Month: March 2015
Health advocates now working to kill fireworks & smoking bill
‘Christmas Tree’ bill said harmful in many ways CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia is working to stop House Bill 2646: the fireworks regulation bill, which many have characterized as the “Christmas Tree” bill of the 2015 Legislative Session and now contains language to preempt local health regulations regarding clean indoor air.[Read More…]
Logan sisters get homecoming surprise at school
LOGAN, W.Va. — On Thursday, two students at Justice Elementary School in Logan received the biggest and, certainly, the best surprise imaginable — their father. Staff Sergeant Anthony May with the United States Air Force had been deployed to the small Middle Eastern country of Qatar for nearly seven months when[Read More…]
W.Va. Senate calls for U.S. constitution convention
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A divided Senate passed a resolution Thursday calling for an Article V Convention for a federal balanced budget amendment. Following a lengthy debate, lawmakers approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 via a voice vote Thursday. In February, Ohio Gov. John Kasich visited the West Virginia Capitol to drum[Read More…]
Damaged Harman School reopens to grades 6-12
ELKINS, W.Va. — Eight months after the building’s roof collapsed, all Harman School students are scheduled to return to the facility next week. The Randolph County Board of Education voted Thursday to accept Superintendent Terry George’s recommendation that all Harman School students in grades 6-12 that are currently attending other[Read More…]
Charitable Wheeling groups feel food bank pinch
WHEELING, W.Va. — Pastor Darrell Cummings said the Bethlehem Apostolic Church now has just days to find a new provider after the Mountaineer Food Bank informed him this week they won’t be bringing a tractor–trailer full of food to the church’s annual food distribution event on April 4. Mountaineer Food[Read More…]
State board’s 180-day waiver process a mistake
An editorial from The Dominion Post MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Ah, spring, when a school board’s fancy turns to … vacations and summer? At least that’s what appears to be on the minds of the state Board of Education (BOE). This week the state BOE approved a waiver process that gives county school districts[Read More…]
All W.Va. teachers, not just a few, need pay raises
An editorial from The Exponent Telegram CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Sometimes you just have to shake your head in wonderment. On Thursday, state senators advanced House Bill 2381, which will provide $2,000 pay raises to nationally certified teachers who teach at low performing schools and provide mentorship to other teachers. While[Read More…]
W.Va.’s bald eagle population has come a long way
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The future for West Virginia’s bald eagles looks as bright as the snow-white feathers on the birds’ heads. Forty years ago, the only eagles seen in the Mountain State were migrants “just passing through.” Today, the state is home to an estimated 100 to 200 nesting pairs,[Read More…]
Drone used to check Charleston church steeple
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A small drone, less then a square yard in size, rose slowly off the ground on Virginia Street and began circling the steeple of Kanawha United Presbyterian Church shortly before noon on Thursday. The drone, flying quietly, took photographs all around the aging steeple in an effort[Read More…]