ohio Valley ReSource brings us an update potential tariffs of steel and aluminum manufacturers.