West Virginia

Morrisey’s political calculation on immunization – WV MetroNews

Published

6 months ago

June 26, 2025

Morrisey’s political calculation on immunization – WV MetroNews

Governor Patrick Morrisey continues to double down on his opposition to the West Virginia state law requiring all children entering school for the first time to show proof of immunization. This week, Morrisey endorsed a lawsuit filed by a Raleigh County mother challenging the law.

At a stop in Beckley Tuesday, Morrisey stood behind a podium with a “Protecting Religious Liberty” sign, and he said, “This is about our core religious liberties, and once you start giving that up that’s a pretty significant issue for our state and our country.”

Morrisey has been on the losing end of this fight for months. The Republican dominated House of Delegates defeated a bill (42-56) that would have allowed for religious and philosophical exemptions to the vaccine. Then the state Board of Education voted to direct Superintendent Michele Blatt to give guidance to county schools to follow the existing law that allows for only medical exemptions, thus ignoring Morrisey’s executive order from January allowing parents to opt out of their children’s immunizations on “religious or conscientious grounds.”

You would think Morrisey would have gotten the message. So, why is he continuing his very public fight? The answer lies in politics, not policy.

Polls consistently show the public favors immunization. For example, an Annenberg Poll in May found that 87 percent of Americans say the benefit of childhood measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination outweigh any potential risks.

However, a vast majority of Americans (84 percent, according to a poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs) say religious freedom is extremely or very important to them. And that is how Morrisey is framing the issue.

That approach is consistent with his actions as state Attorney General. He took on issues that he knew would resonate with the Republican base and framed them as his fight for West Virginia values and against the “woke agenda.”

Imagine a political ad if/when Morrisey runs for re-election or mounts a US Senate campaign. It might sound something like this: “When I was Attorney General, I fought against Obama’s EPA and won, and while Governor, I fought unelected bureaucrats who wanted to take away your religious freedom.”

Most voters will not have the time or inclination to look deeper and learn that the “religious freedom” argument was really about the effort to roll back the protection of our children against debilitating diseases.

The lawsuit Morrisey is backing was filed by a Raleigh County mother who is trying to enroll her 4-year-old daughter in school. Miranda Guzman’s lawsuit states that she is not opposed to medication when an intervention is necessary, but she “sincerely believes that God designed her child’s immune system with special care and with the well-designed ability to counteract disease (even though it is not fail-proof), and to preemptively alter that immune system would demonstrate a lack of faith in God.”

One could reasonably counter that God has guided the hands and minds of scientists and doctors who have developed and implemented life-saving vaccines, but we can save that argument for another day. The courts can sort that out.

Governor Morrisey has learned through his successful campaigns for Attorney General and now for Governor what works for him. His opposition to mandatory immunizations—framed as a fight for religious freedom—is another in his series of political calculations.

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West Virginia

West Virginia First Foundation lauds Wheeling police for crisis intervention success

Published

2 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

West Virginia First Foundation lauds Wheeling police for crisis intervention success

WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.

Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.

“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”

WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.

“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.

The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.

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West Virginia

Where West Virginia’s Decommits in the 2026 Recruiting Class Signed & What Happened

Published

14 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Where West Virginia’s Decommits in the 2026 Recruiting Class Signed & What Happened

Now that you know about West Virginia’s 2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.

What happened, and where did they go?

QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)

McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.

RB Jett Walker (Texas)

Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later

WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)

Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.

OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)

The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.

LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)

Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).

LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)

Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.

CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)

Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.

S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)

West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.

S Jaylon Jones (undecided)

Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.

S Taj Powell (Louisville)

Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.

West Virginia

West Virginia National Guard member killed in DC laid to rest

Published

1 day ago

December 10, 2025

Press Room

West Virginia National Guard member killed in DC laid to rest

A West Virginia National Guard member who was fatally shot last month in the nation’s capital was laid to rest with full military honors in a private ceremony.

Spc. Sarah Beckstrom’s funeral took place Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.

“The ceremony was deeply moving and reflected the strength, grace, and love of a remarkable young woman and the family and friends who surrounded her,” Morrisey said.

Beckstrom graduated with honors from Webster County High School in 2023 and joined the National Guard several weeks later. She served in the 863rd Military Police Company.

Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House on Nov. 26. She died the next day.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty.

Morrisey has said Wolfe, who remains in a hospital in Washington, is slowly healing and his family expects he will be in acute care for another few weeks.

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