On this West Virginia Morning, proposed updates to the health care plan for West Virginia state employees would raise premium and copay costs.
On this West Virginia Morning, proposed updates to the health care plan for West Virginia state employees would raise premium and copay costs. At a series of public hearings held by the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) this month, attendees shared feelings of concern, frustration and disappointment over a possible rate hike. Emily Rice tells us more.
Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is almost upon us. As families nationwide gather for holiday meals, one post-election dinner hosted by Us & Them might foreshadow the awkward political conversations that could arise.
Also in this episode, we hear about efforts to restore habitat cover for a wild bird species, the loss of federal protections for some agricultural workers and the importance of preparing for tax season well in advance.
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.
West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. 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
West Virginia’s Attorney General is warning holiday shoppers to stay alert as scams ramp up during the busy Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping rush.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is urging consumers to stay vigilant during the busy holiday shopping season to avoid falling victim to seasonal scams. With the surge of shopping activity around Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Morrisey warns that scammers are eager to exploit unsuspecting shoppers.
“Whether you’re shopping online or in stores, the holiday season provides scammers with opportunities to steal identities or money,” Morrisey said. “Be vigilant with your personal information to keep it out of their hands.”
Morrisey recommends limiting the use of debit cards and instead using credit cards, which offer stronger protections for disputing charges if goods or services fail to arrive. Debit cards, he noted, provide no special protections and are equivalent to cash.
For online shoppers, the attorney general advises verifying the legitimacy of websites and coupons. Consumers should be cautious of sites with spelling errors, low-quality images, or mismatched URLs. Secure payment systems should be used, and shoppers should ensure websites begin with “https://” which indicates a secure page.
In-store shoppers are advised to leave Social Security cards at home, lock purchases in their trunks and watch for card skimmers.
Skimming occurs when devices illegally installed on or inside ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, or fuel pumps capture card data and record cardholders’ PIN entries.
Morrisey also recommends the use of RFID-blocking wallets to protect against electronic pickpocketing.
Anyone who suspects they have been scammed is encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808 or visit the office online at www.ago.wv.gov.
In the spring, morel hunters in Virginia take to the woods in search of mushrooms that look like little Christmas trees. Some people freeze them for later. Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch asked foragers and chefs for lessons on harvesting and preparing this beloved fungi.
This story originally aired in the Nov. 17, 2024 episode of Inside Appalachia.
Morels grow in April and sometimes into May throughout most of Appalachia. These were harvested by Adam Boring.
Photo Credit: Adam Boring
Morel mushrooms are popular in Appalachia, where people here have been eating them for generations. Morels are not always easy to find, though.
“Yeah, they’re definitely one of the more difficult mushrooms, I think, to find,” says Virginia Master Naturalist Adam Boring.
Adam Boring is a Virginia Master Naturalist specializing in mushrooms. He visited Wytheville in April 2024 to hunt mushrooms in Jefferson National Forest at the edge of Virginia and North Carolina.
Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public BroadcastingBoring’s mushroom lab is at his grandmother’s house in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. He has studied mushrooms for six years.
Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Boring grew up in the town of Appalachia in southwest Virginia. He became a recognized expert by learning from experienced hunters. After his first mushroom hike in 2018, he began reading all the information he could find about fungi in central Appalachia.
“I joined the Virginia Master Naturalists, and at the end of my training class, there was nobody who taught a mycology course,” Boring says. “And one of the other Master Naturalists, he said, ‘Hey, Adam, you seem to like mushrooms, you should teach a class for us.’ I just kind of dove headfirst and didn’t look back.”
To find the elusive morels, Boring recommends looking for a poplar or sycamore tree, and then nudging leaves with one’s toes until something that looks like a tiny tree or a beehive appears. Morels tend to be small, so it’s easy to miss them in the leaf litter, Boring says.
Morels are easy to miss in leaf litter. They can be very small.
Photo Credit: Adam Boring
“Sycamore leaves are very big and bulky and create a deep layer of leaves, and they can hide underneath those leaves. You can walk over them and never even know that you’ve found them until you accidentally kick over the leaves and expose them.”
If one is lucky enough to see a mushroom emerge from the leaf litter, check carefully to see if the mushroom is more rounded than pointy, resembling an ear or a brain. Those are likely false morels.
It’s common for first-timers to head home empty-handed, says Elissa Powers.
Elissa Powers is a native of Pound, Virginia. She learned to hunt morels as a child with her family.
Photo Credit: Elissa Powers
Powers was raised in Pound, Virginia, in a coal community called Bold Camp. Her father is a renowned morel hunter. He taught his three daughters all the tricks of the craft.
“We would just pack up on a Saturday morning if the weather conditions had been right for it in the month of April,” she says. “And we would just pack up the whole family and go, and I remember being taught that when you see the first one, you’ll know where to find the rest. And it’s hard to explain. But it’s very true,” she says.
The Mullins-Powers cousins prepare to hunt morels circa 1979. Elissa Powers is on the shoulders of her cousin Michael Mullins.
Photo Credit: Walter Powers
Powers found her first morel at about age eight and has been finding them ever since, in season, and usually in company with other family members. She has fond memories of these annual hunts while growing up.
“It was a treat. It was special. It was seasonal. I’m 47 years old. We’ve done this all our lives. My entire family does it. Both sides of the family.”
Powers’ father taught her to bring home the morels, but it was her mother who taught her how to fry them up in a pan. In her home kitchen, Powers demonstrates how to run a sink full of water, add salt, and submerge the mushrooms. Leave them to soak for at least an hour, she says.
“I have never had them cleaned any other way besides the saltwater soak, and I’m probably not very interested in any other way, either, after I’ve seen the water – the things that come out of them.”
Morels can hide many bugs, including tiny snails. A salt soak is essential. Photo Credit: Adam Boring
Those “things” include spiders, mites and centipedes, so don’t skimp on the soak. Next, slice the morels in half. This is both a final safety measure and what gives them their nickname of “dry land fish.” Sliced lengthwise, a true morel should resemble a gutted fish. Its stem will be hollow.
“If it’s not hollow, you do not have a real morel,” Powers says. “Cut them in half lengthwise, and that way you can get anything that has crawled up in there out. You do not want to be visiting a whole morel that is hosting a family of centipedes. You will never forget that, and you’ll never forget to split them open and clean them again.”
A morel sliced lengthwise will resemble a gutted fish. Note its characteristic hollow stem, a final safety check on whether you have a true morel, and the reason for its nickname of “dry land fish.” Also note that unclean morels can house ants as well as snails.
Photo Credit: Adam Boring
The Powers family has been known to consume more than 30 dry land fish in one sitting, so leftover morel storage was rarely an issue. But morels do freeze well if you cook them first, Powers says.
“You can keep them, but since they’re a mushroom you can’t just pop them into the freezer. Because once the little ice crystals form they’re gonna destroy the cells and you’re gonna be pulling mush out of the freezer later. But if you prepare them, clean them and cook them oily as you are going to consume them, and then put them in the freezer, they will be good.”
Indefinitely, Powers adds. Her family often pulls them out for Thanksgiving celebrations six months after freezing – if they can keep them that long without digging into them.
“I am not sure how many morels I’ve eaten in my lifetime. But I’m sure it’s more than most people have ever seen. I would say now, in my adult years, where my dad – my morel concierge – brings them to me, I’ve probably got a couple of dozen a year at most,” Powers says.
Over in Abingdon, Virginia, Ben Carroll would like to see more people eating morels. He is the owner and executive chef at Rain Restaurant, open only for evening meals and renowned for upscale dining.
Carroll triages how he cooks morels according to size.
Rain Restaurant offers evening-only fine dining in Abingdon, Virginia. Chef Ben Carroll uses traditional Appalachian ingredients and cooking methods in some of his famous creations.
Photo Credit: Ben Carroll
“If they’re little bitty guys that are as big as the tip of your thumb, then you just keep them whole. And then you would just batter and fry them like you would any kind of battered mushroom,” Caroll says.
The big ones, he uses to explore culinary creativity.
“You can stuff them. We’ve made mousse before – used a little piping bag to fill them with some type of filling, and then you bread them and fry them. They’re good that way, either like a cheese filling or a pâté kind of filling.”
He does not suggest serving morels raw, though. Caroll considers it a safety issue – and a matter of taste: morels are better cooked.
Just remember, safety first: go with an experienced morel hunter, and never eat any mushroom not properly identified and prepared.
The Folkways Reporting Project is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts and culture.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, more stores are closing on Thanksgiving — and staying closed until the next morning for Black Friday. These stores will be closed on Thanksgiving: Best Buy, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby, Kroger, Walgreens, non-24 hour CVS, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Marshalls, PetCo, PetSmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, Piggly Wiggly and Aldi.
Updated on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 at 10:45 a.m.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, more stores are closing on Thanksgiving — and staying closed until the next morning for Black Friday.
These stores will be closed on Thanksgiving: Best Buy, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby, Kroger, Walgreens, non-24 hour CVS, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Marshalls, PetCo, Petsmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, Piglet Wiggly and Aldi.
Bridget Lambert, president of the West Virginia Retailers Association said this is part of a growing trend of stores to close on, and around the holidays since the pandemic.
“Traditionally, retailers have started closing more in the last three or four years,” Lambert said. “So yes, a lot of the larger retailers will be closed Thanksgiving Day. The grocery chains, some of them are open during the day, but will be closing early in the evening so that their employees will have time to spend with their families.”
Piggly Wiggly and Kroger will be open until 4 p.m. Twenty-four hour CVS’s will only be open until 5 p.m. Walgreens usual 24 hour pharmacy will be open with varied hours.
Lambert said this change is part of a cultural shift in attitudes about work life balance from major retailers.
“They certainly want to meet their customer demands, but also know the needs of their employees,” Lambert said.
Lambert said the trend has been on the rise, and she expects that it will continue into the future.
An estimated 710,000 drivers will pass through the West Virginia Turnpike toll booths over the six day Thanksgiving holiday period.
An estimated 710,000 drivers will pass through the West Virginia Turnpike toll booths over the six day Thanksgiving holiday period.
Like the rest of the country, Wednesday and Sunday are expected to be the busiest of the six turnpike holiday travel days.
Parkways Authority Executive Director Jeff Miller said motorists should watch for traffic flaggers at the toll booths. He suggested those drivers without an EZ Pass move to the right lanes with the $4.25 required toll at hand.
“Don’t just stay on that left side and help disperse the traffic evenly throughout all the tolling booths,” Miller said. “We always encourage everyone to participate in our EZ Pass program. Not only is it a great discount offered at $26.25 a year for unlimited travel, but it really does provide for the fastest throughput of traffic through the tolling facilities, and really benefits everyone, even on our operations side of the process.”
Miller said if you need assistance on the turnpike, dial star (*) S-P, and a courtesy patrol member or a state police cruiser will be there within minutes.
“If you happen to run out of gas, we’ll get you a little bit of gas to get you off an exit to get filled up or if you have a flat tire,” Miller said. “It’s just such a busy time of year and there’s so much traffic that we just absolutely do not want anybody to be stuck on the side of the roadway while they’re trying to get to their friends or family to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner – or upon their return.”
Miller requested that motorists who exit the turnpike toll booths, exercise patience, caution and respect for other drivers who are merging back into regular traffic.
“Be cognizant of the speed limit signs as you go through the tolling facilities and try not to cut anybody off,” he said.
Miller said there are no construction projects on the turnpike planned for this time of year.
“There’s a requirement that traffic construction must be picked up or completed right before Thanksgiving to allow for use of the roadway,” he said. “If there is anything that does occur, just know that it is on an emergency basis and something that has to be done right away.”
Miller said West Virginia drivers can stop by the Beckley EZ Pass center or our Charleston EZ Pass center and sign up for a pass on Tuesday, and it would be activated and ready for use on Wednesday.
To get an EZ Pass, or to renew an existing EZ Pass online, click HERE. In person EZ Pass applications can be made at the West Virginia Parkways Authority EZ Pass Customer Service Center, 3310 Piedmont Road in Charleston, or at the Beckley Customer Service Center located at 12 Pikeview Drive, Beckley.
This is a season when many people turn to family, friends and food. As we enter the end-of-the-year holidays, group celebrations are discouraged to reduce COVID-19 infections.
We are in uncertain times, dealing with many things that are out of our control. A contentious election and a global pandemic leave us divided and apart, while searching for comfort and familiarity.
While food traditions have changed this year, they can still bring joy. Our cuisine shares our legacy even when we aren’t physically together. On this episode of Us & Them a look at how people across the country seek to connect with others by adopting new food traditions.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.
