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Senate Starts Week By Passing A Dozen Bills

It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to healthcare and substance use.

It was a busy day for the Senate as they passed a dozen bills, ranging from issues of schools to health care and substance use.

First up was Senate Bill 51, which would require an impact statement in certain instances of a school closing or consolidation. School closure and consolidation have been pervasive in the state as the population continues to decline. According to the 2020 Census, West Virginia lost 3.2 percent of its population since 2010.

Senate Bill 258, which would eliminate a $10,000 cap on rent-to-own agreements in the state, was the only bill that did not pass unanimously.

“Currently in the law, it says that there cannot be a rent-to-own contract related to consumer goods which has a cash value, fair market value of more than $10,000. This bill, if it passes, will remove that cap completely,” said Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan. “Consumers and rent to own businesses will be free to enter into whatever contract they like regardless of the amount of value consumer goods which is the subject of the contract.”

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, both voted against the bill but did not provide comment on the floor.

Senate Bill 282 creates the West Virginia Guardian Program. The program would allow county boards of education to contract with honorably discharged law enforcement officers to provide public safety and/or security on public school grounds and buildings.

With all the federal money coming into the state, Senate Bill 439 aims to help one state department complete its projects more easily.

“This is a pretty uncomplicated, easy bill. All it does is streamline the process for the DEP to bid and award contracts.” said Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker. “With all the federal money coming in, they’re afraid they’re not gonna get all the bids out for mine reclamation and some other projects. The Department of Highways is already doing this and it’s working well for them.”

The Senate also passed:

Senate Bill 248, clarifying when excess funds accumulated by boards are to be transferred to General Revenue Fund
Senate Bill 270, adding exemption to permit requirement for cremation for research for institution arranging the final disposition of a decedent who donated his or her body to science
Senate Bill 271, modifying approval process requirements for First Responders Honor Board
Senate Bill 283, updating the language of the Military Incentive Program, which provides a tax credit to employers in the state for hiring certain members of a class of veterans, to include all veterans

Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, addresses the Senate on Monday Jan. 30, 2023. *Credit Will Price/WV Legislative Photography*

One Senator, Four Bills

One-third of the bills in front of the Senate on third reading Monday were sponsored by Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood. He said the bill’s aim was to address a chronic issue in the state.

“Three of the four bills that were on third reading today, deal with the homeless/drug crisis that is especially affecting two or three counties, that being Wood County, Cabell County, maybe you can say Kanawha County, maybe one or two others,” Azinger said.

“In Wood County we have four percent of the population and 25 percent of the beds, and we could potentially have double that if Ohio Valley College is purchased by these folks that have these drug rehab places. These bills are trying to constrict. The issues that we have in Wood County with homeless camps, with crime, as you can imagine, break ins and burglary, it’s just off the charts.”

Senate Bill 239 would require the Commissioner of the Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage community stakeholders in a study of homeless demographic information throughout West Virginia, due by July 1, 2024. Azinger said better understanding the state’s unhoused population is important to ensure the best use of the state’s resources.

“The study is basically just to know where the homeless folks are in West Virginia, why they are migrating from one part of the state to the other and how many of these homeless people are from out of state,” he said.

“We’re getting tons of out-of-state people that come to West Virginia, to the drug rehab places, because we have a lot of beds in one county, Cabell, but also, because we have benefits. We give away, you know, all kinds of freebies, and the word gets out on the street, cross-country, ‘Hey go to West Virginia.’ And that’s what’s happening. We want to truncate that, staunch the bleeding, put a stop to it, and make it reasonable. We’re not kicking anybody out of beds, we don’t want to do that, we want people that want help to get help.”

Senate Bill 243 would require the institutions giving people that help with substance use issues to also provide transportation after treatment has ended. The mandate for transportation is broad-reaching, as the bill requires, “a means of transportation back to the individual’s state of birth, a state in which they have previously lived, or a state where they have a family support structure” be provided. Azinger said there is no funding for the requirement by design.

“Just send these folks back to where they have family, to a state that they’re from, or someplace where they have connections and relationships and a history there,” he said. “We’re just making the drug rehab places have some skin in the game. Let them pay the price back for the bus ticket. Parkersburg paid $24,000 in bus tickets last year. So that’s $24,000 that, in my opinion, the City of Parkersburg shouldn’t have to pay.”

He also stated that the requirement serves two purposes: getting those individuals fresh out of substance use treatment back to their support system, and out of West Virginia.

Azinger also sponsored Senate Bill 241, which shifts the responsibility of investigating and enforcing of, the Patient Brokering Act, as well as Senate Bill 251, which requires the display of the official U.S. motto, “In God We Trust” in all state schools.

“Our country was built on God,” Azinger said. “Our America was birthed by the Great Awakening, religious revivals in the early 1700s was the impetus, was a birthright of the American Revolution. That’s always how we have operated. So why did we take it out? What’s happened since we’ve taken it out? Well, a lot of bad things have happened since we’ve taken it out, so let’s start bringing God back into the schools.”

Completed Legislative Action

Two more bills passed through the legislative process and are now on their way to Gov. Jim Justice for his signature.

Senate Bill 143 is titled Relating to Adopt-A-Stream Program. The bill would establish an Adopt-a-Stream program to promote the cleaning of the state’s waterways, similar to the Adopt-a-Highway program.

Senate Bill 231 transfers administration of West Virginia Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Matching Funds Program to Department of Economic Development.

Both bills originated in the Senate but were amended by the House and returned to the Senate for final approval.

Blue Demons: An Exploration of One Family’s Legacy in the Basketball Capital of the U.S.

Coal was king in McDowell County in the 1960s and 70s. At one point, it was one of the richest counties in the country due to coal production. There were more than 53 communities that either had their own mines or housed miners who worked in the area. Because the coal mines attracted workers from all over the country, even the world, there was a pretty diverse group of people in McDowell.

But over time, as the coal mines closed, people began to move away. The population has decreased by almost 17 percent since 2010. Where once there were thriving businesses and lively communities, there’s now little that looks the same.

I wanted to learn the story about Northfork’s rise to fame, the story I never really knew. I moved from Northfork to Princeton when I was still relatively young. But we still had family who lived here, including my grandparents, and our home church remained in Keystone just outside of Northfork, even after we had moved away. When we would drive to see my grandparents, we’d always drive past a large sign that had a basketball with the number 8 in the center. I would call it the “Beasketball” sign.

My family mostly lived in a little community of Algoma, just outside of Northfork. Algoma was a small community. If you blinked, you might not notice you drove through it. When they were kids, my uncles Mark Page and David McDaniel played without any blacktop, or asphalt, just dirt. They lovingly referred to those games as “dust bowl” games.

They played basketball on a makeshift court in their small community.

“We created our own playground. We used to go in mountains, cut trees, make a backboard,” David recalled.

In the wintertime, they played in the snow. My uncle Mark, who we always called Joe, remembered shooting ball in the winter and knocking the snow off the net. “I still remember that feeling of making that shot.”

My uncles grew up in the 1960s, after desegregation became law. One thing that brought the communities together was the success of the high school basketball team, The Blue Demons.

The school was quite famous during the 1970s and 80s, winning eight state straight AA basketball championships in a row during one particularly successful stretch. This record set by the Northfork Blue Demons wouldn’t be challenged until 2015.

As a result, black athletes were probably treated better than non athletes, given their status in the community.

“With me getting attention on who I was, I didn’t know racial things happened until I got older and I heard some other people’s stories,” recalled David McDaniel, who played for Northfork in 1971. “I was a basketball star at the time. I got along with white folks and black folks. Everybody treated me well. I just thought that’s the way it was. But after I grew up and started hearing other people’s stories… I do remember the movie theater, the Freeman theater, we always sat in the back, white folk sat up front. I imagine [there were] racial tensions around here during that time, but they never got displayed on me.”

Basketball Capital of the United States

In 1971, David was a star player and co-captain for the team as the Northfork Blue Demons won their first state AA title. Three years later, Northfork again won the state AA championship title. That win would be the first of an eight-year streak for Northfork High School.

My other uncle, Joe, captained the ’74 team. “We were just hard to be beat,” he said.

The Blue Demons were a force to be reckoned with, beating teams that went nearly undefeated during the regular season. This small coal mining town received national attention. People wore jackets and hats that had the slogan “Northfork West Virginia– Basketball Capital of the United States”.

After college, Joe returned to Northfork and became the assistant coach in 1979. Then in 1983, he became the new head coach of the Northfork Blue Demons. After a two-year absence from the state tournament, Joe led the Blue Demons to win the ’84 state championships.

This win felt like the comeback the town desperately needed. Because in 1984, jobs in Northfork were really starting to disappear. Eastern Coal, the largest coal mine in the county, had shut down operations. In the middle of that, the high school winning the state title just felt like there was a ray of hope in sight.

The former Northfork High School building.

Devastating News

And then came the news that the county Board of Education planned to close the school. The school’s fate came down to the vote of five board members. Three of the five chose to close the school. Two of the board members urged their counterparts to reconsider, but the three board members who voted for school closure were adamant in their decision.

Northfork High School was to be no more.

The students of Northfork High organized a mass walk out once the news came and even organized a protest against the Board’s decision. The community organized a small committee to hopefully change the board’s mind. It didn’t matter. All the kids in the county were squeezed into one school, Mt. View High School.

The adjustment was tough on the students and parents, according to my uncle Joe. “Cause you’ve got these communities that always rivaled against each other. And you’ve got their parents who always rooted against this other town, and now all of a sudden, your kids are all on the same team. It was… a lot of tension going on at Mt. View high school.”

After the school closed, the town slowly began to fade.

My uncle David says 1985 was when he really started to notice the decline. “’Cause if you aint got kids in the neighborhood and you ain’t doing no business in your own town, that drags everything down.That was real personal that they closed the school. That was really heartbreaking that they closed the school like that.”

When Northfork High closed, the trophies were moved to the local Northfork Museum. After that building began to fall into disrepair, they were then moved to City Hall, where they reside to this day. Years of accomplishments now sit in a tiny bank vault in city hall.

Northfork and McDowell County as a whole have seen some rough times. A majority of the coal mines in McDowell county ceased production. In 2001, violent floods tore through the community, taking with it a majority of the remaining infrastructure, as well as the population.

When Northfork High School closed, it was made into a middle school. The school was closed permanently in 2002.

This story wasn’t an isolated incident. Small towns all around southern West Virginia seem to be just barely hanging on. State lawmakers grapple with population loss and how devastating it is to the West Virginia economy.

Northfork was a powerhouse of a town. From the economic wealth from coal production, to the athletic achievements that garnered national attention from across the country, it’s easy to forget that without the community of people that made up this small coal town, none of this would’ve been possible.

Author’s Note: During the production of this story, my uncle Joe passed away following a sudden illness. I’m grateful that I had time to sit down with him and recount his career as a basketball player, a coach and educator. This story is dedicated to his memory.

Editor’s Note: This story is part of an Inside Episode episode about school closure and its impact on sports teams, as well as the pride community residents have in their local schools.

West Virginia County to Combine 7 Schools into 4 Next Year

A West Virginia county has planned to combine seven primary schools into four next year to avoid deficit spending.

The Intelligencer reports the Brooke County Board of Education unanimously approved the consolidation on Monday.

Board treasurer Kimberly Puskarich told board President Brian Ferguson the school district would go into deficit spending by the end of the current fiscal year if it continued to operate the seven schools. Puskarich estimated the closings will save the district around $1 million by eliminating nearly 80 professional and service personnel not funded by the state.

In fall 2018, kindergarten through second grade students are set to attend schools to be renamed Brooke County Primary North and South, while third and fourth graders will go to ones renamed Brooke County Intermediate North and South.

West Virginia Court Upholds School Consolidation Rejection

The West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the state education board’s authority to reject Nicholas County’s plan to consolidate multiple schools into a single campus following flood damage.

In a ruling Tuesday, the court says the state board “is vested with the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory authority to exercise its discretion” in accepting or rejecting the county plan.

The Nicholas County school board proposed consolidating Summersville, Richwood and Craigsville schools into a single campus near Summersville using Federal Emergency Management Agency money from deadly 2016 floods.

It would put middle and high schools on one campus with the county’s vocational education center.

State board members said the county needed to get more community input and consider alternatives.

A Kanawha County judge reversed the state. The top court reversed the judge.

"I Won't Back Down" – Guns, Trump and School Consolidation

There’s a surprising correlation between guns and West Virginia’s Trump voters. Also, the fight over school consolidation goes to the Supreme Court. And our favorite Tom Petty songs. On this week’s Front Porch podcast.

Welcome to “The Front Porch,” where we tackle the tough issues facing Appalachia the same way you talk with your friends on the porch.

Hosts include WVPB Executive Director and recovering reporter Scott Finn; conservative lawyer, columnist and rabid “Sherlock” fan Laurie Lin; and liberal columnist and avid goat herder Rick Wilson, who works for the American Friends Service Committee.

An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available at wvpublic.org and as a podcast as well.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org

The Front Porch is underwritten by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Gazette-Mail. Find the latest news, traffic and weather on its CGM App. Download it in your app store, and check out its website: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/

Agency to Vote on Funding for Fayette School Consolidation

The West Virginia School Building Authority is set to vote on whether to provide funding for Fayette County’s school consolidation plan.

Fayette County is among 20 counties vying for funding for school construction projects. The authority plans to decide which projects will receive funding on Monday during its quarterly meeting in Charleston.

Fayette County’s school system is seeking up to $39.7 million from the authority to combine Fayetteville, Meadow Bridge, Midland Trail and Oak Hill high schools into a new school. The county would provide $17 million.

The authority had rejected the plan in September, citing a lack of local support. Authority members reversed the decision in November and agreed to consider the plan for funding.