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The hillbilly stereotype is frequently used to shame mountain people, but there are gentler versions, like Snuffy Smith, the long-running comic strip character. Snuffy Smith originally started out as a supporting character in his comic strip, which first launched in 1919 when Billy DeBeck created Barney Google. Artist Fred Lasswell was brought in during the ‘30s to create Snuffy Smith and his friends. And now the strip is written and drawn by John Rose, who lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, Curtis Tate caught up with two committee chairs: Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, the chair of House Human Services, and Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, the chair of Senate Finance. They spoke about the most pressing issues in their committees, including foster care and the state budget.
Also, advocates for survivors of sexual violence hope the state will continue supporting crisis programs. They’re also backing a bill to target “sextortion,” and finding traction in the state legislature.
In the Senate, lawmakers heard from more than 10 speakers from across the country while discussing Senate Bill 545. The bill would ban certain food additives from school nutritional programs, in what lawmakers are calling the West Virginia Feed to Achieve Act.
West Virginia code tends to favor local control of schools via county boards of education. Last year, lawmakers took an initial step to raise the training standards for board members. As Chris Schulz reports, they are revisiting the topic this year.
And West Virginia’s legislature has a Republican supermajority. The Senate has the highest percentage of Republicans of any state legislative chamber in the nation. Before the start of this year’s session, Briana Heaney sat down with political science professors and legislators to discuss the impacts of the state’s supermajority.
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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
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Two different groups, one representing West Virginia Republicans, the other from the Democratic Caucus of the West Virginia House of Delegates, are both calling on Gov. Patrick Morrisey to address skyrocketing gas prices.
BridgeValley Community and Technical College is expanding workforce development programs in highway construction and welding thanks to federal and state grants.
Two coal miners died in separate underground accidents last Thursday evening and Friday morning. The West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health Safety and Training has released its initial findings.
The economy is everything we buy or sell and services we use. It can be a broad category and most of us struggle to understand what it all means. The show "Planet Money" from NPR dives into those topics and attempts to make sense of it. And now, the show has published a book called Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. We speak with the author and one of the program's hosts.
