Local News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Clerk is encouraging residents to cast in their ballots earlier this year ahead of the anticipatedly busy Primary Election Day.

Early in-person voting gets underway across the 55 counties this Wednesday, May 1 and goes through Saturday, May 11.

Kanawha County Clerk, Vera McCormick said it being a major election this year, voting early is a good opportunity to ensure one has a chance to cast in their ballot, as Election Day itself will be particularly crowded across the county’s 184 precincts.

“I hope people does take the opportunity to get out and vote early, because it’s going to be a long ballot, and we have so many locations we hope that people can get out during the ten days,” said McCormick.

She anticipates the lines to be long on Election Day and it will take longer in the voting booths.

McCormick said there are a lot of offices and candidates to go through this year.

She said beyond gubernatorial candidates and those running for U.S. Senate, congressional districts, among every other office in the state, every county office will also be included in this year’s ballot.

“We have some of the municipalities on our ballot that’s piggy-backing on with us this time,” said McCormick. “I think every office is up expect for the two clerks, the county and the circuit, but other than that, it’s a full ballot.”

She said the town of Dunbar, the city of Saint Albans, Nitro, South Charleston and Montgomery are all of the additional municipalities that have candidates up for election that are expected to be on the ballot this year.

Local candidates and offices this election include magistrates, circuit judges, district attorneys, county sheriffs, county commission, among others.

McCormick said they encourage those who might be interested in being a poll worker to still sign up to do so. She said those who sign up to be a poll worker now will be placed on the alternate list and will be called in if needed.

“We can work people if they’re a non-partisan registered voter, we could use those too, they can work with either party, but however they’re registered they can call and give us their name, phone number, and we’ll set them up for a training class,” she said.

She said they are getting geared up for the Primary Election.

“We’re getting ready, so we’re looking forward to May 14th,” McCormick said.

Early voting locations in Kanawha County include the following:

. Belle Town Hall

. Voter Registration Office, Charleston

. Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council, Charleston

. Cross Lanes Sheriff’s detachment

. Elkview Community Center

. Marmet Town Hall

. Nitro Police Department

. Saint Albans City Hall

. Sissonville Library

HAMLIN, W.Va. — A baseball dugout and a storage facility at Lincoln County High School were set on fire sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

According to the Hamlin Volunteer Fire Department, the structures are considered to be a total loss. The storage facility was used to store lawn care equipment.

State Police and the State Fire Marshall’s Office are now investigating the blaze.

Anyone with information that could lead to identifying who set the structures on fire is encouraged to contact local authorities.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County Schools has proposed implementing a policy where armed security personnel are hired to patrol county elementary and middle schools.

The district’s excess levy will fund 12 positions. The hired on officers will rotate as the security at the different county elementary schools, as well as some middle schools. The officers will be armed with concealed weapons.

The Kanawha County Board of Education approved the first reading of the policy during a recent meeting.

General counsel Lindsey McIntosh said during that meeting that the sole purpose of the security officers is to protect those inside the buidling from anyone outside the building that is seeking to do harm to those inside.

“They are not to be acting as administration or for discipline in the building,” said McIntosh.

In order to become one of the 12 security officers, applicants must be a retired law enforcement officer with proper training and credentials in line with state code.

There’s nothing in state code at the moment that says school districts can’t hire armed security personnel. The Legislature has made attempts at passing bills relating to armed security at schools.

Dr. Tom Williams

According to Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Williams, the county’s Executive Director of Safety and Security Keith Vititoe will be the only one, other than top school personnel, to know where each armed security officer is on a daily basis. Vititoe said they’re trying to “make more of him.”

“Essentially, we’re making 12 more of me,” he said.

The goal was to have an officer for each school but that was not feasable. The program will cost about $1 million for the school district in the first year. Officers will be using their own personal vehicles and will be compensated for the mileage.

“We would love to have one for every school but we knew that financially that wouldn’t be possible,” Vititoe said.

The excess levy funds dedicated to the 12 positions won’t be ready until the start of the fiscal year which is July 1. Security officers could be placed in the schools as soon as next school year.

The additional security personnel will mostly take care of the school systems that don’t currently have a resource officer. All of the county’s high schools and a handful of middle schools already have resource officers.

Williams said the officers will be keeping more of a low profile while they’re patrolling the schools and will be rotating around to different schools each week.

“They won’t be in uniform or anything like that, they’ll be very low-key,” he said.

“If there is an elevated concern at a particular school, we will reassign them as necessary,” Vititoe added.

Vititoe and McIntosh collaborated to create the policy to try and enhance the security at the county’s schools. Further development on the proposed policy is expected in a board meeting coming up next month.

CROSS LANES, W.Va. — A West Virginia coach says she’s proud two of her gymnasts have qualified for the USA Gymnastics championships scheduled for next month.

“For West Virginia, just like any sport, our population is smaller here in our state so when we can athletes to this level, it just shows the dedication of the athlete,” Susan Brown, owner of Revolution Gymnastics in Cross Lanes, told MetroNews.

Emma Mason

Sophia Fala, a junior at George Washington High School, will compete in the 2024 Women’s Development Program Level 9 Eastern Championships in Myrtle Beach, SC from May 2-5.

Emma Mason, a senior at Teays Valley Christian School, will head to the 2024 Women’s Development Program Level 10 National Championships in Daytona Beach, FL the week after that from May 10-12.

Brown said Abby Rice, a senior at Hurricane High School, qualified for the national championships last year. She placed second on the uneven bars during a competition at State College, PA earlier this month.

The gymnasts train about 20 hours a week in addition to outside cross training, Brown said.

“They’re super dedicated. They’ve basically been doing this all their lives,” she said. “Every aspect about their life is so goal-oriented from their academics to their cross training to their injury prevention. Gymnastics is not seasonal. It’s a tough sport and it takes a special kind of kid to be dedicated.”

Mason has been doing gymnastics since she was 18 months old. Fala hit the mats at 8-years-old.

Both girls will have routines they’ll perform at their national competitions next month.

“This is artistic gymnastics. They’re competing in the All-Arounds, so it’s the traditional Olympic events you would know: the vault, the bars, the balance beam and a floor exercise,” Brown said.

Mason plans to compete with the University of Georgia next season.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice is calling on fellow West Virginians to be a hero for children.

Members of the community were invited to a “Light up the Capitol” event Friday night at the steps of the West Virginia Capitol Building to show their support for child abuse victims. With glow sticks in hand, dozens of supporters were able to light up the capital city.

Misty Atkins, director of the West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice at the West Virginia State Police, put on the event. The biggest program within the Center for Children’s Justice is “Handle with Care,” a defending childhood initiative, tailored to reflect the needs and issues affecting West Virginia children. It is a statewide trauma informed response to child maltreatment.

Atkins said she wanted to “light up the capitol” to show kids that they are not alone and there are plenty of people who want to support them.

“It lets children know that their cries are not going unheard,” Atkins said. “We are all stronger if we stand together.”

April is also Child Abuse Prevention Month. West Virginia ranks third in the country for child abuse cases, according to Atkins. One in every 10 children in West Virginia may experience sexual abuse. More than 600 allegations of child abuse were made in 2023.

“We are showing current child abuse victims and past child abuse victims that we care and we’re here for them,” said Atkins.

Cynthia Persily

Cabinet Secretary for the WV Department of Human Services Cynthia Persily and U.S Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Will Thompson were both in attendance.

There have been recent cases of child abuse and neglect in West Virginia. Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment in West Virginia, making up over 82% of child abuse cases.

“Together, let’s be the voice that speaks for the voiceless,” said Persily.

Persily said her staff is making sure they meet every report of child abuse and neglect with diligence. She encourages anyone who suspects or knows about child abuse or neglect to speak up and report it to their abuse and neglect hotline.

“If you see something, say something,” said Thompson.

Will Thompson

For many years, U.S. Attorney Thompson has seen countless child abuse cases. He’s been working on them for much of his career. He applauded those in attendance Friday night for showing up and being a supporter, but also challenged those at the steps of the State Capitol Building to take the next step and make a difference in a young person’s life.

“Do something that would be positive in a child’s life,” he said. “This is something that we should be focused on 365 days a year.”

There is also an ongoing situation of children in the foster care system. There were more than 2,700 kids waiting to be adopted in 2020, according to Atkins. Of the 7,200 children in the foster care system now, 85% of those cases include drug usage.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin spoke Friday to members of the American Postal Workers Union at their annual convention in Beckley.

Manchin fielded a number of questions about the U.S. Postal Service and he also talked about the recent decision by the USPS to change the operations at the processing and distribution facility in Charleston at Southridge to a local processing center.

Manchin said he’s still waiting for the agency to answer his request for an audit of how the decision was made.

“There’s no need for them to delay this audit because they had to make a decision. Just show us how you made this decision and we’ll tell you if the audit is going to be acceptable or not,” Manchin said.

A review of the Charleston operation began last November. A decision was announced April 2 that some operations will be heading to Pittsburgh, PA and Pennwood, PA.

Manchin wants to know why.

“Tell us why you did what you did–why you changed everything,” he said.

Manchin said he can’t be convinced that moving some of the operations to Pittsburgh will be more efficient.

“Most of Charleston (Processing & Distribution Center) serves the rural area, when you look at West Virginia as we know it and you look over in Kentucky and down into Virginia and those are all rural areas. And you tell me that Pittsburgh will be able to serve them? I don’t think so but we’ll see,” Manchin said.

Initial results from the postal service projected the loss of 26 positions at the Charleston facility with the move. Union officials have said they believe the number will be higher.

WJLS Radio Reporter Keith Thompson contributed to this story.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The new state Fire Hydrant Maintenance and Testing Task Force has less than 60 days to recommend a package of rules to the state Public Service Commission that will govern the testing, inspection and marking of fire hydrants across the state.

The PSC ordered a general investigation last year after a few situations where fires occurred and fire hydrants weren’t working or provided very little water. The state legislature followed that action with a bill this year that allows the PSC to establish rules governing hydrants. The PSC created the task force to recommend the rules.

The task force, which met for the first time Friday afternoon, has until June 30 to get its proposals to the PSC.

PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane told task force members their work would be key.

“This is an important endeavor,” Lane said. “I hope you can have a free and open discussion and give us a lot of good information from all of the expertise that you all have with fire hydrants.”

Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, told task force members what they were doing would end up saving lives.

“We want to hopefully come to a body of regulations which is workable,” Linville said. “There’s no reason to put forward regulations that no one can outright comply with.”

PSC staff member Jonathan Fowler, a longtime worker in the PSC’s engineering division, told the task force last year’s study showed there are 49,906 fire hydrants across the state, operated by approximately 250 water utilities. West Virginia American Water Company owns more than anyone else at 10,548.

Fowler told the task force the most obvious thing the study turned up is there are no codified state requirements relating specifically to the testing, inspection and marking of fire hydrants.

Fowler said not enough utilities are testing the water flow through their systems and hydrants.

“We found out that only 42% of water systems reported that they had written hydrant inspection procedures even though those procedures are readily available for free to the public utility,” Fowler said.

Upcoming changes to hydrants, including possibly replacing them, will come at a cost. The PSC asked the legislature before this year’s session to approve a $70 million hydrant replacement program over a 10-year period but Fowler said the request wasn’t taken up.

“We didn’t get the money so that’s the end of that,” he said.

Linville said he hopes the coming improvements won’t hit customers too hard.

“Obviously, we want to make sure it has a minimal impact to ratepayers as possible but clearly this is a responsibility that we all share to make sure this infrastructure works,” Linville said.

The next meeting of the task force was not immediately scheduled.

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  — The opportunity to get rid of unneeded, unused, or expired prescription medications is here again for the first time this year.

As local and state law enforcement agencies, substance use prevention organizations get ready to team up to host Drug Take Back Day this Saturday, April 27, health officials area laying out why such a move is important for people’s health and safety.

State Health Officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen with the Department of Health told MetroNews that ridding the home space of those old medications helps prevent medication misuse, which contributes to the ongoing substance use crisis and drug overdose epidemic, and it keeps them from falling into the wrong hands.

Dr. Matthew Christiansen

“The most important thing is really making sure that family members, kids, even pets, who sometimes get a hold of bottles of pills that could be controlled substances or other dangerous medications not intended for those individuals and can really cause harm when consumed by the unintended recipient, does not do so,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen said Substance Use Disorder can affect anyone.

He said one of the worst case scenarios that comes out of leaving those unused pill bottles lying around is having loved ones pick them and use them, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and contributes to the cause of addiction or worsens their addiction symptoms.

He adds that prescription pills, specifically opioids, benzodiazepines, and stimulants can all be misused and can contribute to the ongoing crisis.

However, Christiansen said overtime, health experts have noticed that opioid prescriptions have declined, and he said it’s events like Drug Take Back that can help further dispose of them for good.

“We’re hopeful that as people get the messages about these Drug Take Back Days, that if they do have, specifically opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants or other controlled substances in their pill cabinets, they use these opportunities to make sure that their families and friends are safe,” he said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration partners with law enforcement agencies nationwide for National Drug Take Back Day which they host on the last Saturdays in April and October.

Christiansen said he recommends taking the medications to a Drug Take Back event so they can be properly disposed of through the DEA rather than trying to dispose of them on one’s own by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away in the garbage.

He said the twice-a-year event gives people the opportunity to be safe rather than sorry.

“Most importantly, make sure they’re out of your pill box or out of your medicine cabinet and are not at risk of causing addiction or substance use in your loved ones,” Christiansen said.

There’s a number of Drug Take Back locations that will be set up across the state Saturday.

You can visit DEA/ Drug Take Back, enter your location on the Collection Site Locator tool on the webpage, and find a location near you that will be conducting an event.

Most locations will be collecting tablets, capsules, patches and other solid forms of prescription drugs, and will not accept syringes, sharps or illicit drugs. Liquid products such as cough syrups should remain tightly sealed in their original container.

In Kanawha County, the Kanawha County Sheriffs Office will host their’s annonoumsly at five KSCO detatchements including:

. Elkview — 1078 Main Street

. Sissonville — 6817 1/2 Sissonville Drive

. Quincy — 2700 E. Dupont Avenue

. Cross Lanes — 903 Cross Lanes Drive

. Saint Albans — 6809 Ohio Avenue

The Charleston Police Department will have six locations set up for the event at the following places:

. Walgreens — 655 Washington Street West

. Drug Emporium — 1603 Kanawha Boulevard W.

. WV Drug Intervention Institute — 118 Capital Street

. Piggly Wiggly — 5003 MacCorkle Avenue S.E.

. Fruth Pharmacy — 864 Oakwood Road

. Krogers Ashton Place — 1100 Fledderjohn Road

ELEANOR, W.Va. — Organizers are getting ready to host food trucks for an annual event on Putnam County Fairgrounds in Eleanor.

The 6th annual West Virginia Food Festival will be held from 1-5 p.m. this Saturday.

More than a dozen food trucks will be on site. Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Kelli Steele said the food is the highlight in addition to craft beer, live music and outdoor games.

“We always have some lawn games. You can play cornhole, lawn Jenga, Connect 4, people can toss the Frisbee around,” Steele said during an appearance on “580 Live” hosted by Dave Allen on 580-WCHS.

There’s a VIP ticket option from 12-1 p.m. Tickets are free after 1 p.m.

“It gives people an opportunity to make sure that they’re not waiting in line for an extra-long line and to try multiple trucks before the lines get crowded,” Steele said.

Proceeds will go to benefit the Putnam County Library System.

“Each year we choose a different non-profit partner and any profits that are received from the festival, along with proceeds from our raffle basket and donations, go to a different non-profit each year and this year is the Friends of the Putnam Library,” Steele said.

To view a list of the food truck vendors and find more information about Saturday’s event, visit wvfoodtruckfestival.com.

The Putnam County CVB and Chamber of Commerce are hosting the event.