Marion County residents help McDowell County clean up from March floods
Estep, the lead pastor of LIFE United Methodist Church in Fairmont, has deep roots in McDowell County "that go back to the 1800s pioneer days." He had read the accounts of the March flooding and it tugged at his heart.
He gets frustrated talking about the unmet needs of a county that, in its heyday, had a population of 120,000-plus residents.
"Why can we not have clean, drinkable water in West Virginia in the 21st century,? Estep asked. "And the answer is, we can we just have leaders who are choosing not to do that."
Estep and three other Marion County residents went to Welch and McDowell County during the last week of March to take part in a United Methodist mission to help the less fortunate whose homes had been devasted by the floods. Another group that was involved with the cleanup is called "From Below," which is described as an educational immersion experience that was started by Appalachian ministers and is funded by the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia.
"We cleaned out three homes right in a row that hadn't been touched, or basements that hadn't been touched," said Estep. "What we found was flood water, sewage, coal, dust, et cetera. And a lot of the poor and elderly who are left in McDowell County just don't have the resources to clean out, to repair, to rebuild, and our state legislature is just not caring for some reason. I think it's an ideological reason."
Estep recently took part in a protest of state and national policies in Fairmont that take away funding for programs that harm the poor and needy. He believes lawmakers simply have to do better.
"I think the hope here is for folks to realize that we're not alone in our deep concerns, perhaps even our anger," Estep said. "We're not alone also in our vision for a country that that has compassion, care, policy, representation for folks who are at the bottom or on the edges."
Paul Wilmoth and his wide Cheryl Wilmoth, who live in the Marion County town of Barrackville, met up with Estep in McDowell County to assist with the cleanup project. Paul Wilmoth said the trip was eye-opening for him.
"My understanding is that there's been a lot of hardship down there," Paul Wilmoth said. "There's not much government, federal or state presence. It's actually bankrupt of any help down there. If it wasn't for volunteer organizations, I don't think there'd be much help down there at all."
When asked to characterize the problems facing the McDowell County residents he worked with, Wilmoth said the challenges are multi-faceted.
"I mean, it's a couple things. It's the flood was there, and the flood was difficult for them," he said. "Plus, there's just like, been a huge industrial irresponsibility down there for decades, coal mining, their water is horrible. They can't drink their water down there.
"There's just many, many, many, many issues that you would think that as a government, as one looking out for the people, that there would be more of a helpful presence down there from not only our state, but also from our federal government."
Cheryl Wilmoth described the mission trip and the conditions she saw as "humbling." She said McDowell County residents desperately need help.
"It's just overwhelming, and the health crisis that's going to come from that is even scarier to be honest with you," she said. "So it just it makes my heart so sad to think that our legislators in Charleston, our representatives in Washington, have not had the courage to step up and say, 'We will help you. We will do something to get you through this,' because they need the help. They desperately need the help."
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NBC News
06-08-2025
- NBC News
Is the next JD Vance in Kentucky?: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Henry J. Gomez explores Nate Morris' anti-establishment campaign for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat in Kentucky. Plus, Andrea Mitchell examines President Donald Trump's latest threat to federalize D.C.'s city government. — Adam Wollner Meet the Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky who could be the next JD Vance By Henry J. Gomez Nate Morris grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, with a single mother, an absent father and grandparents who schooled him in Appalachian culture and the ways of the working class. After an elite education that included a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and an MBA from Oxford, he built an innovative waste management company that attracted money from big-name investors and comparisons to Uber. Now Morris is positioning himself as the outsider in a Republican Senate primary that will determine whom the party nominates next year to succeed Mitch McConnell. Since launching his campaign in June, Morris has relentlessly attacked the longtime Kentucky GOP senator, while characterizing his two rivals, Rep. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, as squishy extensions of McConnell's legacy. Morris' biography and anti-establishment pitch, tailored to President Donald Trump's right-wing populist base, is reminiscent of the formula that sent JD Vance from the private sector to the Senate — and, most recently, to the vice presidency. The Vance connection: Vance, a Yale Law graduate, chronicled his own turbulent childhood in his 2016 memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy.' He grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and frequently visited family in Jackson, Kentucky. Morris' family descends from nearby Morgan County. At 44 and 41, respectively, Morris and Vance are also close in age. They struck up a friendship several years ago, when Morris was running Rubicon, the high-tech trash and recycling company he founded, and Vance was working in Silicon Valley venture capital. 'I sent him an email and I said, 'Hey, I see you've got Kentucky roots, I'd love to connect,'' Morris recalled in an interview this week with NBC News. 'He wrote me back pretty quickly.' Morris was among the notable names at a fundraiser Vance put together for Trump last year in Ohio. And Vance encouraged Morris to take a look at the Kentucky Senate race, a source familiar with the conversation said. Tennessee: GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn announced she is running for governor, Ben Kamisar reports. She's the third sitting senator to launch a gubernatorial campaign this year, along with Republican Tommy Tuberville in Alabama and Michael Bennet in Colorado. Pennsylvania: Republican Doug Mastriano is teasing another run against Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro despite his 15-point loss in the battleground state in 2022, Allan Smith writes. Texas: Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in protest of Republicans' mid-decade congressional redistricting plans were evacuated from their suburban Chicago hotel this morning following a threat at the property, Natasha Korecki reports. And Zoë Richards writes that GOP Gov. Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court to remove Gene Wu, Democrats' leader in the state House, from office. Indiana: Vance is heading to the Hoosier State tomorrow after Trump said he'd consider redistricting plans in other states besides Texas, per Gabe Gutierrez. Republican Gov. Mike Braun said that if the topic comes up, 'it's exploratory,' and that 'there's been no commitments made.' Trump — again — threatens a federal takeover of D.C. Analysis by Andrea Mitchell President Donald Trump is once again threatening to take over D.C.'s government because of an attempted carjacking this past Sunday at 3 a.m. involving an alleged attack against a DOGE worker. 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday. For the record, Metropolitan Police Department statistics show that so far in 2025, violent crime in the nation's capital is down 26% over last year. According to the police, the victims of the carjack attempt and alleged beating were Edward Coristine, also known online by the alias 'Big Balls,' and a woman characterized in a police report as his significant other. The police report said officers patrolling nearby observed 10 juveniles surrounding Coristine's car and assaulting him. The suspects began fleeing, but the officers arrested two of them and charged them with unarmed carjacking. The alleged suspects, two 15-year-olds from Hyattsville, Maryland, were brought to a youth detention center. Still, the incident has reignited Trump's often-stated wish to federalize the city. In February, he told reporters, 'I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order.' In 2020, during his first term, he clashed with the city's mayor, Muriel Bowser, when he sent the National Guard to back up police responding to protesters near the White House over the death of George Floyd. He again derided Bowser when she criticized the lack of National Guard support during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 'Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers and FEDERALIZE this City,' Trump wrote on Tuesday. The police said Coristine was assaulted and treated at the scene by the D.C. fire department and emergency medical services (EMS) for his injuries. But carjackings are not atypical in American cities. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, 35,000 carjackings occur in the U.S. each year. The Council on Criminal Justice says it's a crime that has increased 93% from 2019 to 2023 in a sample of 10 cities, including D.C. As for taking over the city: Full disclosure, I have been a D.C. resident since 1976. Our city won the right to govern ourselves in a law signed by President Richard Nixon 52 years ago. That said, we pay federal taxes without voting representation in Congress. Wasn't there a Declaration of Independence adopted against that — almost 250 years ago? Ryan Balberman contributed with research.
NBC News
06-08-2025
- NBC News
Meet the Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky who could be the next JD Vance
Nate Morris grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, with a single mother, an absent father and grandparents who schooled him in Appalachian culture and the ways of the working class. After an elite education that included a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and an MBA from Oxford, he built an innovative waste management company that attracted money from big-name investors and comparisons to Uber. Now Morris is positioning himself as the outsider in a Republican Senate primary that will determine whom the party nominates next year to succeed Mitch McConnell. Since launching his campaign in June, Morris has relentlessly attacked McConnell, whose name graces the state GOP's headquarters, while characterizing his two rivals, Rep. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, as squishy extensions of McConnell's legacy. Morris' biography and anti-establishment pitch, tailored to President Donald Trump's right-wing populist base, is reminiscent of the formula that sent JD Vance from the private sector to the Senate — and, most recently, to the vice presidency. 'Nate's life story is strikingly similar' to Vance's, Charlie Kirk, an influential figure in Trump's MAGA movement who has campaigned with Morris, wrote last month in a post on X. Vance, a Yale Law graduate, chronicled his own turbulent childhood — a single mother who struggled with addiction, a 'revolving door of father figures' and grandparents who shouldered a heavy load in raising him — in his 2016 memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy.' He grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and frequently visited family in Jackson, Kentucky. Morris' family descends from nearby Morgan County. At 44 and 41, respectively, Morris and Vance are also close in age. They struck up a friendship several years ago, when Morris was running Rubicon, the high-tech trash and recycling company he founded, and Vance was working in Silicon Valley venture capital. 'I sent him an email and I said, 'Hey, I see you've got Kentucky roots, I'd love to connect,'' Morris recalled in an interview this week with NBC News. 'He wrote me back pretty quickly.' They soon learned they had more in common than their bios. 'We connected on everything from politics to technology and, of course, junk food,' Morris said. 'I knew he was a real hillbilly when we started talking about what we like to eat. He said, 'You know, I'm having a hard time finding some of the things I like out here, out West.'' Morris promptly shipped a couple of cases of Big Red, a regionally popular soda, to Vance in California. 'It's what we call a trailer treat in Kentucky,' Morris said. 'It's a staple in the hillbilly palate.' Morris was among the notable names at a fundraiser Vance put together for Trump last year in Ohio. And Vance encouraged Morris to take a look at the Kentucky Senate race, a source familiar with the conversation said. 'JD is a friend, and I've been very inspired by his success and what he's been able to do as a senator and vice president,' Morris said. 'He represents the American dream.' A childhood of challenges Morris talks frequently of his mother, recalling how she worked multiple jobs and relied on food stamps to raise him. In his interview with NBC News, he also described 'typical deadbeat dad issues' — his estranged father's gambling addiction and delinquent child support. 'My mother had personal struggles and challenges … and she had to deal with a lot of things that a lot of Kentuckians have to deal with, and that really took its toll,' Morris said. 'But, you know, we stayed really tight as a family unit between my mom and my grandparents.' By Morris' count, 19 of his family members worked at the Ford Motor Co. plant in Louisville. His maternal grandfather served as the local United Auto Workers president and often took Morris with him to the union hall. Those experiences in the 1990s — particularly fallout from the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Vance has cited as a formative moment of his youth — helped shape his politics. 'It was members of my family that, when NAFTA came through, lost their jobs because they went to Mexico,' Morris said. His grandparents, he added, 'were Reagan Democrats, but they were very conservative people who always felt that the American workers should be put first.' Morris wanted to 'get away from a lot of the challenges' of his childhood and channeled his energy into high school football. When a severe neck injury sidelined him, he gravitated toward the debate team and Boys Nation, an American Legion program that took him to Washington, D.C., where he met then-President Bill Clinton. After returning to Washington for college, he landed internships with a local congresswoman and, later, with McConnell. It's that latter piece of Morris' biography that his critics wield against him, arguing he's not the outsider he proclaims to be. Morris' Washington connections also led him to a fundraising role with then-President George W. Bush's re-election bid. At 23, he raised more than $50,000, earning him status as one of the campaign's youngest 'Bush Mavericks.' Among those impressed was McConnell, who, in a 2004 profile of Morris by the Lexington Herald-Leader, remarked that he was 'the kind of kid you remember because he seems to be so sincere and so dedicated to the cause.' Morris rated further profile treatment a decade later, when he emerged as a key adviser to Kentucky's other Republican senator, Rand Paul, who was preparing to run for president and whose vision for the future of the Republican Party appeared to be ascendant at the time. Many thought then that Morris himself would one day run for office in Kentucky. His Senate campaign is no surprise, but his decision to critically center McConnell in it has been notable. A statement from Cameron's campaign described Morris' McConnell-bashing as 'completely fake' while emphasizing his past work for the senator and charging that he has an 'authenticity problem.' Morris, in his interview, countered that he came to view his work for McConnell as a lesson in how not to lead. 'I know that seems advantageous for me to say that now, but it's the truth,' Morris said. The culture around McConnell 'was just around power,' he added. 'We all have desires to want to be more and get more. That's the human component. But there was no element of service. There was no higher purpose. There was no, 'Let's make this about Kentucky.'' A trash-talking 'disrupter' Addressing a breakfast crowd before last weekend's annual Fancy Farm picnic, a major political event in western Kentucky, McConnell winked at Morris' candidacy, wondering 'how you'd want to be different from the longest-serving Senate leader in American history.' Morris arrived at the picnic in a garbage truck — a nod to his business career and to his campaign pledge to 'trash' McConnell, Barr and Cameron. On stage, he alluded to all three. 'I thought this was Fancy Farm,' he said. 'I didn't realize this was Bring Your Boys to Work day.' Loud boos were audible throughout Morris' remarks. 'The main thing that stood out about his speech was that it was angry and trashy, not that of a statesman at all,' said a Republican operative who was at the event and is not affiliated with anyone in the race. Barr's campaign seized on the reaction, issuing a statement for this article asserting that 'Andy Barr dominated Fancy Farm.' 'Meanwhile,' the campaign added, 'Nate Morris was booed worse than the lone Democrat speaker at Fancy Farm — his performance widely panned as one of the worst ever by a Republican.' In Morris' mind, the criticism misses the mark. Why would anyone expect him to change his message because he was at an event stacked with McConnell-aligned GOP insiders? 'When you're a disrupter, that's what you've got to do,' Morris said in his interview. 'You've got to take the fight right to the establishment.' Morris' campaign is already outpacing his rivals on the Kentucky airwaves, with nearly $1.6 million spent on ads through Wednesday, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm. A Barr-aligned group has spent $596,000. Cameron's campaign has spent less than $3,000. Nevertheless, Barr, Cameron and their allies have registered Morris as a threat. Both quickly attacked Morris when he entered the race, scrutinizing his past business practices and charging that he has not demonstrated sufficient loyalty to Trump. Cameron's campaign, for example, has called attention to a contribution that Morris made to a Nikki Haley PAC in 2021. The donation came after Haley had vowed not to challenge Trump in 2024, though she eventually did. Whoever wins the GOP nomination will be heavily favored to win the Senate seat. Kentucky has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since awarding Wendell Ford a fourth and final term in 1992. The primary dynamics are not unlike Vance's 2022 Senate race in Ohio, where he was initially dismissed as too much of a neophyte. Vance's opponents also questioned his allegiance to Trump, noting how critical he had been of him years earlier. Other Republicans, including a former state treasurer and former state party chair, commanded more support from local grassroots activists and Washington insiders. Then-Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., was the first member of Congress to back Vance. And Vance's friendly relationships with Donald Trump Jr. and Kirk, the MAGA influencer, placed him in good standing in Trump world. Trump himself endorsed Vance weeks before the primary. Ohio's 2024 Senate primary played out similarly, with businessman Bernie Moreno riding Trump and Vance endorsements to the GOP nomination over a state senator backed by establishment-friendly Gov. Mike DeWine. Moreno, like Vance, went on to win the general election. There are common denominators between those winning campaigns and Morris' bid. He declared his candidacy on Trump Jr.'s podcast and held his first major event with Kirk. Key Vance and Moreno advisers, including strategist Andy Surabian and pollster Tony Fabrizio, are now working with him. Banks and Moreno were the first two senators to endorse him. If and when Trump and Vance will join them remains unclear. In the meantime, Kentucky observers are curious to see if Morris' Vance-like story and anti-McConnell message can work. 'I think it's a mixed bag, because I think there's frustration with McConnell for things he's done the last maybe five to eight years among the base, but he's got, he's in a very long career, and he's done a lot for not just the state, but for the Republican Party in Kentucky,' said Tres Watson, a former communications director for the Kentucky GOP. Watson, who is not affiliated with any of the Senate campaigns, hesitated only slightly when asked who he believes is more popular in Kentucky these days: Vance or McConnell. 'I mean, probably JD Vance,' he said.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Yahoo
FTC May Free VanLoh's Quantum in Marcellus Over EQT-Tug Hill Deal
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may continue clearing its gulag, now looking to free Wil VanLoh's Quantum Capital Group over a $5.2 billion deal with EQT Corp. in 2023. The 2023 order prohibits private investor Quantum, founded by VanLoh, from holding an EQT board seat and required Quantum to divest its EQT shares. It also prohibits Quantum from holding a seat on the top seven Appalachian gas producers' boards without FTC permission. The M&A deal involved was EQT's acquisition of Quantum-backed, No. 11 Marcellus producer Tug Hill and its midstream unit XcL Midstream. The FTC is reopening public comment on the case on whether to cancel the restrictions. 'The FTC's 2023 consent order resolved antitrust concerns that alleged the deal would have made Quantum one of EQT's largest shareholders and given Quantum a seat on EQT's board of directors,' the FTC reported July 22. Among Quantum's current Appalachian investments is HG Energy, which Quantum and other investors, including Elliott Investment Management, bought out of an expiring Quantum fund and put into a 'continuation fund' to hold onto the property until ripe for exit. The five-seat FTC consists now of three members, all Republican. President Biden-named chair Lina Khan resigned in January and President Trump fired the two other Democrats holding seats. Recently, the new FTC revoked three past orders involving U.S. oil and gas producers. In one, EnCap Investments and its portfolio companies are required now to give the FTC only a heads up if wanting to do a deal in the Uinta Basin, rather than require prior approval. In two others, Permian Basin veteran Scott Sheffield was allowed to join the Exxon Mobil board after all and Hess Corp. chief John Hess was allowed to join the Chevron Corp. board. Invoking the Clayton Act The FTC's 2023 decision was also reportedly made over concern of an existing joint venture between Quantum and EQT in the Appalachian Basin. 'The FTC alleged that an existing joint venture between EQT and Quantum involved in purchasing mineral rights in the Appalachian Basin raised concerns regarding anticompetitive information exchange and the harm to competition in the acquisition of mineral rights,' the FTC said July 22 about the Quantum-EQT deal. Quantum is currently prohibited from holding an EQT seat 'to prevent the formation of an interlocking directorate, which is an arrangement that occurs when an officer or director of one firm simultaneously serves as an officer or director of a competing firm,' the FTC wrote in summary of the decision that it is considering canceling. 'The final order also required Quantum to divest its EQT shares, prevented anticompetitive information exchange, unwound the joint venture between the two entities and imposed additional restraints to protect competition.' The commission said in 2023 that it was its first case in 40 years that enforced Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which is aimed at prohibiting interlocking directorates—when an officer or director of one firm simultaneously serves as an officer or director of a competing firm. Nathan Soderstrom, acting deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition at the time, said, 'As originally structured, this deal would have resulted in an illegal interlocking directorate, facilitated the exchange of confidential and competitively sensitive information and otherwise stifled competition in the Appalachian Basin.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
