Posts that deal broadly with the physical, mental, and intellectual health of communities.

Land Ownership Rights Threatened by the Legislature

Traditional land ownership rights permit landowners to preserve land they own from any future development. You've likely seen signs around the county to that effect. But a 2024 Senate proposal would have weakened the ability of landowners to decide what not to do with their land and how long they could protect it from development. The proposed bill didn't make it into law, but the attempt to free up protected land for timbering and other industrial exploitation may be resurrected in 2026.

ICE in Charles Town!

On December 5, 2024 ICE made one of its raids on two Mexican restaurants in Jefferson County. They tagged along with a US Marshalls team and disrupted a dinner hour for local residents, a raid that including pepper spraying. It didn't matter to ICE that customers were "in the way." These kinds of tactics have to be loudly called out as dangerous and very likely illegal, all for the sake of arresting and deporting cooks and wait staff serving our community. Is this insult to our community going to be commonplace in our future?

Making Sense of the Religious Exemption Dispute in West Virginia

West Virginia has traditionally been careful to protect school age children from transmissible childhood illnesses. It was one of only a handful of states that required childhood vaccinations as a requirement for attending public schools. Now some anti-vaccination people are arguing that this policy is in conflict with the Equal Protection for Religion act and are suing to allow for exemptions. Neal Barkus lays out the arguments and anticipates the harm that these exemptions will cause community health.