Ken Ward

2 months ago | wvgazettemail.com | Ken Ward

Lawmakers are expanding their rewrite of the state’s Freedom of Information Act, further undermining the law that allows the public to know what their government is doing. It began with House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, proposing House Bill 3412 to exempt the Legislature from West Virginia’s public records law. He argued that it is a good idea for lawmakers to write a separate rule to exclude at least some legislative records from public disclosure.

2 months ago | mountainstatespotlight.org | Ken Ward

Lawmakers are expanding their rewrite of the state’s Freedom of Information Act, further undermining the law that allows the public to know what their government is doing. It began with House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, proposing a bill to exempt the Legislature from West Virginia’s public records law. He argued that it is a good idea for lawmakers to write a separate rule to exclude at least some legislative records from public disclosure.

Mar 28, 2025 | mountainstatespotlight.org | Ken Ward

On the second to last day to introduce bills, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw dropped a proposal to exempt the Legislature from West Virginia’s broad and disclosure-friendly Freedom of Information Act. Instead of following the public records law that governs all other state and local officials in West Virginia, lawmakers would write a separate rule.

Jan 16, 2025 | mountainstatespotlight.org | Ken Ward

Sen. Jim Justice skipped his first two opportunities to give West Virginians their say on the floor of the United States Senate. The Senate website lists him as “Not Voting” on recorded votes that took place Wednesday at 5:57 p.m. and 6:39 p.m.As West Virginia’s governor, Justice was consistently late, refused to live in Charleston and focused on his private business affairs. The two votes Justice missed were on amendments to the Laken Riley Act.

Nov 8, 2024 | mountainstatespotlight.org | Ken Ward

The votes are counted. The results have been announced. On Tuesday, West Virginians elected a new U.S. senator and congressman, a new governor and a lot of new legislators. West Virginians helped re-elect a president. It’s been a long few months for our state, for our nation and for our newsroom. But our work won’t stop. In fact, the results make our journalism even more important. Someone has to keep an eye on how often soon-to-be Sen. Jim Justice shows up to vote.