West Virginia
West Virginia GOP majority pushes contentious bills arming teachers, restricting bathrooms, books
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s Republican-dominated Legislature pushed forward a slate of contentious bills Wednesday that would arm teachers, allow people to sue libraries over books that offend them and restrict where transgender kids can use the bathroom at school.
Described by conservatives as efforts to protect children while they learn, the legislation comes as GOP-led state Legislatures across the country are embracing bills expanding gun rights and restricting LGBTQ+ rights.
“This is the only way really that I can see to defend these students,” Republican Del. Bill Ridenour said before lawmakers in the House Education Committee greenlit the bill allowing K-12 public school staff with concealed carry licenses to volunteer to carry firearms on campuses.
All three bills are opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia. The state’s only LGBTQ+ advocacy organization has decried the bathroom and book proposals.
The bills that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools and bar transgender kids from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity were easily passed by a House legislative committee and must get approval from another before being advanced to the full chamber.
During the debate on the bathroom bill, Republicans shot down an amendment from a Democrat that would have allowed students to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their most current birth certificate.
No GOP lawmaker provided a detailed explaination about why they supported the measure, but lead sponsor and school teacher Del. Dave Foggin said people have complained at his school about students’ bathroom use. Democratic Del. Mike Pushkin, who is chair of the state’s minority party, said he wasn’t buying it.
“It’s not just harmless election year red meat type of legislation, because it does have the potential to harm children,” Pushkin said, adding that transgender youth are more likely to be bullied in a public restroom. At least 10 other states have laws restricting transgender students’ bathroom use.
In 2020, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Virginia school board’s transgender bathroom ban was unconstitutional. West Virginia is in the 4th Circuit’s jurisdiction.
During a public hearing hosted by the House Judiciary Committee, librarians, parents and teachers expressed fear and concern surrounding the book bill, which has yet to come before lawmakers for a vote. It would make schools, public libraries and museums criminally liable for distributing or displaying “obscene” materials to children.
Eli Baumwell, interim executive director for the ACLU of West Virginia, said existing legal precedent provides a narrow definition for proving obscenity that prohibits banning material that has cultural, educational or historical value.
Over the years, conservative officials across the country have increasingly tried to limit the type of books that children are exposed to, including books that address structural racism and LGBTQ+ issues. Last year alone, more than 120 different proposals were introduced in state legislatures targeting libraries, librarians, educators and access to materials, according to EveryLibrary, a national political action committee.
People speaking in favor of the proposed policy said kids are being exposed to immoral content at libraries and schools and read passages and showed photos in books checked out from their local or school libraries’ young adult section depicting sexual acts and sexual anatomy.
Carol Butler described a passage from “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” a critically-acclaimed book that has been banned in several U.S. school districts, where it has been deemed anti-family and inappropriate for children.
“We need to return to a God-fearing country again,” she said. “Do you think God is happy with this?”
Other supporters chaffed at accusations that they are trying to ban books. Carol Miley, a former elementary school librarian who retired in 2011, said the proposal is really about “protecting our minor students from being abused.”
She said the past few years visiting libraries, she’s noticed books with “vulgar descriptions of sexual acts, filthy language and pornographic depictions,” many in “books that describe homosexual acts and relationships.”
“Many of the offensive titles are even award winners,” she said. “The community standards against obscenity are being openly mocked and defied.”
Those opposed called the policy unconstitutional and referenced descriptions of rape, assault and other violent acts depicted in the Bible, calling supporters relying on religious justification for the policy hypocritical. Librarians said they operate with limited resources as it is, and are concerned about increased costs associated with insurance and legal representation.
Megan Tarbett, president of the West Virginia Library Association, said “putting the threat of jail time in front of our staff” as they select books does not “foster a collaborative spirit between staff and patrons.”
Educator Mickey Blackwell holds up the books “Howl” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — novels written in America during the early 2000s and 1880s, respectively, that have been subject to obscenity allegations.
Parents are responsible for deciding what their children should or should not be allowed to read, said Blackwell, who is the executive director of the West Virginia Association of Middle and Elementary School Principals. “Throw a few of them in jail and see how it goes,” he quipped as he finished his remarks.
Andrew Schneider, executive director of LGBTQ-advocacy nonprofit Fairness West Virginia, said, “LGBTQ-plus people are not obscene. The stories and books about our lives are not obscene” and nothing in the proposed bill changes that.
“But let’s be clear,” Schneider said. “This is a bad bill. It’s clear that some lawmakers want to eliminate any mention of LGBTQ-plus people in our schools museums and libraries, and although this bill won’t accomplish that goal, it could have a chilling effect on free speech.”
Barbara Steinke said she fears a book like “Heather Has Two Moms” might be considered obscene because it depicts a child with two mothers like her son has.
“There are many age-appropriate books and art that relate to different forms of families. If it’s not a traditional family, does that make it obscene? Who decides?”
West Virginia
Notebook: MCWS as good as advertised; West Virginia no overnight success story – WV MetroNews
Ahead of a June 10th trip to Omaha, I’d only heard positive reviews of the Men’s College World Series and the city that hosts it.
After an eight-night stay in Nebraska’s biggest city, it’s easy to see why.
The event at Charles Schwab Field was well-run and organized starting with Thursday practice for each of the eight participants.
The ballpark, which opened in 2011, is a state of the art, clean venue with a wide variety of concession offerings and a spacious press box that easily accommodated media members while all eight teams played two games over the first four days.
Crowds were strong and made their presence felt, particularly over the first several days.
There are fan-friendly activities just outside the stadium and no shortage of restaurants and bars within walking distance to partake in pregame or postgame festivities.
Perhaps Troy coach Skylar Meade summed it up best after the Trojans were eliminated Tuesday with a 12-0 loss to West Virginia that marked their second setback to the Mountaineers over a 96-hour stretch.
“Every person who came here now knows what this place is,” Meade said. “It’s the most unique place in the world. It’s the best college sporting event bar none. No offense to the others. Rose Bowl is awesome. It ain’t this.”
— — — — —
This was the third straight year I was present for West Virginia’s last game of the season after being on hand for the 2024 Super Regional series at North Carolina and again last year at LSU on the same stage.
Taking in the atmosphere in 2025 at Alex Box Stadium, when the Mountaineers played in front of consecutive crowds of 12,000-plus, provided a look at college baseball I’d never experienced and a newfound appreciation of the sport.
The MCWS took it a step further and continued the ascension of a Mountaineer program that gained national notoriety while hosting the Morgantown Regional and a Super Regional series against Cal Poly.
Envisioning WVU playing on the premier stage in college baseball was unfathomable a decade ago and even highly unlikely as recently as five years back.
But let’s not forget this is a program with four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and one of only two (North Carolina the other) to reach the Super Regional round each of the last three years.
What transpired this season as the Mountaineers set a new single-season program mark with 47 victories is a culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people within the program and athletic department alike, but it cannot be considered an overnight success story.
While West Virginia was swept in best-of-three sets in Chapel Hill and Baton Rouge, it’s important to remember those were 36 and 44-win teams that won regionals outside of Morgantown — feats fans should appreciate even more after witnessing the postseason atmosphere at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
WVU hadn’t won in the Super Regional round prior to this season, but two years ago, it had a ninth-inning lead against the Tar Heels in Game 1 and lost Game 2 by one run. Last season, the Mountaineers were eliminated by the eventual national champion.
“There are financial realities of the sport, and people may have assumptions about specific programs or about West Virginia in general that may or may not be correct,” WVU coach Steve Sabins said. “We have a whole lot of people working really hard on a whole lot of different areas, whether that’s Gold & Blue Enterprises, whether that’s BioPrecision with us, whether that’s the School of Sports Science or Biomechanics and Performance Center, whether that’s third-party NIL, specific donors, West Virginia has all of that.
“And it’s competing at the highest levels in all these areas, and I think it would probably surprise a lot of folks of the amount of effort, work, attention to detail and financial resources that have been poured into our program.”
— — — — —
A tip of the cap to West Virginia senior outfielder Brock Wills.
The UNC Wilmington transfer was a mainstay in the Mountaineer lineup throughout the regular season and Big 12 Conference Tournament when he appeared in 50 of 53 games with 45 starts.
When the NCAA Tournament rolled around, Sabins opted to start fellow senior Ben Lumsden in place of Wills.
The decision proved difficult to debate as Lumsden came up with numerous hits in key spots and finished 12-for-37 with three home runs, two doubles, 13 RBI and 11 base-on-balls over 11 games.
Wills, meanwhile, came off the bench to play in three NCAA Tournament games, one of which was Wednesday’s 12-7 season-ending loss to North Carolina when he came on as a right fielder to start the fifth inning.
Wills had three plate appearances against the Tar Heels, the first of which was a well-struck, but tough-luck double play on a liner to second base with the bases loaded in the sixth. He followed it with a walk in the seventh and a single in the ninth.
“So awesome. That kid has been such an instrumental piece of this team,” Sabins said. “In high-level competition, things don’t always go your way. There’s only nine dudes that get to play, and so coaches have to make hard decisions, and that happens every single year. And some years it’s a bigger storyline and some years it’s not, and some guys play good and some guys don’t. And there’s always some mix of that.
“But when things don’t go your way, it’s very easy to cash out. And so when you see a kid that has been so team-oriented and then to get inserted into the biggest game of his career and perform, it just shows you everything that you need to know about character. Because if you cash out, you don’t roll into the highest competition in the world and have success.
“Whether he had success or not, I knew his character. I knew that he was still working, and I knew he was team-oriented, and I knew he was fighting like hell to be great for the Mountaineers, and that’s why he got his opportunity. That’s why it came back around to him.”
For the season, Wills hit .283 (47-for-166) with two home runs, six doubles, three triples and 23 RBI.
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West Virginia
Charleston commemorates Juneteenth with downtown parade and celebration – WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va – Charleston is celebrating Juneteenth with its annual parade, followed by a celebration in Slack Plaza featuring live entertainment, food, educational exhibits, and more.
The parade stepped off from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center at 11:30 on Friday with a long line of organizations participating and several community members recognized as “Mr. and Miss Juneteenth.” Smiles dotted the procession as organizers watched a community come together.
“It’s just a wonderful thing when we can bring the community together to celebrate freedom, and here in West Virginia, we’ve had some challenges because they’ve said that Juneteenth is not a state holiday, but our people are still celebrating,” parade chairperson Karen Williams said.
The parade marked the start of an entire day recognizing the history of Juneteenth, the emancipation of more than 250,000 enslaved Black people when the Union Army arrived at Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. With the last stronghold of slavery in the Confederate States eradicated that day, June 19 came to be celebrated as a second independence day, and President Joe Biden established it as a national holiday in 2021.
In West Virginia, former Gov. Jim Justice was the first to declare a state holiday and did so in each of his last four years in office. Gov. Patrick Morrisey recognized Juneteenth with a proclamation on Friday but has not declared a state holiday in 2025 or 2026.
“Representation really matters, so seeing Black queens and Black kings roaming the streets of Charleston is a beautiful thing, and it’s a needed thing. I think there’s a lot more people that aren’t going to celebrate Juneteenth than people that are, so I think it’s really important that we continue to celebrate this holiday and show why it’s important,” Miss Juneteenth Adult Keyarna Frederick said.
Different groups from around the Kanawha Valley came out to participate from businesses and youth organizations to political committees and arts collectives. Williams believes that shows that Juneteenth is a day for the entire community to celebrate.
“Appalachian people have always grown up and lived together, and what we want—we want people to continue that. We want people to continue to be together. We’re not saying this is a Black event or a white event. We welcome all people to come and participate,” she said.
The parade route echoed her sentiment as nearly everyone who joined the parade shared handshakes, high-fives, and hugs. That spirit of togetherness spoke to the day’s honorees as well.
“It’s definitely something that we should all be celebrating. It’s for all of us, not just for a certain color or a certain kind. It’s for all of us, so I believe everyone should be celebrating this day,” Mr. Juneteenth Adult Edward Frederick said.
“This is my first time in the parade. It’s so beautiful. It’s so amazing to see different organizations a part of the parade, seeing how much muscle has went into even doing something like this, so I think it’s a beautiful thing for Charleston,” Keyarna Frederick added.
From the parade to the activities in Slack Plaza, the day’s organizers sought to create an environment to celebrate Juneteenth with a spirit of unity. Williams hopes that anyone that joined or watched felt that along the way.
“I want them to see that we are Almost Heaven, West Virginia; that we are celebrating freedom; and that we are a community that embraces one another,” she said.
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