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Shepherdstown chef Mary Ellen Diaz, head chef of restaurant Alma Bea in Shepherdstown, is a finalist for the 2026 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast.
Reporter Roundtable Talks Budget, Energy And FOIA Legislation
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On this episode of The Legislature Today, the coal and natural gas industries play a large role in the state’s economy and the West Virginia Legislature pays close attention to what’s happening in terms of severance taxes, jobs and economic development. For our weekly reporter roundtable, WVPB reporters Briana Heaney and Curtis Tate are joined by Energy & Environment Reporter Sarah Elbeshbishi with the nonprofit newsroom Mountain State Spotlight.
The Senate met on Friday and passed several bills without discussion. Some of those had previously garnered debate. One such bill was House Bill 2172, adding an athletic trainer to the Board of Physical Therapy.
And each week throughout this legislative session, our high school reporters have filed stories that interest them as teens, but also as members of the community. This week, Emma Browning and Malia Saar wanted to look into legislation affecting the foster care system in the state.
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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.
Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
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A company that says it has patented a process to turn coal into environmentally friendly and valuable byproducts broke ground on a new facility in West Virginia on Thursday, April 2, 2026.
The discussion aimed to help the public better understand local and statewide impacts of data centers. What became clear throughout the night is that local leaders and community members feel ignored by the development process in place.
The West Virginia Legislature closed its 60-day session at midnight on March 14. Gov. Patrick Morrisey had 15 days, not counting Sundays, to sign, veto or allow the 306 bills the body passed to become law. That deadline passed Wednesday night.
A panel discussion consisting of community, political and data center industry leaders Tuesday night at Shepherd University has reignited the debate over local control of data center development in the state. Also, WorkForce West Virginia has released state unemployment figures for January. And, Amazon this week celebrated the grand openings of two news operations facilities in West Virginia.