More Voters Support Raising Minimum Wage On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, our election coverage continues with a story that explores an issue where there seems to be a lot of voter consensus – raising the minimum wage. Also, in this show, we hear reports about grants awarded to West Virginia to help improve water quality and save wasted natural gas, and we hear a report about petrochemical plants in the Ohio Valley region.

West Virginia has been awarded a federal grant that aims to improve water quality in the state. Caitlin Tan has details.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded West Virginia University more than $3 million for new research aimed at saving wasted natural gas. Brittany Patterson has more.

For years, industry boosters in Appalachia have promoted the idea of a building boom for petrochemical plants in the region. One of those plants is under construction in western Pennsylvania. But others have either been dropped or put on hold. For State Impact Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports one community in the Ohio River Valley is on edge, wondering if the pandemic will prevent those plants from ever getting built.

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the challenges facing essential workers, who at times have struggled to make ends meet on minimum wage salaries. But a new survey out this week shows more Americans support raising the federal minimum wage than they did before the pandemic took hold. That’s just one of several takeaways from that survey. As part of our America Amplified initiative, Sam Dunklau of member station WITF takes an in-depth look.

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Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

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