For many survivors, testifying publicly about experiences of violence can be intimidating and overwhelming. A program expansion in West Virginia aims to address that.
For many survivors, testifying publicly about experiences of violence can be intimidating and overwhelming, according to the national nonprofit Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
A program that aims to remove barriers to reporting sexual or domestic violence and seeking justice has expanded to two new counties in West Virginia.
Residents of Marion and Monongalia counties are now eligible to participate in the state’s Remote Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals announced in a press release Monday.
Monongalia County residents will be able to participate in trial proceedings remotely from the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center in Morgantown, and Marion County residents can participate from Fairmont’s HOPE, Inc.
“This program allows us to make our court system more accessible by allowing West Virginians to seek the protection of the courts in a safe and less intimidating setting,” Chief Justice Tim Armstead said in Monday’s press release. “At the same time, those accused of domestic violence, stalking, rape or dating violence still have the right to face their accusers through remote technology.”
The program is funded by the West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services, as well as the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services.
The admission of two new counties to the program brings the total number of participating counties to 11. Most recently, Harrison County joined the program in August.
Armstead said the state’s supreme court aims to expand the program further.
The Bluefield Board of Directors voted Tuesday to adopt an ordinance that would make it illegal to sleep on public property.
The U.S. The Supreme Court ruled in June that local government ordinances with civil and criminal penalties for camping on public land do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment of homeless people. Since that ruling, four Mountain State cities have passed “camping bans”, aimed at curbing the presence of people experiencing homelessness on public property.
Leslie Nash, an attorney with Mountain State Justice, a non-profit legal services firm, says that ordinances like Bluefield’s criminalize poverty without addressing the root causes of homelessness.
“People sleep outside often because they have nowhere to go, and whether that’s due to disability or to a mental health issue, to a substance use disorder or addiction of some kind, whether that’s because they’re fleeing domestic violence or parental or spousal abuse,” Nash said. “People end up in the situation for a whole host of reasons, and the last thing that any of them need is to be fined and get a criminal record and potentially end up jailed because they have nowhere else to go”
Bluefield is the fourth city in West Virginia to pass a camping ban this year, after Clarksburg, Morgantown, and Princeton. A copy of the ordinance was not made available in time for publication. The video recording of the meeting where the camping ban was approved lost audio for about ten minutes, at the time the camping ban was approved.
Gov. Jim Justice says he has yet to decide on the timeline for his transition into his new role as a U.S. Senator.
New U.S. Senators are set to be sworn in on Jan. 3. However, West Virginia has set Jan. 13 as the date for governor elect Patrick Morrisey to be sworn in. That timeline means Justice would need to leave the governor’s office ten days early to show up to D.C.
At his press briefing Friday, the governor says he has not decided when to leave his current office.
“Cleanest way is for me to stay in office until the 13th and then pass the torch to [Morrisey], you know, as the proper way to do it, but with the dates and everything, all that may not work out that way,” Justice said. “But we’re still working on it. So that’s not set in stone yet at all.”
If Justice leaves office early, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkley, would become acting governor. Blair is set to leave his West Virginia senate seat Jan. 8 after losing his primary in the spring. Currently, Senate Republicans are debating who to promote to Senate President, who could then become acting governor.
“Governor Justice has been very open,” Morrisey said. “I expect we’re going to have the ability to take a look under the hood. That’s part of what the next two months is all about, on revenue and financial issues.”
October revenue reportsshowed the state’s revenue below estimates by $13,810,207 for the fiscal year thus far.
Justice confirmed the cooperation, cautioning financial responsibility.
“You’ve got to absolutely know what you’re doing and everything, and I’m confident that [Morrisey] will do exactly that,” Justice said. “But if you don’t, then not good things will happen.”
Justice also said he would support Morrisey throughout his term as governor.
“Listen to the people over top of listening to advisors or lobbyists or whatever,” Justice said. “I’ll be available any hour of the day to try to help [Morrisey], and I’ll surely look on him to be a great friend.”
Every county has now completed what’s known as “canvass,” a process of determining final election results with county commissions ruling on and counting all ballots cast. Hardy County was the last of the state’s fifty-five counties to finish its canvass Thursday at 2:10 p.m.
Hardy County commissioner and president of the board of canvassers Dave Workman says the delay came after scheduling conflicts among commissioners and high voter turnout in Hardy County this year — over 68 percent, according to unofficial results.
“That’s very unusual for Hardy County, and that was something that was noted on Tuesday, well on election night, was that our voter turnout had been heavy,” Workman said.
The Secretary of State’s office said Hardy County’s timeline is “not uncommon.”
Workman says Hardy County also had an “exceptionally large number” of provisional ballots, which are cast when there is an unresolved challenge to voter eligibility. County commissioners judge which provisional ballots are counted at canvass.
Provisional ballot data, which shows which ballots were counted, can be requested starting 80 days after election day. If voters cast a provisional ballot, they can check the status of their individual ballot now on the Secretary of State’s website.
On this West Virginia Morning, a new episode of Us & Them looks at the latest chapter in the debate over West Virginia’s vaccination requirements, and several Kanawha County schools will be closed and consolidated at the end of this school year.
On this West Virginia Morning, a new episode of Us & Them looks at the latest chapter in the debate over West Virginia’s vaccination requirements. A recent legislative proposal would have exempted homeschooled kids and private and parochial schools from the current requirements. Governor Jim Justice vetoed the measure, but it found support from some parents opposed to what they call ‘oppressive’ vaccination laws.
Also, several Kanawha County schools will be closed and consolidated at the end of this school year. They join close to a dozen other schools that have been approved for closure and consolidation over the past year, including three other elementary schools in Kanawha County.
And plans for a new factory in Jefferson County have been delayed. Jack Walker tells us why.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content. Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Maria Young produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
Plans for a controversial water bottling plant in the tiny Jefferson County community of Middleway have been delayed after local officials deemed them incomplete.
Plans for a controversial water bottling plant in the tiny Jefferson County community of Middleway have been delayed after local officials deemed them incomplete.
During a tense meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission Tuesday evening, dozens of residents packed into a meeting room in the basement of the Charles Town Library.
More than 50 signed up to speak against the Mountain Pure Water Bottling Facility, and tens more had to observe the meeting from a hallway due to a lack of space. No community members spoke in favor of the project.
Tuesday marked the first public forum for discussing a concept plan submitted to the commission by California-based Sidewinder Enterprises.
The company’s proposed 1-million-square-foot facility would be built atop a site formerly owned by industrial conglomerate 3M. The site is also located about a half-mile from a historic district containing 60 major buildings constructed in the late 18th or early 19th centuries.
The meeting lasted more than five hours, stretching past midnight. Outside the comment period, residents repeatedly called aloud concerns over the project’s impact on local development, traffic, historic preservation, water supply and ecology — and urged commissioners to reject it outright.
Representing the company were Vice President Mark Dyck and Principal Jason Gehart of civil engineering firm Integrity Federal Services. They argued the concept plan complies with state law.
The plan “meets all the requirements of the Jefferson County ordinances,” Dyck said. “So we believe that this is qualified and acceptable to move forward.”
From left, Middleway residents Mary Mullins and Kathy McCormack display hand-painted signs denouncing plans for a local water bottle plant. “I’m unhappy, to say it mildly,” McCormack said.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Dyck said the company has also made some assurances to support the needs of the local community.
Namely, he said the company would pay to replace water wells for residents within 1,000 feet of the facility in its first two years of operation, should they have concerns about the quality of their groundwater. Plus, he said the company would place a traffic light at a nearby intersection.
Residents argued this was insufficient. Dyck said 22 households would fall within the 1,000 feet threshold, but members of the public said its impact would be felt throughout the 400-person community and beyond.
“When water levels drop critically low in Jefferson County, residents and farmers, not this California company will suffer water restrictions,” said Jefferson County resident Mary Gee.
Members of the commission expressed confusion over whether extracting water for commercial purposes was permitted under state law.
They also said the outpouring of community pushback showed Sidewinder did not provide the local community sufficient outreach or information — a sentiment affirmed by residents’ groans after Dyck erroneously referred to their community as “Middleburg.”
“If you want to be successful in Jefferson County, you have to get the people behind you,” said Commissioner J Ware. “Not the developer.”
Dyck argued the project would create jobs for the local community. He also said there is value in increasing water bottle production, referencing resident comments that the unexpected devastation of Hurricane Helene belies the importance of protecting the environment.
“It’s a little bit emotional for me, because my son was in Asheville,” Dyck said. “He would have so appreciated a bottle of water from Jefferson County.”
Integrity Federal Services employees Mark Dyck, seated on the left, and Jason Gerhart, on the right, address members of the Jefferson County Planning Commission Tuesday evening.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Residents were not notified ahead of the meeting where water for the bottling process would be sourced from. During the meeting, Dyck said it would be sourced from the local water supply, which elevated concerns from community members.
Jefferson County resident Benjamin Buckley said allowing a company to extract and profit from local groundwater was especially concerning in light of recent lawsuits against the site’s former owner, 3M.
Last year, the company was ordered to pay more than $10 billion in lawsuits tied to its role in spreading “forever chemicals” across waterways nationwide.
3M “came in here. Looks like they peed in the punch bowl,” Buckley said. “Looks like another outfit is going to come in and bottle it and sell it.”
Buckley was one of numerous residents who expressed concern over the toll of new factories and business developments on West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, the fastest growing region of the state.
The politics and geography of Jefferson County are key to Middleway’s selection for the water bottling plant, according to the project’s webpage.
Reasons for selecting Middleway include “West Virginia’s regulatory environment” and the area’s proximity to population centers in the northeast and southern United States, the website reads.
Other commenters likened the Sidewinder project to Rockwool, a Danish steel wool manufacturer that received overwhelming local pushback over environmental worries. The facility was placed under investigation in 2020, in part due to air and water quality concerns.
“This is Rockwool all over again, where government officials know what’s happening, and they don’t tell the public until it’s too late,” said Shepherdstown resident Billie Garde. “We’re tired of being run over.”
Despite the extent of community concern, commissioners said they were limited in their authority to reject the project. They said their role is to interpret whether the project is complete and adheres to state and county policies, not whether it is suitable for the local community.
Residents lined the hallway outside the Jefferson County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday evening due to a lack of space inside the meeting room.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
But the submitted concept plan only included reference to the factory site, whereas Dyck said the project would pull water from a separate parcel of land. Two test wells for the project have already been drilled on a separate property near Lake Louise.
Commissioner Cara Keys said omitting additional parcels from the concept plan was inadequate, because it was an integral component of the factory.
“You can’t have a bathtub without a waterline,” she said.
Legal counsel argued that rejecting the project due to local concerns fell outside the purview of the commission, and could require court intervention. But the commissioners felt Sidewinder’s omission of additional parcels was still relevant.
They voted unanimously that the concept plan was incomplete, sending it back to the company for modification and resubmission.
Meanwhile, the concept plan marks just an early stage of the planning process. The company could be required to make additional modifications to adhere to state and local standards if its project progresses.
After the meeting, Dyck told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the team plans to resubmit the plan with additional properties listed.
“We met all the other requirements,” he said. “I think the Planning Commission is obligated to follow the rules and regulations.”
Sidewinder’s ability to resubmit means that, for now, the commission’s decision only delayed its planning process.
But community members who spent hours waiting to hear the commission’s decision viewed it as a win, made clear by their cheers after the commission voted to send Sidewinder back to the drawing board.
The Jefferson County Planning Commission ruled a water bottling plant concept plan from Sidewinder Enterprises is incomplete, requiring resubmission to move forward.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
