The State Journal - For nearly a decade, state officials and industry leaders have been touting the development of Marcellus Shale gas as an economic game-changer for the state of West Virginia. While the natural gas industry has undoubtedly provided isolated growth, it hasn't quite "changed the game" like it was expected to. ReadTalk of…
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WCSM Radio - Ohio gets poor grades for its response to the boom in shale gas drilling, but a pair of new reports could help communities prepare for the future. ReadThe Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative - a partnership between Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia - has issued a report card on shale gas policies and…
Akron Beacon Journal - While drilling of new gas wells in the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays has fallen recently, industry experts expect renewed activity over many years once prices rebound. To help drilling communities and the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia get the response to drilling right in the future, the Multi-State…
WDTV - We often hear about the top one percent, but what if that number is actually bigger? New research says the number of upper middle class households in our country has more than doubled in the past few decades. Read/WatchSome local experts 5 News talked to say the trend holds true for our state,…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - The cost of housing in Charleston is still reasonable, according to housing data from the Associated Press, but it might not remain that way for long. ReadCharleston has the smallest percentage of stressed homeowners — homeowners who pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs — out of all…
Parkersburg News & Sentinel - West Virginia's budget struggles will continue without significant changes, but there's no time to make them now, the head of a statewide policy group said Monday. Read "We're in a real crisis," Ted Boettner, executive director of the nonprofit and non-partisan West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said during…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry visited Charleston on Tuesday to raise money for Senate President Bill Cole's run for governor, boost Donald Trump's run for the presidency and to tout business-friendly policy proposals. ReadThe two-time Republican presidential candidate told a room full of invited energy executives and lobbyists that states need to…
Beckley Register-Herald - Come December, an estimated 66,000 West Virginians could see a bump in their paychecks when new overtime rules go into effect, allowing more low-level managers and educators to collect pay for working more than 40 hours a week. ReadThe new rules increase the yearly salary threshold which generally determines which employees qualify…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - States like West Virginia need to invest more money into higher education — not cut it — to reverse the damage caused by years of funding cuts following the 2008 recession, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released Thursday concludes. ReadThe annual report, which analyzed nationwide budgets…
West Virginia Public News Service - Even with a 45-cent cigarette tax increase, budget analysts say state lawmakers look likely to lean too heavily on cuts and one-time money. Bowing to an anti-tax faction in the House, state senators have been working on a tobacco tax boost smaller than they passed in March. Observers say…