Fact Check Archives — Page 9 of 18 — 100 Days in Appalachia

Fact Check

To help you find the truth in West Virginia politics, reporters and researchers from PolitiFact West Virginia examine statements by elected officials and candidates – and anyone else who speaks up on matters of public importance – provides context for those statements and then rates their accuracy according to PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact West Virginia is a partnership of 100 Days in Appalachia, Pulitzer Prize winning PolitiFact and the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University.

Fact Check

Fact-check: Was the Catalytic Converter Invented in West Virginia? Not Exactly

by Patrick Downey & Keith Harmonay on April 5, 2019 Comments are Disabled

Did West Virginia give the world the catalytic converter, an essential part of every gasoline-powered automobile today? That’s what Brian Joseph, the CEO of Touchstone Research Laboratory of Triadelphia, W.Va., said in a business article in WV News on Feb. 10. The article focused on Touchstone’s technology business, which includes thermal protection […]

Fact Check

Fact-check: Do We Have More Women in the Workforce than Ever Before?

by Samantha Patrick on April 4, 2019 Comments are Disabled

Is the United States at a high point in employment for women? The West Virginia Republican Party said so in a recent tweet. The party quoted the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump. “’Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before […]

Fact Check

Fact-check: Viral Video Alleging a Muslim ‘Sharia Zone’ in West Virginia is Pants on Fire

by Liz Newton, Patrick Orsagos & Mary Alice Truitt on April 2, 2019 Comments are Disabled

West Virginia went viral recently on social media. But the video post that attracted national attention was chock full of questionable claims. The two minute, 14 second video featured a man talking in what he identified as a neighborhood in West Virginia. The speaker asserted that houses nearby were being […]

Fact Check

Fact-check: Did Cabell County, W.Va., Cut Overdoses by 40 Percent?

by Catherine Harrington & Madison Weaver on March 22, 2019 Comments are Disabled

During his State of the State address on Jan. 9, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice made the opioid epidemic a focus of his speech. At one point, Justice said, “Now, in Cabell County, we just had information that we reduced our overdoses by 40 percent.” The governor’s office did not […]

Fact Check

Fact-check: Is Jim Justice Right About a Record Surplus in 2019?

by Kyle Coughlin & Austin Jones on March 15, 2019 Comments are Disabled

Shortly before the start of the 2019 legislative session, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice touted the state’s improved budget position for the 2019 fiscal year. In a tweet sent on Jan. 8, Justice wrote, “Another month of record-breaking revenue numbers! For December, we had a $44.8 million surplus. Year-to-date we are $185.9 […]

Fact Check

Fact-check: Would One Fentanyl Seizure Be Able to Kill Every West Virginian 32 Times Over?

by Catherine Harrington & Madison Weaver on March 13, 2019 Comments are Disabled

When President Donald Trump announced that he would go around Congress to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border by declaring a national emergency, U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., tweeted a video supporting the idea. In the Feb. 15 video, Miller said, “West Virginia has been hit especially hard by illegal drugs […]