Going out on a high note

It started with Harry. But didn't end there.

There's been a lot of downer news this week, but here's a positive item to close it out. Some people may remember how several years ago celebrity chef Jamie Oliver came to Huntington, WV--billed as the most unhealthy city in the US--to try out his food "revolution" in the public school system.

The series created a lot of drama, which actually misrepresented the situation. The reality is that my home county of Cabell is a national leader in child nutrition and in feeding kids breakfast and lunch for free.

Here's a great story, titled "Revenge of the Lunch Lady" about the real food revolution. And it's one that worked.

Good news, bad news, repeat

To start on a positive note, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion in particular is shaping up to be a success story in WV. Aside from the fact that around 170,000 West Virginians are covered by Medicaid expansion and another 33,000 have gained coverage via the exchange, now hospitals are reporting huge savings. The Charleston Gazette recently reported that 25 hospitals have reported a $265 million drop in uncompensated care.

On a negative note, changes to food stamp aka SNAP benefits could result in thousands of West Virginians losing them.

On a positive note, my beloved Cabell County Schools is expanding free meals for students. On the other hand, Cabell is also ground zero for substance abuse, with over 900 overdoses reported last year.

Half empty or half full?

In case you were wondering...

...West Virginia's leaders have been on a major ruling class hissy fit over the Obama administration's proposed Clean Power Plan. Gee, nobody saw that coming.

IT'S NOT ALL BAD. On the other hand, two friends of mine who recently started a program to bring yoga to West Virginia's prison population got some nice coverage in the Gazette today. One of them was a guardian angel of mine on a triathlon I barely managed to finish. I now owe her a karmic debt.

MORE GOOD NEWS. WV continues to make huge strides in child nutrition. The Harrison County school board recently decided to dramatically expand its participation in a federal program that provides free breakfast and lunch to all students in schools with high poverty rates. They piloted the program at three schools last year.

Even better, one heretofore holdout county, Wetzel, recently decided to provide free meals to all kids county wide. On the cosmic scale, this might not seem like a big deal, but it's a huge one for the kids who no longer have to deal with stigma and the parents who no longer have to worry about another bill.

A big thank you to the adults in those counties who stood up for kids!