Leave pipeline behind to advance permitting reform

December 13, 2022

On Dec. 8, a section of the Keystone Pipeline passing through Kansas ruptured, spilling 14,000 barrels (about 588,000 gallons) of crude oil across farmland and into a creek. Just a couple days later, Sen. Joe Manchin was throwing a fit because his “Building American Energy Security Act of 2022” — better known as the side-deal that got him to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act — wasn’t added into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Manchin’s bill would “streamline” the permitting process for a variety of energy projects, but it also mandates the ...

Do you have broadband?

December 10, 2022

You may remember that when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed, it allotted millions of dollars to expanding broadband access to unserved and underserved areas. Those dollars are set to be allocated to the states in June 2023, based on the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband map. That map is due to be finalized in mid-January, so West Virginians need to check the map accurately reflects the internet services available to them. It’s a relatively simple process. Ironically, though, you have to have internet access in order to do it. (Someone didn’t think ...

Marital exemption loopholes that endanger children

December 8, 2022

When Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher addressed legislators Monday and asked them to repeal language in West Virginia’s criminal code that allowed a marital exemption to sexual abuse charges, she brought up her concerns about how such an exemption impacts married minors. After all, she pointed out, 16-year-olds can get married with parental consent, but technically anyone under 16 — she used the example of 12-year-olds — can get married with a court order. Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph — who scoffed at the idea of spousal sexual abuse — scoffed even more ...

Remove marital exemption from sexual abuse law

December 7, 2022

It’s the year 2022, and somehow we are still equivocating over when sexual assault and/or abuse is acceptable. Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher addressed legislators Monday and asked them to repeal the exemption that allows spouses to get away with sexually abusing their partner. There’s a subtle but important distinction in West Virginia law between the criminal charge of sexual assault and sexual abuse. “Sexual assault,” in the legal sense, involves intercourse or penetration while “sexual abuse” involves only sexual contact. In West Virginia law, ...

Post-election party switches a betrayal of voters’ trust

December 6, 2022

Less than a month after the midterm elections, the West Virginia Legislature’s Republican supermajority added one more member. Not through any democratic process, mind you, but because Putnam County Sen. Glenn Jeffries pulled a Jim Justice and switched from blue to red. Jeffries was elected to represent then-Senate District 8 first in 2016 and again in 2020 — as a Democrat. His party change comes halfway through his second term. While Jeffries’ post-election defection from the Democratic Party doesn’t have a practical effect on the balance of power, his actions represent a ...

Help city stay on top of problems

December 3, 2022

In mid-November, the City of Morgantown launched the Morgantown 311 app so residents could quickly let it know about various issues around town. When you first open the app, a homepage greets you with a “City of Morgantown” banner and the number of issues fixed since the app first launched. Below that are a variety of categories that will take you to a corresponding information or webpage when you click them. It’s a smorgasbord of quick links for just about anything you might want to contact the city about. Some of the links take you to pages within the app, while others will ...