Jackson Newspapers - A "help wanted" sign has lived in the Downtowner's front window for a year. Before the COVID pandemic began, the restaurant had seven employees. Now it has four. Two, not including the owners. Read the full article. Dave and Melissa took over the restaurant nine years ago. The American homestyle restaurant survived the…
WVCBP in the News
WV News - Advocates and community members gathered at Krepps Park Pavilion in Morgantown on Monday to discuss the need for a federal policy to ensure that all workers have access to paid family and medical leave for the care of a new child, one’s own illness, or caregiving responsibilities for a seriously ill family…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - In his 27 years as an underground coal miner in West Virginia, Gary Hairston noticed that it took some backup to breathe easier. Read the full article. “There was a lot better protection in a union mine,” Hairston recalled. “The union backs you.” Hairston found that a union representative would investigate miners’…
Dominion Post, Yahoo News - A group of people braved Monday's rain and mugginess to gather at the Kreps Park Pavilion for a "Picnic for Paid Leave." Read the full article. It was the final picnic of several held around the state to rally support for paid family leave legislation Congress will be considering in…
West Virginia Public Broadcasting - States across the country have taken stabs at reforming how the money bail system operates. In West Virginia, the state legislature passed HB 2419, a law enacted in June 2020 that aimed to limit bail amounts, and by extension, shrink the exploding jail population. Read the full article. HB 2419 calls for judges…
Mountain State Spotlight - Geard Mitchell remembers the day he turned 17. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit, sitting inside a Boone County juvenile correctional facility. The staff of the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center didn’t put on much of a celebration, he recalled. No family or friends called or visited. The only sign of…
WOWK - Back in mid-June Governor Jim justice cut the extra $300 in federal weekly unemployment benefits early, which affected 15,000 people in the Mountain State. Watch the full segment. While many argue it was intended to get people back to work, the data shows a different reality. Ask most people in Charleston about ending…
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - In front of Kayla Young under a sweltering sun in South Charleston stood an electric vehicle charging station. Draped over a podium, a sign read “#ACTNOW on Climate.” Read the full article. Behind her was the Criel Mound, thought to have been built by the Adena people about 500 B.C. “It’s really…
Since I have no earthly idea how video streaming services work, and am too cheap to pay for them if I did, I miss out on a lot of the popular new TV series. Read the full article. However, when I was home for vacation, I did have the opportunity to binge-watch the first season…
Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch - Gov. Jim Justice’s decision to cut off federal enhanced unemployment benefits 12 weeks early did not improve state employment rates or reduce unemployment rolls, but coincided with a sharp spike in West Virginia households experiencing financial hardships, an analysis released Thursday shows. Read the full article. “With the pandemic still…