Life is hard for many in West Virginia. Jobs are scarce and often they don’t pay well. But some people thrive by taking advantage of easy money. Take West Virginia governor, Jim Justice.

You don’t have to look far to understand teacher shortages in West Virginia. The average teacher salary in the Mountain State is about $45,000. It is by far the lowest compared to any surrounding state.

Pennsylvania’s is $67,000; Maryland, $69,000; Ohio $58,000; Virginia and Kentucky both pay more than $50,000. The national average is more than $60,000, so a teacher can go just about anywhere in the U.S. and get much better pay than here

West Virginia needs serious, even-keeled legislators. That is why it is distressing to see the ongoing legal case involving Del. Mike Caputo, D-Marion.

On Labor Day weekend, we celebrated the working men and women of our state and nation. On that day, the Charleston Gazette-Mail aptly raised the question, “Who is our governor working for, himself or us?”

Can you smell it? The stench of corruption coming from West Virginia’s premier resort, the Greenbrier?

Making the choice to stay clean is a daily decision. Let’s make sure recovery organizations like The Unity Center get a fair share of drug settlement money for those attempting recovery.

There is likely a boatload of money coming to states affected by Big Pharma’s malfeasance in fueling the opioid addiction crisis. What is not so clear is whether that money will get in the right hands: communities and individuals who need it the most to recover from ongoing terrible damage of this crisis.

It’s time to talk about what really happened with last year’s federal tax cuts:

• How some of the richest Americans got a big break. 
• How the rest of us got stuck with a government that’s deeper in debt—$2 trillion more debt over the next 10 years. 
• How we are now less able to pay for things our rural communities really need for economic growth, such as infrastructure. 

Not only has Jim Justice refused to give up ownership of his businesses, including his luxury Greenbrier resort near Lewisburg, WV, where he lives (despite a Constitutional requirement that the governor reside in Charleston), but the Greenbrier has made a lot of money as a result. 

Wouldn’t you love it if you didn’t have to worry about overdrawing your checking account because you had your own “rainy day fund?” Jim Justice overdrew West Virginia’s account by over $30 million in July.