Brad McElhinny almost missed the first rumblings of the teacher's strike. This issue was on almost nobody's radar screen until MLK Day, when Brad stumbled into West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee at a teacher's rally at the Capitol.

Now that the teacher and school employee work stoppage is finally at an end, Rick Wilson and Jessi Troyan are on the Front Porch take a look back and try to determine what comes next. Is this really a resolution where everyone involved can "take home a win"? With talk of similar actions in similar actions in Pittsburgh and Oklahoma, could this be a sign of more to come? What does way the strike was handled on both sides say about West Virginia as a state? Welcome to “The Front Porch,” where we

The walkout of school employees is entering its second week, and there's no sign of it stopping yet. Will teachers and their supporters "remember in November," and if so, will this help unions and their political supporters? Or will there be a backlash that cancels out labor's efforts in West Virginia?

Every public school in West Virginia was closed Thursday and Friday as thousands of school employees flooded the state Capitol, asking for larger pay increases and a fix for the state employees health insurance system. The Legislature has already passed a 2 percent pay raise for all state employees and promised to freeze insurance premiums for 17 months - but many teachers and school employees say it's not enough.

What works in recovery from opioid addiction, and how can we educate West Virginians about it? That's what we learn this week from Dr. Michael Brumage, new director of the Office of Drug Control Policy in West Virginia.

$8.8 billion. That's what a new study estimates the opioid epidemic is costing the West Virginia economy every year. That's 12 percent of the state's GDP, and more than any other state. On this week's Front Porch podcast, we debate the opportunity cost of opioid addiction for our economy - and how we can get out of this mess.

Legendary Charleston Gazette Publisher Ned Chilton called it "sustained outrage." He said it wasn't enough to do a story or two about an injustice - it took in-depth coverage to fix a wrong. But with the Gazette-Mail going bankrupt, supporters are concerned about that tradition of investigative reporting. How can we keep accountability journalism healthy and strong in West Virginia? On this week's Front Porch podcast, we discuss the Gazette's legacy - from a Pulitzer Prize just last year for

Most people who overdose on opioids have seen a health care provider in the last year, and many had recently been released from jail, according to a new study from West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. This suggests that overdoses can be prevented with the right intervention. Here are some of the findings, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail: Eighty-one percent of people who died of overdose interacted with at least one type of health care provider in the 12 months prior

"Recovery is possible!" is a mantra in addiction treatment. Lois Vance says recovery is happening every day at Cabin Creek Health Systems, where she works.

Gov. Justice’s second State of the State made full use of several props, two whiteboards and his entire girls’ basketball team. Justice also laid out what he thought was really important in his speech . Here are two themes I heard: finally turning the corner on the opioid epidemic, and helping young people find technical and vocational careers.