West Virginia
‘It was like a heartbeat’: Residents at a loss after newspaper shutters in declining coal county
Months after Missy Nester ended The Welch News’ 100-year run, she can barely stand to walk through the office doors of the newspaper her mother taught her to read with growing up in West Virginia’s southern coalfields. It’s still too painful.
The Welch News owner and publisher’s desk is covered with unpaid bills and her own paychecks — a year’s worth — she never cashed. Phones that used to ring through the day have gone silent. Tables covered with typewriters, awards and a century’s worth of other long-abandoned artifacts are reminders that her beloved paper has become an artifact, too.
Wiping away tears, Nester said she wishes people understood why she fought so hard to protect the last remaining news outlet in her community, and why it feels like the people left behind by the journalism industry are often those who need it most.
“Our people here have nothing,” said Nester, 57. “Like, can any of y’all hear us out here screaming?”
In March, the McDowell County weekly became another one of the thousands of U.S. newspapers that have shuttered since 2005, a crisis Nester called “terrifying for democracy” and one that disproportionately impacts rural Americans like her.
Residents suddenly have no way of knowing what’s going on at public meetings, which are not televised, nor are minutes or recordings posted online. Even basic tasks, like finding out about church happenings, have become challenging. The paper printed pages of religious events and directories every week and that hasn’t been replaced.
Local crises, like the desperately needed upgrade of water and sewer systems, are going unreported. And there is no one to keep disinformation in check, like when the newspaper published a series of stories that dispelled the rumors of election tampering at local precincts during last year’s May primaries.
“It was like a heartbeat, like a thread that ran through the community,” said World War II veteran Howard Wade, a retired professor specializing in Black history.
Sitting on a rocking chair in pajama pants in his ranch house at the base of lush, green hills, Wade said he hasn’t read any news since the paper stopped printing. He’s worried about the county history the newspaper chronicled throughout his life. At 97, he was born three years after it opened its doors in 1923.
The decline of American newspapers is well-documented. The people most impacted tend to be older, low-income and less likely to have graduated high school or college than people living in well-covered communities.
For McDowell residents, the news was still a shock. Many said they didn’t realize how much they depended on the paper until it was gone.
Sarah Hall, the first Black prosecutor elected in McDowell County in the 1980s, said it’s tragic when any community loses its newspaper. But for communities like hers, it’s detrimental.
The 535-square-mile (1,385-square-kilometer) county is dominated by rugged mountain terrain, where residents live miles apart in hollers connected by winding roads and no interstate access, leaving people isolated. Cell and internet service is inconsistent — or nonexistent — and there are no locally-based radio or television stations.
“We’re in a unique situation because our community is unique,” she said. “We have no other substantial way of communicating.”
It bothers Hall not to know about decisions county commissioners are making with taxpayer money and she misses the legal notices the paper published informing residents about developments like utility rate increases. With the school year set to start, she’s worried families won’t know about a ministry program in early August providing free school supplies.
For Nester and her staff of three, the grief of closing the paper has felt impossible to confront after years of sacrifices, both financial and personal. Nester took out a loan and scraped together all the money she could in 2018 to save it, the crumbling building with a caving roof, cracked walls and a 1966 Goss printing press in the basement.
The Welch News team felt buoyed as protectors of democracy in a place where people sometimes feel forgotten or overlooked by the rest of the country.
Sprawling across the Cumberland Mountains of Appalachia, McDowell County was once seen as a symbol of American progress: the self-proclaimed “Heart of the Nation’s Coal Bin” was the world’s largest coal producer and attracted thousands of European immigrants and Black families fleeing the Jim Crow South looking for work and a better life.
In 1950, nearly 100,000 people lived in McDowell, and a fourth of that population was Black, unconventional in the predominately white state. The county earned the moniker the “Free State of McDowell” because of the lack of segregation and unprecedented Black representation in government.
Today, 80% of the 17,850 remaining residents are white, still making it one of West Virginia’s most diverse counties. It’s also the poorest, with some of the lowest graduation and life expectancy rates in the nation. A third of all McDowell County residents live in poverty. The per capita income is $15,474.
Over the years, the county lost big box stores, schools, thousands of jobs and people. But it still had its newspaper — one that tracked government spending, published elections, spelling bee and basketball game results and spreads with color photos and biographies of every member of the graduating class.
Now, because many older residents don’t use the internet, they are missing crucial information the newspaper would have reported on. A pandemic-era meal service for seniors was cut, and there was no easy way to inform residents. People who relied on the obituaries have struggled keeping up with loved ones’ deaths.
“Now when people die, a lot of people don’t even realize they’re dead,” said Deputy Magistrate Court Clerk Virginia Dickerson, 79, while on a break outside her office, watching coal trucks lumber by.
Dickerson, who delivered the paper when she was growing up, said losing the paper was like “losing a family member.”
“Anything that happen usually in the community and anywhere in McDowell County, it would be in that paper. Without no paper, you can’t find out nothing,” she said.
Paulina Breeden, who works behind the counter at the sole gas station in the neighboring community of Maybeury, said people still come in and ask about the paper. She’s the one who has to inform them it’s closed. They’re often incredulous.
“They say, ‘Oh, really? Are you serious?’ I mean, they were shocked,” she said.
Breeden said she trusted the information she read in The Welch News: “You hear a lot, and I know maybe in there it’s not the actual truth,” she said of rumors around town. “Let’s just read the newspaper.”
The political and socioeconomic implications of the newspaper’s closure are widespread, but not always immediately visible. Although the county is now without a local news source, residents are no strangers to news coverage — often by national outlets that focus on the poverty rate, opioid use, infrastructure woes and the declining coal industry.
The paper was a vital platform for residents to tell their story from their perspective — a lifeline for a community that’s often been misrepresented and misunderstood.
Shawn Jenkins, a pharmacy owner who works down the street from The Welch News, said he feels national coverage of McDowell County — and West Virginia in general — is overly “political, unfair and often negative.” But he never felt that way about the local newspaper.
“I never saw anything that really raised my hackles. I thought they were pretty much center line, which is the exception these days,” he said, adding that he advertised in the paper. “I wanted them to survive.”
Before Nester took over in 2018, the paper ran summaries of local government meetings written up by a county employee. That changed when 32-year-old Derek Tyson, the paper’s single reporter and editor, began covering meetings. The attention seemed to bother some local officials, who would call late at night to grumble about stories. The city of Welch declined to comment on the newspaper’s closure.
Without the paper and its journalist asking questions, residents are going to find it harder to stay informed about things that matter locally, Nester said.
“I think that’s unfair to the people that live in the community,” she said.
One of the major stories the paper was following for years is the work of the McDowell Public Service District, which focuses on upgrading systems in coal communities with aging infrastructure. For decades, some people in the county relied on mountain streams polluted with mine runoff because of disintegrating — or completely absent — systems. Others, like those in the majority-Black community of Keystone, lived under a boil water advisory for 10 years — a nearly unheard-of length of time — until the district replaced the water lines under two years ago.
Now, long-awaited federal support is expected to go out to communities with the passage of the historic bipartisan infrastructure act. But the paper won’t be there to cover it.
The void created by the disappearance of The Welch News is being filled by cable news and social media, something that deeply concerns Tyson. Much of what he sees circulating locally on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets is unverified.
The newspaper used to act as a counter to that misinformation. During last year’s May primary, rumors ran rampant on Facebook about election tampering after some residents arrived at long-time precincts on voting day to find their names missing from the poll books.
Tyson wrote multiple stories digging into the claims and clarifying that the confusion was caused by an issue with state Secretary of State’s voter database. Although people were forced to vote in different locations or to cast provisional ballots, all votes were counted.
During one meeting among local officials discussing the issue, a county commissioner said he believed the lack of daily news sources in the county contributed to the misinformation’s spread. He credited The Welch News for its work.
When Nester was raising her three children as a single mother in the 1990s and 2000s, the county’s older residents would stop by her house on surprise visits with meals and cash they’d tape to her front door. Many of the people who read the newspaper are aging, she said.
During her time at the newspaper, delivery drivers would drop off bread and milk with The Welch News at some houses, along with other essentials.
“I saw keeping the paper going as a way to repay them — or to try to — for everything they did to take care of me,” she said.
——
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West Virginia hung tough for large stretches of Wednesday’s clash against 10th-ranked Houston at Fertitta Center.
Ultimately, the Cougars’ offensive efficiency and ability to generate stops — particularly in the latter stages of the contest — ruled out in helping the home team claim a 70-54 victory.
“It seemed like every mistake we made defensively, they burned us on them,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “That was a credit to them. They’re a really good team with really good players. We got it down there several times and weren’t able to get us that next big play to get us back to even.”
The Mountaineers (12-4, 3-2) got off to a solid start thanks in large part to Javon Small’s trio of three-pointers within a span of four possessions. The last one gave WVU a 15-12 lead, and the advantage grew to 18-13 moments later when freshman Jonathan Powell made a challenged triple.
But Houston (13-3, 5-0) countered with 11 unanswered points, tying the game at 18 on an L.J. Cryer triple and going in front for good when Emanuel Sharp connected from long range.
J’Wan Roberts gave the Mountaineers problems in and around the paint throughout the night, and his short jumper 6:10 before halftime made it a double-digit margin for the first time as the Cougars led, 31-21.
WVU’s deficit was 36-27 following a Sencire Harris bucket, but Roberts accounted for the final four points of the half to send Houston to the intermission with a 13-point advantage.
“We came into the game playing 1-on-1 on the interior and he made us pay for that,” DeVries said. “We doubled a couple times and he made us pay for that, too. He’s a really good player and he puts you in some tough positions and surrounded with really good pieces on top of that. We were hanging around and had a really good rhythm to the game. Those costly turnovers were a big key.”
Toby Okani and Powell opened the second half with threes on WVU’s first two possessions, and when Harris converted a fast break opportunity on the next one, the Mountaineers were to within five at 40-35.
Although Houston built its advantage back up to 49-36, West Virginia got three threes and 12 points from Amani Hansberry over a matter of 2:38 to pull to within 51-48.
Houston countered with 14 unanswered points to put the game out of reach, starting with a Ja’Vier Francis dunk and later getting a conventional three-point play from Milos Uzan and a Terrance Arceneaux three.
Hansberry accounted for six of WVU’s nine second-half field goals, and nobody else on the Mountaineers made a basket over the final 18 minutes.
“Javon got off to a great start and in the second half, we weren’t able to get him loose quite as much. A couple times, maybe he came off some staggers and things that he had a little bit of a look, but they close so quickly that we couldn’t get him free as much,” DeVries said. “We were able to get Amani a little separated because they were putting two to the ball and Javon. We got some looks there that he was able to knock down to get us back in that game.”
Houston shot 25 for 51 and 11 of 26 on threes.
The Cougars scored 25 points off WVU 12 turnovers, while the Mountaineers managed nine points off seven Cougar turnovers.
“They did a great job capitalizing on our turnovers,” DeVries said. “We didn’t have a lot of them. Twelve is a higher number than we’d like, and the ones we did turnover were a lot of live ball turnovers that they were able to get down in transition. We made some mistakes on some ball screens and went under a few and gave some pretty clean looks there and they capitalized on them and really made us pay.”
Roberts made 10-of-13 shots and led all players with 22 points. Cryer added five of his team’s 11 threes and scored 18, while Sharp added 14.
Hansberry led WVU with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Small scored 13 to go with a game-high eight assists.
Houston has yet to allow more than 57 points in a Big 12 game this season.
West Virginia
Democrats want WV Supreme Court to clarify House seat vacated over man's house arrest – WV MetroNews
West Virginia’s Democratic Party wants the state Supreme Court to weigh in over a House of Delegates move to vacate a seat won by a Berkeley County man who is now confined at his home on charges that he threatened people who would have been his legislative colleagues.
The filing by Democrats contends the House of Delegates acted inconsistently by vacating the seat won by Joseph de Soto since he was among seven elected delegates who were not present to take the oath of office on an organizational day last week — but he was the only one knocked out in perpetuity.
De Soto was elected as a Republican but changed his political affiliation to Democrat the day before he was arrested. Democrats say West Virginia precedent means a Democrat should be named to fill the seat.
“This is not just about one seat,” said Mike Pushkin, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “This is about defending the rule of law and ensuring that the people of District 91 have their rightful representation in the House of Delegates. The actions taken by the House of Delegates undermine the integrity of our democratic process.”
The writ of mandamus filed with the West Virginia Supreme Court names House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and Gov. Patrick Morrisey, each in their official capacity.
Debate broke out on the House floor a week ago, Jan. 8, over whether the proper, constitutional procedure was being followed as the seat won by de Soto was vacated.
De Soto was arrested in December and charged with making threats of terrorist acts, referring to statements he is accused of making to several delegates. He is listed as a pre-trial felon.
Because de Soto was not present with most other delegates to take the oath of office last week, he was not seated.
Members of the House of Delegates then went a step farther by introducing a resolution to declare the seat vacant. Conceivably, that would allow a new representative to be selected prior to the start of the 60-day regular session on Feb. 12.
The vacancy was declared on the grounds of Article XI, Section 16 of the West Virginia Constitution. A key portion of that section says: “Any member who shall refuse to take the oath herein prescribed, shall forfeit his seat.”
Debate among some delegates then focused on whether de Soto’s failure to take the oath of office because of the arrest and home confinement constitutes refusal to do so.
That’s a point that the Democratic Party has asked the state Supreme Court to resolve.
A question being directed to the justices is “Whether the House of Delegates can declare vacant the seat of a duly elected,
qualified, and ready-to-serve delegate for reasons related to misconduct.”
Another question has focused on the party of the delegate to be appointed to replace de Soto. The final line of the resolution designates the Republican Executive Committee of Berkeley County to begin action on the vacancy.
The rational of the Republican supermajority in the House is that because de Soto was never officially seated, the fact that he had registered as a Democrat weeks prior to this would have no bearing on the situation.
The Democrats are seeking clarity from the Supreme Court.
They are asking justices if a person holding the office immediately preceding a declared vacancy in a House of Delegate seat would include a person who was duly elected, assumed office on Dec. 1 following the election, as provided in West Virginia state code, but who had not yet taken the oath of office.
The Berkeley County Democratic Executive Committee says it has gone ahead and submitted this list of qualified nominees for Governor Morrisey’s consideration:
- David Michaels – Hedgesville, WV
- Stephen Willingham – Hedgesville, WV
- Timothy Lee – Inwood, WV
“It’s imperative that the law and the constitution be followed in this matter,” said Tammy Offutt, chair of the Berkeley County Democratic Executive Committee.
“We expect the Governor to respect the clear requirements of West Virginia law by appointing one of the three above-named individuals to fill the 91st Delegate District seat.”
State Republican Party Chairman Matthew Herridge responded by saying, “The West Virginia Republican Party is concluding its legislative vacancy nomination process for the 91st District this week, and that will be submitted to Governor Morrisey for his appointment.”
West Virginia
Community Care of West Virginia receives $500,000 from Biden-Harris Administration to expand hours of operation
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently announced a $60 million investment in 125 HRSA-funded community health centers that serve nearly 4.2 million people to expand their hours of operation to improve access to health care services.
Community Care of West Virginia received $500,000 in funding.
Health centers receiving this new funding will add an additional 20 hours of operation a week on average to support the critical clinical and administrative staff necessary to add early morning (before work), night and weekend hours.
Since health centers see patients regardless of their ability to pay, this expansion of operating hours will be particularly critical for people who are uninsured, underinsured, or have Medicaid coverage and struggle to find affordable care outside of traditional business hours and cannot afford expensive visits to urgent care, retail clinics or emergency departments. This funding will also help health center patients with common challenges in accessing health care such as taking a child to the doctor after work or getting a timely appointment when not feeling well on the weekend. It will help connect patients to preventive services and resources for health-related social needs to improve health outcomes. Many patients currently forgo care altogether in these circumstances, putting their health at greater risk and leading to more expensive visits to emergency departments when conditions get more serious.
“No one should have to delay or skip a trip to the doctor because of work or school. The millions of Americans who can’t miss their daytime work shift, whose kids are in school, who have limited child care, or who face transportation challenges deserve the same access to quality care,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These investments will help to extend operating hours, especially for patients in rural or underserved communities nationwide. I’m proud to be part of an Administration that leaves nobody behind.”
“Today’s action is another example of the Biden-Harris Administration taking action to address the challenges families face in getting health care services,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “Having the option to get to the doctor before or after work or on the weekend not only helps families get the care they need, but it also helps relieve some of the stress and burden on families trying to arrange care. HRSA’s investment is expanding access to care in a way that recognizes the day-to-day realities of working families across the country.”
HRSA-supported health centers provide access to primary care services — regardless of an individual’s ability to pay — for over 31 million patients at more than 15,000 service sites in high need communities. More than 90 percent of health center patients have incomes below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
For a list of the awardees, visit: https://bphc.hrsa.gov/funding/funding-opportunities/expanded-hours/fy-25-awards
To find a health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov
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