By: Brad McElhinny | Posted: June 15, 2018 | Source: WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice has called a news conference for Friday morning about long-term flood relief.
The governor’s press conference is to start at 9 a.m. Friday. He and Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard had said last week that they would likely provide a Friday update on the RISE flood recovery program.
Controversy has stirred over the past month over…
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice requested and received the resignation of Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher, a news release confirms. (WCHS/WVAH)
By: Anna Taylor | Posted: June 14, 2018 | Source: WVAH
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS/WVAH) — West Virginia Governor Jim Justice requested and received the resignation of Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher Thursday, a news release confirms.
“I consider Woody a friend, and he’s done a solid job in the area of economic development,” Justice said in the release. “Thrasher expressed to me that recent media attention had distracted from what he believed was his core mission, economic development and business opportunities for West Virginia.”
Justice added that he hopes the resignation allows the state to turn its attention to the full recovery of all of the 2016 flood victims. The governor had announced earlier in the month that a restructuring of the Commerce Department, including terminations, would happen. He also turned RISE WV flood recovery efforts over to the state’s top military officer, West Virginia National Guard Adjutant General James Hoyer.
Justice called it inexcusable that the people hit by the flood of June 2016 are still waiting for assistance.
Justice said he identified a problem with a change order to Horne LLP, the contractor hired to help with the RISE West Virginia program. Justice said he canceled a $17 million change order which would have benefited Horne. Instead, Justice said the contractor will now be paid between $9 million and $10 million, with $7 million to $8 million funneling back into flood relief.
In the release Thursday, Thrasher released a statement, saying he accepted the appointment of Commerce Secretary “because of my love for the state, and because of Governor Justice’s vision that West Virginia and its citizens should not settle for 50th.”
“I want the governor and this state to be successful, and I welcome the opportunity to help any way I can in the future,” Thrasher said.
By: Jessi Starkey | Posted: June 14, 2018 | Source: WCHSTV
Drivers dodge the massive slip along Hartland Road in Clay County Thursday afternoon. (WCHS/WVAH)
CLAY COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS/WVAH) — Some Clay County residents are calling for action after having to drive a dangerous road every day.
Drivers who live along Hartland Road say their commute has become a risky ride full of dodging and swerving.
“I don’t want anyone to die before this road is fixed,” Beth Roth-Kuhn said. “We feel fear and frustration that nobody wants to come fix it until we have something like this.”
A major slip in the road has caused…
By: Clint Thomas, Metro Staff | Posted: June 14, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
Literacy Volunteers of Kanawha County will host a free literacy tutor training session for interested individuals at the end of this month.
The training session will be conducted from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, at First Presbyterian Church, 16 Leon Sullivan Way in downtown Charleston.
Potential tutors must be 18 years old or older to participate. In order to work with children in the tutoring program, they will need to undergo a background clearance check, which LVKC members will help them obtain.
“Training will focus on the four components of reading: word identification, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency,” said session leader Anita Cohen last week. “The strategies that we will practice can be adapted for teaching both adults and children to become stronger readers.”
By: Alyssa Meisner | Posted: June 13, 2018 at 5:38 p.m. | Source: WOWKTV
CLENDENIN, WV (WOWK) – The Town of Clendenin is having big problems getting projects done to repair damage from the 2016 floods. Mayor Clendenin says she’s been reaching out to the state for months to get help, but her requests have fallen on deaf ears.
Clendenin’s Town Hall and Community Center may look fine, but there is still major work to be done.
“The work has been completed to the point that we can complete it, at this point. But going back to the original disaster and the original state of the buildings, there are some issues that need to be addressed,” Mayor Shana Clendenin told 13 News.
Clendenin was elected in July 2017 and by October she started realizing…
By: Brad McElhinny | Posted: June 13, 2018 at 5:23 p.m. | Source: WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An internal memo from the state Department of Commerce contends this spring’s pause on a long-term flood relief contract had significant effects on the effort.
The pause affected progress for homes where construction had started, delayed ceremonies for applicants who were set to sign on as homeowners and slowed down environmental reviews that were part of the recovery process, Commerce contended.
The pause also threw construction workers into uncertainty and potentially risked sacrificing the millions of dollars administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Commerce concluded.
Brian Abraham, the senior counsel for the Governor’s Office, called after this story first posted to publicly question the intent of the memo. He contended it was…
Members of the state Board of Education met Wednesday in Charleston and approved a policy change. Courtesy of the state Department of Education.
By: Jake Jarvis | Posted: June 13, 2018 | Source: WV News
CHARLESTON — After a slight change to the proposal, members of the state Board of Education approved a policy revision Wednesday that will change how high school equivalency programs are administered.
To ensure students in the program receive employable skills by the time they graduate, the policy revision requires that programs be “a state-approved Career Technical Education Program of Study.” Previously, programs were supposed to be locally developed and personalized.
“The procedures are clarified for what it takes to get an option pathway in order to get a high school equivalency diploma,” said Kathy D’Antoni, an assistant state superintendent. “We got seven or eight comments back on the policy, and because of those comments, we did take off a section…
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — The extreme popularity of archery among West Virginia youngsters has attracted the attention of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission. Executive Director Bernie Dolan tells MetroNews the SSAC is ready to sanction archery as a school sport in West Virginia.
“We’re going to be working on it to roll it out in the next year or two,” said Dolan. “We want to see how quickly it can become a fully sanctioned sport.”
The framework for the sport is already in place through the Archery in Schools program run by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The A-I-S has teams in almost all West Virginia schools, including elementary and middle schools and the popularity is what drew the attention of Dolan and the SSAC.
“All of our sports come about because of interest in schools,” he said. “We don’t drive the interest. If there’s enough schools doing a particular activity, often they will submit a letter to us to be recognized as a sport and that’s the case here with archery.”
Dolan said Elkview Middle School Coach Eddie Gray has been…
By: Alyssa Meisner | Posted: June 12, 2018 at 6:02 p.m. | Source: WOWKTV
CLENDENIN, WV (WOWK) – Dozens of volunteers are back in Clendenin with just a week-and-a-half until the two year anniversary of the 2016 floods. Hundreds of homes and businesses still need help with repairs, and Tuesday high schoolers from Kansas are doing just that. (more…)
By: Tom Mauldin | Posted: June 12, 2018 | Source: MaxPreps
Neshoba, led by MaxPreps All-American Aspen Wesley (Mississippi State pledge), won the Mississippi 5A (the state’s second largest classification) title four weeks ago. Neshoba finished 34-0.
Madison scored 283 runs, averaging 10 runs per game, while allowing 26. Neshoba scored 274 for a 8.1 average and allowed just 31. Madison won 16 games by 10 or more runs and played a single one-run game. Neshoba took 10 games by 10 or more runs and had a pair of one-run wins.
Each defeated two teams which also won state titles in other classifications. Neshoba finished the season ranked 33 in MaxPreps Computer Rankings. Madison is ranked No. 9 in the computer poll.
The difference might fall to the fact that Madison, which has en enrollment of 2,000 students, defeated teams from four states. Neshoba, with just under 1,000 enrollment, played in-state games only.
But for this week — and perhaps only this week — Madison is No. 1.
East Carter (Grayson, Ky.), last week’s No. 1, went 4-2 at the Kentucky state Championships to finish the season 41-2, but fell from the Top 25.
2. (2) Neshoba Central (Philadelphia, Miss.), 34-0
The Rockets won their sixth straight state 5A title. Season over.
3. (4) San Marcos (Calif.), 28-2
The Knights won the San Diego Section Open Division title. Season over.
4. (5) Norco (Calif.), 29-3
The Cougars finished the season with 10 straight, including 8-2 over Gahr to win the California Southern Section Open Division title. Paige Smith hit a grand slam. Season over.
5. (7) Hoover (Clendenin, W. Va.), 33-0
The Huskies repeated as state AA champions. Season over.
6. (6) Tualatin (Ore.), 30-0
The Timberwolves won the state 6A title. Season over.
7. (12) Scott County (Georgetown, Ky.), 33-2
The Cards closed the season with 15 wins in a row and the Kentucky state championship. In a 2-1 win over Warren East, senior Kennedy Sullivan pitched a one-hit, 19-strikeout, 13-inning win.
8. (9) New Palestine (Ind.), 30-1
The Dragons finished the season with 20 wins in a row and on Saturday won the state 3A title. Season over.
9. (10) Keystone (La Grange, Ohio), 34-0
Keystone won the state D2 championship game. Season over.
10. (13) Coral Springs Charter (Coral Springs, Fla.), 30-2
The Panthers won the state 6A title. Season over.
11. (12) Jackson (Mill Creek, Wash.), 25-1
The Timberwolves won the state 4A title. Season over.
12. (14) Champion (Warren, Ohio), 31-0
The Golden Flashes won the state D3 championship and have won 39 straight. Season over.
13. (15) Clovis (Calif.), 31-2
Clovis won the California Central Section D1 title. Season over.
14. (16) Shawnee Heights (Tecumseh, Kan.), 25-0
The T-Birds won the state 5A title and have won 50 in a row. Season over.
15. (NR) Sun Prairie (Wis.), 29-0
Maddie Gardner scattered seven hits and drove in two runs to lead the Cardinals to a 7-1 win over Burlington on Saturday for the state large school championship. Gardner, who came into the state tournament with a 0.41 ERA, allowed one earned run in six postseason games. Season over.
16. (18) White Knoll (Lexington, S.C.), 32-2
The Timberwolves won the state 5A championship. Season over.
17. (NR) Prince George (Va.), 23-1
Behind the pitching of Laura Thompson, Prince George captured the state 5A title. Season over.
18. (20) Hurricane (W. Va.), 25-3
Won its fourth-straight state 3A title. Season over.
19. (21) Bentonville (Ark.), 31-3
Bentonville captured the state 7A championship. Season over.
20. (22) Ouachita Parish (Monroe, La.), 33-4
The Lions won the state 5A title. Season over.
21. (23) Severna Park (Md.), 27-2
The Falcons won the state 4A title. Season over.
22. (24) Atascocita (Humble, Texas), 35-7
The Eagles won the state 6A title. Season over.
23. (NR) Masuk (Monroe, Conn.), 27-0
Junior Sam Schiebe pitched a two-hit shutout while striking out 14, in leading Masuk to the state L title. She walked one and allowed just two balls to be hit past the infield. Season over.
24. (NR) Pinnacle (Phoenix), 31-6
Won state 6A title and 18 of its last 20 games. Season over.
25. (25) Canyon (New Braunfels, Texas), 29-2
The Cougars finished second in the state 6A tournament. Season over.
Dropped out: Stevens Point (Wis.), Barrington (Ill.), St. John Vianney (Holmdel, N.J.), East Carter (Grayson, Ky.).
