How did West Virginia become one of the world's leaders in delivering COVID-19 vaccines? One piece of the story starts with a striking photograph in the local paper.
Reta Mays was charged with killing seven patients by injecting them with insulin. She worked as a nursing assistant on the night shift at a Veterans Affairs medical center in Clarksburg.
"As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms," Gov. Jim Justice said, "This act needed to result in real consequences."
Life expectancy in the U.S. has taken a significant downward turn. This is especially true in Ohio and West Virginia, which have the highest rates of overdose deaths among people ages 25 to 64.
The poster was on display at West Virginia's "GOP Day" on Friday. It provoked an argument, an injury, the resignation of a staff member and potential disciplinary action against a lawmaker.
In West Virginia, mining jobs have been declining for years, and there have been few other options to make a living. The Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is hoping to help turn that around.
Within days of an OD from opioids or other drugs, users in Huntington, W.Va., are visited by a quick-response team at home, the hospital or in jail. Reversing an OD is just recovery's first step.
The votes come one week after the state House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment against the entire bench of the state Supreme Court of Appeals.
The 1996 federal ban aimed to punish drug offenders, but research shows denying aid disproportionately affects the poor and increases recidivism. Many states have opted out or modified the policy.
Republicans dodged a big bullet with a convicted coal executive's loss of the GOP Senate primary. But they continue to be the party facing more division.
Blankenship could win West Virginia's GOP Senate primary, despite spending a year in prison after 29 miners died in an explosion at a mine owned by the company he led. Trump isn't backing him.
A wild GOP primary fight has emerged here with everyone tying themselves to the president. It features a congressman, an attorney general and an ex-con businessman, who's turned the race upside down.
After NPR reporting on the Progressive Massive Fibrosis epidemic, Congress and the White House agreed to give the maximum funding authorized for clinics treating the disease in 15 coal-mining states.
The strike, which shuttered classrooms in the state for more than a week, reached a resolution as Gov. Jim Justice, the union and lawmakers all agreed to a 5 percent salary bump for state employees.
The state Senate failed to pass the raise teachers are demanding. Now an end date for the strike is unclear as students face their eighth day of no school.
After Gov. Jim Justice and union leaders announced an agreement had been made to end the teacher strike, uncertainty forced all of the state's counties to call off school yet again.
The number of U.S. coal jobs rose slightly during the president's first year in office. But energy analysts credit short-term market forces and say they won't stop long-term decline.
Teachers formed picket lines and descended on the state Capitol to demand higher salaries and better insurance. The state has some of the lowest teacher pay in the country.
Other towns were similarly inundated, in a state that now has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths. In 2008, one wholesaler provided 5,624 pills for every man, woman and child in Kermit, W.Va.
Appearing with the president Thursday night, Gov. Jim Justice announced he'll flip to the GOP: "I can't help you any more being a Democrat governor," he told the crowd.
