by Erica Peterson
This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week by signing up for the free newsletter at mountainstatespotlight.org/newsletter.
2021 was quite a year: for our newsroom, for West Virginia, for the nation and the world. There was still COVID-19, which like it was in 2020, remains the story of the year. But there were also stories to tell about state policies, about broken promises, about who holds power in West Virginia and who doesn’t.
As we wrap up this year, we asked our staff to pick their most memorable stories — both ones they wrote, and ones from their colleagues. The topics ran the gamut, from legislative coverage to the opioid crisis to ATV riding. Maybe you read these stories when they were first published, or maybe you’re seeing them here for the first time. Either way, they’re worth a look as we wrap up 2021 and look forward to all that 2022 may bring.
Opioids
This was the year of a landmark federal trial, pitting Huntington and Cabell County against the nation’s largest three drug distributors. While the outcome of the case is still unknown, Mountain State Spotlight had reporters in the courtroom almost every day of arguments, from April through July. But it was the stories our reporters produced outside of the courtroom, from their observations in places like Cabell and Raleigh and Mingo counties to an analysis about laughing at West Virginians’ expense that stuck in our memory.
Analysis: There’s nothing funny about an addiction crisis by Eric Eyre
“This is the first piece of commentary I’ve ever written in my 30-plus years as a journalist,” said Eric Eyre, Co-founder. “Since my Mountain State Spotlight colleague, Lucas Manfield, was writing a daily story about the disparaging emails, I felt compelled to provide some context about this giant drug distributor, AmerisourceBergen, given that I had spent the past eight years covering the company and wrote a book, in part, about its role in the opioid crisis.”
Away from the opioid trial, life carries on in Huntington by Lauren Peace
“I love that this story shows the perspective and lives of people who are on the frontlines of serving West Virginians in the wake of the opioid epidemic and who will continue serving in this capacity regardless of what trials come and go,” said Molly Ballard, Development Manager.
Civil fines vs. prison time: as opioid trial plays out, stakes are different for ordinary West Virginians by Lauren Peace and Anya Slepyan
“I don’t just like this story because I was quoted in it!” said Quenton King, Public Health Reporter. “As a reader I was impressed, now as a writer I’m jealous. I thought Lauren did a great job of contrasting civil and criminal trials and showing the reader how the pharma litigation is connected, even a driver, of the individual drug cases around the state. It is frustrating that ultimately whatever happens to companies or their executives, it’ll never make up for that pain that individuals, families, and communities have felt for the last decade and more.”
One WV community waits for an opioid verdict. Others are still waiting for their day in court. by Emily Allen
“A Mountain State Spotlight story that was really important to me this year was our piece on small West Virginia communities with pending lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors,” said Emily Allen, Community Watchdog Reporter. “The quick response team in Mingo County works tremendously hard on helping people throughout their community who are dealing with substance use disorders, and I’m really glad we could include their work in our ongoing coverage related to the country’s first-of-its-kind trial in Huntington against the nation’s largest distributors.”
Foster care
West Virginia has the highest per capita number of kids in the foster care system, a sad designation. Despite the urgency and long-lasting effects of time in the system on a child, major issues and resource challenges plague the state agency tasked with their care.
West Virginia’s reliance on out-of-state group homes leaves some foster kids in unsafe, abusive situations by Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Molly Born, The GroundTruth Project
“This story was the culmination of more than a year of looking into the state’s troubled foster care system and, specifically, its use of dangerous out-of-state facilities,” said Amelia Ferrell Knisely, Poverty Reporter. “This was the longest investigation to-date of my career, and I’m really proud to have included the voice of a West Virginia teen who was abused while in the state’s care and to have used state documents to create a paper trail of neglect and abuse.”
“This piece is what Mountain State Spotlight is all about. It not just holds higher authorities accountable, but it had and continues to have a notable impact — it’s a catalyst for positive change that will hopefully help make kids safer and make the state more transparent in what they’re doing to protect them,” said Douglas Soule, Business and Economic Development Reporter.
“Amelia and Molly’s investigative reporting on foster care in West Virginia is the kind of work that made me want to be a journalist,” said Ian Karbal, State Government Watchdog Reporter. “It’s unflinching, thorough and driven by care for the people the system let down. It also started serious conversations in the legislature about how to address the issues they exposed.”
The Legislature
The 60-day 2021 legislative session created, as it always does, a flurry of activity. But for our staff, the most impactful legislative stories were ones that were (mostly) told outside the statehouse, looking at how proposed policies and new laws affect regular West Virginians.
Cattle and coyotes and new legislation: How a Senate bill aims to help West Virginia farmers with a growing problem by Douglas Soule
“The writing is beautiful and the story felt to me like a thriller!” said Emily Allen, Community Watchdog Reporter. “While most reporters would’ve probably just made a couple phone calls on coyote hunting legislation, Douglas was literally and quite obviously there with the hunters (and he makes you feel like you’re there with them, too.) This story was a lot of fun to read, but it was also very informative and serious. I definitely walked away having a little more compassion for Fayette County farmers who are trying to protect their livestock and livelihoods, and who are struggling to get help from state officials.”
A new WV law closed Mercer County’s needle exchange. What happens next? by Quenton King
“Far from Charleston, a community thought they were starting to get a grip on a serious health and community issue that had plagued them for years,” said Quenton King, Public Health Reporter. “Then, without any consultation from policymakers, the local solution they had was taken from them and barriers were imposed in order to bring it back. I thought this was a small example of what the state and country has seen the last 2 years of the tension between science and policy.”
After promises of transparency and fairness, WV redistricting devolves into a partisan exercise by Ian Karbal
“I started following redistricting pretty much from the start when I arrived here in June,” said Ian Karbal, State Government Watchdog Reporter. “Following the process closely, I learned so much about the legislature here, the lawmakers, and of course how redistricting could impact West Virginians, that I was ready to confidently write informative and accountability-driven stories that could peel back what was happening and why it mattered while the process unfolded.”
This historic northern WV town highlights the needs of the state’s coal communities by Emily Allen
“Emily takes what essentially is designed to be a photo-op for state lawmakers, and she turns it into a compelling piece about a community struggling for survival after being abandoned by the coal industry,” said Eric Eyre, Co-founder. “Her story shows that even towns close to thriving cities like Morgantown haven’t rebounded in the wake of coal’s decline. Also, excellent photos.”
COVID-19
While we thought COVID was the story of 2020, it turned out to be the story of 2021, too. Our reporters kept on top of stories about vaccine distribution, state spending of federal money and the many ripple effects of the ongoing pandemic on ordinary West Virginians.
One year. 2,634 dead by Lucas Manfield, Lauren Peace and Gabriella Brown
“It seems like five years ago, but this look at the first 2,634 West Virginia who died of COVID-19 by former MSS reporters Lauren Peace and Lucas Manfield and former intern Gabriella Brown was stunning when it came out in March,” said Greg Moore, Co-founder. “Now, the reported COVID death toll in West Virginia is almost double that number.”
COVID-19 canceled many fall fairs and festivals. Here’s what that means for WV communities by Douglas Soule
“Douglas’ reporting shows how great the impacts of COVID have been in West Virginia, even in ways I might not have originally considered,” said Molly Ballard, Development Manager. “The social and emotional impacts are as great as the economic impacts, especially now that major events for small towns have been canceled two years in a row.”
Gov. Justice gave COVID-19 help to WV hospitals and nursing homes. But emergency services agencies ask ‘what about us?’ by Quenton King
“I love that this story surfaced from an open records request,” said Erica Peterson, Managing Editor. “Quenton did a great job looking at the struggles of West Virginia’s rural emergency services departments — both during COVID and in non-pandemic times.”
Broken promises
A key tenet of accountability journalism is following up. What do people in power promise will happen, and what actually happens? These two stories do just that.
Less money, fewer jobs: After two decades, WV’s ATV trails have fallen far short of initial projections by Duncan Slade
“This story by intern Duncan Slade hits many important themes for West Virginia,” said en Ward Jr., Co-founder. “It’s a tale about broken promises for economic salvation, and also about local communities trying to find new paths forward and not getting the help they need from the state. And it’s all in the context of an outdoor activity that is very West Virginian (but also potentially dangerous to public health if not done safely). It’s a great West Virginia story.”
How West Virginia’s ‘Do it for Babydog’ vaccine lottery didn’t get the job done by Ian Karbal
“This piece by Ian dissects Gov. Jim Justice’s vaccine lottery, and examines how all of the evidence showed back in August it wasn’t successful,” said Erica Peterson, Managing Editor. “Even so, the program has continued, spending millions of dollars that was supposed to go toward immediate pandemic-related needs on trucks, guns and other incentives for the lottery. Plus, there are fantastic pictures.”
Justice and injustice
A lot of our reporting is along this vein: pointing out how powerful systems work to disadvantage ordinary West Virginians. These two pieces stood out for our reporters: an in-depth look at the effect of industrial pollution on one of West Virginia’s few Black communities and an analysis of the failures of the state’s bail reform.
How Black communities become ‘sacrifice zones’ for industrial air pollution by Ken Ward Jr.
“Over the years, I wrote dozens and dozens and dozens of stories about the Institute chemical plant,” said Ken Ward Jr., Co-founder. “But so often they were reactive, stories about an explosion or a fire. This story was an opportunity to address the broader, more systemic issues at play in Institute and so many other places around our country. I’ve been fortunate that longtime residents like Pam Nixon have shared their stories with me time and again and I hope this story does justice for the work they’ve done fighting for their community.”
Despite a raging pandemic and bail reform efforts, thousands of West Virginians remain jailed, awaiting their day in court by Douglas Soule
“With this piece, I endeavored to uplift the voices of those who are incarcerated and hold my home state accountable for a system that keeps many people behind bars unnecessarily,” said Douglas Soule, Business and Economic Development Reporter. “Putting a spotlight on this issue required a lot of work and resources, and I am proud to work for a newsroom that goes the extra mile to do investigations that need to be done and tell stories that need to be told.”
WV remade its juvenile justice system, but stopped measuring if the changes were helping kids by Anya Slepyan
“This story took an in-depth yet digestible look at the state’s juvenile justice system,” said Amelia Ferrell Knisely, Poverty Reporter. “Intern Anya Slepyan’s reporting was the result of months of research and her understanding of a complex system and issue really shone through. I really liked how she showed that a lack of data and sprawling systems had real consequences for children.”
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