Charleston Gazette-Mail - As coal industry officials and their political allies launched furious opposition to a federal effort to fight climate change, President Obama on Monday urged coalfield communities to support the plan, offering to work with local leaders to address coal's legacy liabilities and provide new economic opportunities where the mining industry's decline is…
WVCBP in the News
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Jason Miller has six months left on the job he got 20 years ago. ReadFive others, two hourly employees and three supervisors, will continue to work with him at the Century Aluminum plant in Ravenswood. The plant was idled February 2009, when Century laid off more than 650 employees. Last week, Century…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on creating stronger federal regulations to control consumer abuses by the payday lending industry. ReadThe West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is supporting the Bureau's efforts to protect consumers and control payday lenders nationally."Payday loans create a long-term cycle of debt and a…
Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - It wasn't a great week for West Virginia. ReadOn Wednesday, we reported that West Virignia's unemployment rate jumped to 7.4 percent in June — 2.1 percent more than the national average and the highest of any state in the nation.The same day, we reported that the Kids Count study showed state children…
Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - With West Virginia recording the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. in June at 7.4 percent, the state is feeling the effects of a lack of economic diversity, according to officials. ReadSince June of last year, the state has seen major job losses in extractive industries (2,900), construction (4,300) and leisure and…
The State Journal - These days, it can be hard to tell what's real and what's not. ReadThe Internet brings information to the average person as quickly as a question can be Google'd. So, how is it that West Virginia's lawmakers and officials aren't quite sure how, exactly, to come up with a calculation as…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - In the past six months, unemployment in West Virginia has risen dramatically, according to survey data collected by Workforce West Virginia and the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. ReadAccording to the most recent numbers, around 57,500 — 7.4 percent — of West Virginia's residents that are seeking work find themselves without…
Clarksburg Exponent - Telegram - The 2015 Kids Count Data Book, released Tuesday, ranks West Virginia at 42nd nationally in child well-being. The child poverty rate in West Virginia is 27 percent, the study indicates. Read Ranked 37th in last year's report, the state's decline can be linked to several factors. The report examines family…
Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - Central Appalachian coal production is projected to decline with or without the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's power plants. ReadThat's according to an analysis conducted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)."Even in our reference case, we have Central Appalachian coal falling. The portion…
Charleston Gazette - What type of notification should electric and gas companies have to give to customers before they shut off their power and heat? ReadThat is the main question the state Public Service Commission will have to decide as part of an ongoing case, which advocates say could drastically affect the state's poor and…