Month: October 2019

Bringing the Wonderful Back to Wild and Wonderful with Clean Drinking Water

Emmy Rinehart

In August of this year, a small West Virginia town finally has drinkable water after 17 years of waiting. O’Toole, WV had been under a boil advisory for nearly two decades. 

Unfortunately for the rest of the state, access to clean water continues to be a struggle. A study released in September of this year compiled all of the violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act within counties from 2016-2019. What they found was shocking. 

They found that 36 counties were ranked within the worst-third in the nation when looking at violations of this act. Worse yet, all but 13 fell in the worst-third of the nation when it came to the amount of time that they were in violation of this act. 

Unclean drinking water can cause diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, dysentery, polio, and hepatitis A. Because this is such a wide-spread problem within the state, veryone living in WV has the potential to struggle with finding clean drinking water. 

West Virginians on Twitter have repeatedly sounded off about clean water concerns and questions they have about how the state is handling things.

But the hope for clean drinking water in WV could become reality soon. This September, it was decided that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will give more than $26 million to the state to support initiatives to assess hazardous waste, implement air pollution control programs, clean up brownfields sites, improve the quality of water in many bodies of water, as well as develop new drinking water systems.

Industrial Plant With Reflection Om Body Of Water

In November of this year, the EPA will begin sampling water at an old mining equipment manufacturing site in Minden, West Virginia after it was added to their National Priorities List of Superfund sites in May. This new EPA money could help do things like this in other West Virginia cities across the state to determine what the needs of each site would be for clean-up. 

In a state that touts being wild and wonderful, these initiatives are a good way to start putting an emphasis on the wonderful so that West Virginians  can all enjoy the wild while increasing their quality of living.

WV Teacher’s Absences Under Fire

West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee recently defended teachers from a statistic released by the W.Va. Department of Education that showed 53% of teachers missed more than 10 days of work last year while 11% missed more than 20 days. 

Dale Lee said that, “We’re really honing in on that 11 percent and that’s where I have to get more information. I have to see if those are consecutive days or illnesses. There are reasons for that.” 

This isn’t the first time this year that W.Va. teachers have been in the news. They received media coverage in February for striking against an education bill. 

West Virginia teachers were on strike for a total of two days in February 2019 in response to an education bill that many believed would take funding away from public schools. This bill had died in the house while the teachers continued to strike to make sure the bill stayed dead with no chance of being passed.

This teacher’s strike was solely to kill a bill that would raise funding for charter schools and private school vouchers.

Shortly after the strike in February, in June 2019, the W.Va. Legislature passed an Omnibus education bill that allowed for three charter schools to be introduced into the state until 2023 when another three charter schools may be added.  This bill also still had provisions seen as positive by educators, such as provisions for seniority, pay raises, and it would create incentives to fill vacant positions at school districts.

In 2018, W.Va. teachers went on a statewide strike for a total number of nine days. This strike was because of the low pay and high healthcare costs. During those days, many teachers still provided meals to those who were left hungry due to there being no school. These teachers packed bags, and some showed up on doorsteps to deliver food to students who may have gone hungry otherwise.

Many people took to Twitter to help support these individuals who selflessly make sure that their students weren’t going hungry. Many Tweeted the hashtag “IStandWithTeachers” and “55strong” a reference to the 55 counties striking in support of the teacher’s strike.

The teacher’s strike in 2018 was successful due to the various methods of protesting. The widespread support from constituents garnered them a 5% raise. This raise allows the state to attract quality teachers in hopes of raising the quality of education in the state. West Virginia currently ranks #44 in education in the United States.

The benefits of living in a low-cost state

    Housing is by far the most significant cut in the American budget representing roughly one-third of household spending. You can get a lot of property for a small investment if you decide that living in West Virginia is right for you. 

Money, Profit, Finance, Business, Return

The median home value in the state is currently less than $100,000. The average home for sale is below $150,000 compared to the $200,000 average home cost in the United States. The price makes it a lot easier for someone to establish residency. It is 14% cheaper to live here than average in the United States.

Renting is relatively affordable, as well. It might cost over $1,100 per month to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Charleston, but that’s the most expensive region you will find. If you decide to live in Morgantown, Beckley, or Martinsburg, you’ll pay about 50% less than that. An obvious cost reducer would be to purchase or rent a cheaper place, but if you’re able to change locations, you can accelerate how much you save.  

An example would be a man’s haircut. The haircut I get usually costs around $25 at various shops in West Virginia. However, when I’ve spent time in Washington, D.C., or other big cities, the haircut cost can be double that. Housing prices affect the rest of the economy. When housing rates are high, everything else will be more expensive as a result. 

This is a chart showing the most expensive and cheapest places to live in the United States. As you can see, large coastal cities tend to be more costly than smaller towns in the center of the country. You’ll get more bang for your buck by buying a home in Oklahoma City or Sioux Falls than by living in San Francisco or Washington, D.C. It’s not just coastal cities, though. There are expensive pockets throughout the U.S. from Flagstaff, Arizona, to Hot Springs, Arkansas. And some coastal cities like Boston, Houston, Seattle, and Tampa are relatively inexpensive.   

Obviously, there’s more to picking a place to live than pure price. When you choose a city to call home, you do so because of the climate, the opportunities, and the people. People want to live close to friends and family, they want an excellent school district, and they want people who think and act the same as them. For those reasons, San Francisco might not be the right place for them, and West Virginia would be a smarter choice.

West Virginia is not the cheapest place to live in, but it’s pretty close. The overall cost of living index puts West Virginia at 83, while the rest of the United States is at 100. The cost of living can wreak havoc on your pursuit of financial freedom. Or it can help you achieve your goals sooner than you thought possible.  

Without A Place to Call Home

Photo by malcolm garret on Pexels.com

Homelessness in West Virginia has recently hit the news again after new data has emerged, but also with people voicing their concerns in Morgantown.

At a recent Morgantown city council meeting that took place on October 1st, residents and business owners spoke out about the rising rate of homeless people on High Street.

As you walk or drive down  High Street, you’ll tend to notice a startling amount of homeless people. Sad as it is, they have been causing a lot of problems with loitering, and according to business owners, they have been causing a decrease in customers.

Business owners also voiced their concerns over a “campsite” that was put up by the homeless under Decker’s Creek bridge.

Morgantown city council says they don’t believe anything will be done this year, but are hoping to introduce a plan for the beginning of next year.

Though, throughout the state, the rate of homeless youth has been rising. This is a big concern because this is West Virginia youth we are talking about! I mean can you leaving school as a child, and having no place that is a secure home for you?

West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin has had a lot to say about homelessness in West Virginia. It’s important that this issue is taken as a big concern, and not just something the legislature of West Virginia pushes aside.

So where does the youth homeless rate stand in West Virginia currently? Well, according to data on the Charleston Gazette-Mail, youth homelessness in West Virginia comes in at 10,522. Though it is important to point out something called the McKinney-Vento.

Manchin took the issue to the highest educational court to ask for attention on this issue and federal aid.

The McKinney-Vento has helped many homeless youths.

The youth homeless number has to include children living in shelters, hotels/motels, cars/RVs, other family members that are not their parents. 

The number of students classified as homeless in the 2014 and 2015 school year was 8,959, so we have seen an increase since then. 

Though according to the West Virginia Department of Education, in the year 2015 and 2016 the number was 9,320 and then went to 9,025 the following year, but then rose back up.