Mike Tony [email protected]

Updated There are new rules on the table for fire hydrants across the Mountain State.

A fatal mine incident occurred at a Taylor County mining site with a long history of safety and health violations for the second time in less than two months. Colton Walls, 34, of Bruceton Mills, died Friday afternoon from injuries sustained as a longwall electrician at the Arch Coal-controlled Leer Mining Complex, the Governor’s Office announced Friday.

West Virginia is poised to partnership with an agency in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, that a federal watchdog says has failed to address radiological security risks. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan watchdog agency that investigates federal spending and performance, released a report last week noting the NRC implemented only seven of 18 recommendations the office has made since 2012. ‘

Industry backers helped West Virginia Attorney General and Republican nominee Patrick Morrisey extend a massive campaign fundraising advantage over the Democratic nominee, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. Morrisey drew widespread support from electric utility and fossil fuel company executives.

In the past three months, the United States Senate campaign for Democratic nominee and former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott lessened the significant fundraising lead Gov. Jim Justice’s campaign had built. But the campaign for Justice, a coal magnate who controls a business empire ridden with debt, still ended September with over six times as much cash on hand as Elliott’s with $1,074,449, bolstered by resource extraction industry sources.

Gov. Jim Justice has signed into law legislation allowing the state to take over regulation of certain radioactive materials from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Drawing Justice’s signature Wednesday was House Bill 208, which makes West Virginia an “agreement state” with the NRC and establishes a state radiation regulatory system under the Department of Health.

A proposed amendment to the West Virginia Constitution would ban medically assisted suicide in the state. The proposed measure will be on the 2024 general election ballot for West Virginia voters to consider following House Joint Resolution 28, which would add to the Constitution that “No person, physician, or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person.”

Union Carbide Corp. environmental contamination is under review following a $200,000 penalty a federal judge ruled the company owes for Clean Water Act violations at a South Charleston site. The site, known as the Filmont dump, is an inactive landfill.

A labor dispute has resulted in nearly 80 machinists at Union Carbide in South Charleston, West Virginia voted to go on strike, on Oct. 21, 2024, after their contract expired on Oct. 20, 2024. The workers' union said they are striking for fair wages and protection of their benefits. Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. The company said it is continuing negotiations and hope the labor dispute is settled soon. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development West Virginia State Director Ryan Thorn announced last week that Rural Development is extending a pilot program for people in West Virginia seeking homeownership. The pilot program allows families and individuals to access affordable financing to build manufactured homes in rural communities. Officials said no West Virginians have taken advantage of the program thus far.

Editor's note: This is the eighth in a series of reports about a water crisis in Southern West Virginia.