In The News

Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate sent a strong message last week to President Barack Obama with two necessary measures aimed at rolling back the administration’s job-killing anti-coal agenda. Among those bills was a bipartisan measure introduced by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., that seeks to void the EPA’s anti-coal regulations for existing power plants. Capito also voted with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate in passing a... Read More

West Virginia's U.S. senators, Republican Shelley Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin, are right to be focusing on what may be the single most effective way to turn back the rising tide of drug addiction in America. It is the many people who start down the path of addiction to illegal opioids by using legal painkillers to cope with injuries and/or illnesses. Manchin is concerned about federal action to allow the painkiller OxyContin to be prescribed for children as young as 11. More thought should... Read More

It may end up being a largely symbolic vote, but this week the U.S. Senate voiced the same concerns about new energy rules that industry leaders and officials in our region have been stressing for several years. The Clean Power Plan, as proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, will not work, and the cost of the idealistic regulations to residents in our region and across the country will be high. Tuesday the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by West Virginia's Shelley... Read More

BLUEFIELD — The rails of the mainline tracks through the heart of the Norfolk Southern’s Bluefield yard are still shiny, but 100-car-long unit trains filled with coal headed east are becoming more and more rare with each new day. “I would say export coal is off by 50 percent or more and it doesn’t show any signs of improving,” Rick Taylor said. Taylor is president of the Pocahontas Coal Association, an organization that is made up of primarily independent coal... Read More

West Virginia is at a crossroads: Our leaders must find a way to diversify the Mountain State’s economy from one primarily driven by manufacturing and extractive industries — coal mining in particular — to one based on technology and driven by broadband access. For over 100 years, coal has been king in West Virginia, accounting for the greatest share of the state’s gross domestic products and tax revenues. Sadly, because of the Obama administration’s EPA over-reach,... Read More

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin announced funding Wednesday of nearly $1.8 million to support West Virginia State University. The funding, from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the USDA will support research, teaching and extension activities at WVSU. “West Virginia State University has made significant contributions in research, innovation and development for agriculture and extension programs,” said Capito.... Read More

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito and U.S. Cellular representatives gathered with Morgan County and Paw Paw officials and residents at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday to celebrate the site of a new Paw Paw U.S. Cellular tower. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito makes the first official cell phone call to U.S. Cellular CEO Ken Meyers onsite at the new U.S. Cellular tower in Paw Paw. It brings the first cellular phone service and high-speed wireless broadband service to the... Read More

BERKELEY SPRINGS - U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito joined representatives of U.S. Cellular and local officials for the official unveiling of voice and wireless broadband service for the first time in Paw Paw. "With this new tower, Paw Paw and nearby communities have access to high-speed Internet that can power our economy and harness the entrepreneurial spirit of many West Virginians," Capito said during the ribbon cutting ceremonies at the new tower at 1545 Paw Paw Road. "Today's announcement is... Read More

Washington, D.C. – In a letter to President Obama, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) are calling for increased efforts to ensure that no refugee related to the Syrian crisis is allowed into the United States unless the U.S. government can guarantee, with 100 percent assurance, that the refugee is not involved with ISIS. In the letter, the Senators request that the Administration outline the challenges it faces for checking the background of Syrian refugees... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — West Virginia’s U.S. senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito remain skeptical about President Barack Obama’s plan to receive Syrian refugees into the United States. Both senators were guests Tuesday on MetroNews “Talkline” and opposed Obama. “Let’s create some kind of safe-zones within their own countries where they know they’re free from prosecution and brutality,” Capito said. “I think that might go a... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A resolution introduced  by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) to void EPA’s regulations for existing power plants passed in the Senate Tuesday. The regulations were described as both “unworkable and overreaching.” “American jobs and economic growth are being held hostage as the administration proposes regulations that harm energy-producing states,” said Capito. “Today’s passage... Read More

PAW PAW, W.Va. — A new U.S. Cellular tower was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning at the tower site on Paw Paw Road in western Morgan County. Morgan County Commissioner Bob Ford said that before the tower became fully functional on Thursday, area residents had only dial-up Internet service and not a high-quality voice service. “Paw Paw is now connected to all of Morgan County,” Ford said.Morgan County Commission President Brad Close said the 280-foot tower... Read More

CHARLES TOWN — Local officials have become quite familiar with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program since Berkeley County was selected last fall to join this federal initiative as a result of its illegal drug problems - including the state's highest heroin overdose deaths from 2007 to 2012. Now, Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty is awaiting similar news from Washington, where federal officials will be meeting Nov. 20 and considering this new designation, he said. "I... Read More

With the scourge of prescription drug abuse still taking a deadly toll on the coalfields of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, area lawmakers are increasingly encouraging physicians to co-prescribe the life-saving drug Naloxone. Naloxone is considered to be a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdoses. A new state law took effect in West Virginia earlier this year allowing first responders, friends and family to administer the potentially life-saving medication to people... Read More

U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) recently introduced the Co-prescribing Saves Lives Act, which aims to prevent opioid overdose deaths by urging physicians to co-prescribe the life-saving drug naloxone alongside opioid prescriptions, as well as make naloxone more widely available in the federal health care realm. “Families and communities across West Virginia have been affected by the drug-abuse epidemic, with our state sadly leading the nation in drug-related... Read More

Google’s Online Safety Roadshow traveled to Berkeley Springs on Monday, November 9, to educate students at Warm Springs Middle School about staying safe and secure online. Google was accompanied by West Virginia State Senator Shelley Moore Capito. Capito spoke to students about the importance of being careful on social media sites, using examples from her own use of texting and Facebook. “Using social media comes with a lot of responsibility,” she said.She then turned it over... Read More

Babies who come into the world addicted to drugs such as heroin suffer the incredible pain of withdrawal, along with potential ill health later in life - because their mothers could not or would not deal with their own substance abuse. It happens all too frequently. And other than finding ways to help the little ones get through their first weeks of life in withdrawal, not much is done about the problem. Of course, pregnant women are urged to stop smoking, drinking alcohol and using certain... Read More

MARTINSBURG - It may have taken three years from looking at locations in Berkeley County to hosting a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, but Jason Singer, owner of CounterTop Solutions, said he is excited to now call Berkeley County home for his business. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Alex X. Mooney, R-W.Va., as well as state and local leaders celebrated the business environment in Berkeley County at the groundbreaking ceremony for CounterTop Solutions in Falling Waters and... Read More

The battle scars of war, don't just leave physical wounds. The mental health issues of coping with battle have led to drug and alcohol addictions among many in uniform. Now, more help is coming. The VA medical center in Huntington - which already offers mental health care - will soon have a separate facility for those brought in with addiction issues. "They come back addicted and basically they were trying to relieve their anxieties and PTSD, which is some respects is something that affects most... Read More

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, must remain open after she recently toured the facility holding three of the 9/11 conspirators. While the president is making a last-ditch effort to keep a campaign promise to shut down the prison, the majority of congressional members are against shutting the prison and transferring up to 53 of the 114 prisoners to federal lockup facilities. “I’m not ready to expand their rights,”... Read More