Fair Share Posts - Blue Jefferson

Data Centers: Talk of the Panhandle

May 13, 2026

The topic of data centers is contentious for communities actually or potentially impacted by them. It's so contentious that our Republican dominated legislature has taken away the rights of these communities to regulate them and even to have them at all. John Doyle makes the case that these community rights legislated away for now have to be reconsidered and restored in future legislative sessions.

Raylee’s Law Failure to Pass

April 30, 2026

Jenny Thacker, in a video recording, details the arguments for Raylee's Law and then goes on to describe the legislature's inaction in passing any of three versions. Any of the three would have included some provision in the law to provide oversight over the HOPE Scholarship program. This oversight could have prevented Raylee Browning's death at age eight.

More Good Water — Less Bad Water

March 12, 2026

Water and sewer reliability is an on-going problem in places in Jefferson County. The town of Bakerton, once prospering is a case in point. Bakerton's jerry-rigged system of water delivery is failing and residents are hard pressed to afford to improve it. Jim Bauman describes the history and current situation of water in the community.

High Electricity Bills? Get Used to It!

February 27, 2026

The West Virginia Public Service Commission is a bridge between energy consumers and energy producers. It negotiates and ultimately approves the rates that energy producers charge, but it's supposed to factor into those decisions the ability of consumers to pay their energy bills. To Jim Bauman it's pretty clear that what the producers want is way more important than what the consumers want. Because today West Virginians pay among the highest energy bills in the country, significantly higher than any of our surrounding states.

The Dilemma of the Independent Voter

January 28, 2026

A brief consideration of the social and political forces that distinguish Democrats from Republicans and the attraction that these established political parties have to Independent voters. Although either party can overreach when it's in power, the overreach of the Republican party looks to be a threat to democracy itself. It will be interesting in our elections to see how Independents view this threat.

Is Vaccination Policy Fair?

January 13, 2026

The Republican dominated legislature in West Virginia is trying to undo one of the successful health policy measures in the state. Vaccinations mandated for public school enrollment have largely kept WV from the wave of measles outbreaks in all our surrounding states. Republicans, including all six representing Jefferson County, have voted to weaken this mandate.

The “Flat Tax: Stupid But Possibly Workable

December 19, 2025

John Doyle speculates on how to make a flat tax adaptable so that it doesn't take a sizable chunk of a worker's earnings from they need to pay for critical everyday expenses. Maybe set a threshold below which the flat tax is exempt? Ideally that would be something like the prevailing poverty rate. Above that you pay tax, below it you don't. John goes on to consider the likelihood of such an adaptable tax passing the Republican legislature.

Let’s Revive West Virginia’s Future Fund

October 31, 2025

Companies that take our coal and natural gas pay a royalty, called a severance tax, to the state. Other states with exportable natural resources have saved a part of those taxes into what's called a sovereign wealth fund. It's kind of an insurance policy to provide some financial security when the resources run out. West Virginia had one, called the Future Fund, for almost a decade, but the legislature cancelled it in 2023. That was a mistake.

We’re Teachers…We’re Drowning (Part 2)

October 8, 2025

The teacher pay crisis in the Eastern Panhandle has a solution often proposed by our local legislators. It's locality pay. The idea is to pay teachers a wage that they can live in in the counties where it costs more to live. The state legislature can't or won't get it done.

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