High school student Rania Zuri has made it her mission to end book deserts in West Virginia. Book deserts are places without libraries and bookstores, threatening literacy rates for young children. A senior at Morgantown High School, Zuri founded the LiTEArary Society to provide books to preschool children across West Virginia.
When Renate Pore looked into the state’s history ratifying the 19th amendment – which ultimately granted women the right to vote – she was surprised to learn what had gone on in 1920 in the West Virginia Legislature.
The story revolves around missing state Sen. Jesse Bloch of Wheeling, who had gone to California on vacation while the legislature was in a deadlocked vote on the amendment. Bloch returned to West Virginia to break the tie in favor of women’s voting rights.
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West Virginia Sen. Jesse Bloch played a major role in the state legislature ratifying the 19th amendment.
“After I did all that research, I thought, ‘This would make a really fun play,’” Pore, 79, said.
She began looking into the story as the country was getting ready to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage, and after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pore’s idea will come to the stage this weekend in Charleston. The show runs Oct. 14-15 and begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Culture Center.
Pore teamed up with West Virginia playwright Dan Kehde and director Susan Marsh-Minnerly.
“We hope we can make this story accessible, and we hope young people will come out and think about how important the right to vote is and how hard women (and some men, too) worked 100 years ago to make this happen in our country,” Pore said.
On this West Virginia Morning, a question facing West Virginia is whether we have enough people to fill the new jobs coming into the state. Government Reporter Randy Yohe explored the issue in a discussion with the chairmen of the Senate and House Workforce committees Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, and Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell.
In 2022, state tourism revenue set an all time record with $5 billion in traveler spending. “Almost Heaven” was on full display as Tourism Day filled the State Capitol rotunda halls on Monday.