WV MetroNews
The Voice of West Virginia
MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. — West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michele L. Blatt has filled a vacancy on the Mingo County Board of Education.
On Friday, Blatt announced the appointment of K. Steven Kominar, who will serve on the board effective immediately. The vacancy came from the resignation of James Baisden in March.
“This appointment is important to the children, families and educators of Mingo County, and Mr. Kominar will serve faithfully to support the education community,” said Blatt. “He is a valued member of the community and will be an asset to the Mingo County Board.”
Previously, Kominar was a board member of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, the Coalfield Community Action Partnership and the Mingo County Adult Education program. He was also the executive director of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority for three years.
Kominar is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force. For 30 years, he was a business manager at Lee Sartin Trucking Company in Kermit, West Virginia. He also served nine terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Kominar represented District 20 from 1995 until he resigned in December 2011.
“I am truly honored that Superintendent Blatt has placed the trust in me that I can provide continuing service to my county,” Kominar said. “While this is an appointment that I will fill until the voters elect a permanent board member, I will approach this position as I have in the past – with compassion and a desire to promote Mingo County.”
Kominar has been a resident of Mingo County for 38 years. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA from Ohio State University. His term on the Mingo County Board of Education will expire in November 2024.
“I am grateful for him stepping into this role to ensure continuity in school operations,” Blatt added. “We know Mr. Kominar will provide expertise and make decisions based on the needs of our students.”
Kominar has children and grandchildren who graduated or are currently in school in the county.
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EMMITSBURG, MD — Two fallen West Virginia firefighters will be honored this weekend in ceremonies in Maryland as a part of National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) will host the 43rd National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend Saturday night and Sunday morning in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Eighty-nine firefighters died in the line of duty in 2023 and 137 firefighters died in previous years.
“National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend is a time for our nation to pause and reflect on the heroic efforts and selfless service of the fallen firefighters we are paying tribute to this year,” said NFFF CEO Victor Stagnaro. “We will always remember the bravery, commitment, and sacrifices of each of these 226 heroes and their families.”
The following West Virginia firefighters will be honored:
Forester/Wildland Firefighter Cody Mullens, 28, of the West Virginia Division of Forestry. Jones was fighting a wildland fire in Fayette County on April 13, 2023 when a tree fell and killed him.
Firefighter Ronald “Ron” Strosnider, 75, of the Capon Valley Volunteer Fire Department in Wardensville. Strosnider was responding to an emergency medical call at a residence on October 20, 2023 when he became ill at the scene. He went into cardiac arrest while being transported to a hospital. Strosnider’s cause of death was determined to be sinus bradycardia.
Each firefighter will have their name inscribed on a bronze plaque to give them a permanent place in the National Memorial. More information about the 226 firefighters being memorialized can be found on the 2024 Roll of Honor.
The National Fallen Firefighters Candlelight Service is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and will be hosted by Fire Captain Garon Mosby of the St. Louis Fire Department.
The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service is Sunday at 10 a.m. and will be hosted by actor Jeremy Holm. Thousands of attendees are expected at Sunday’s Memorial Service.
The NFFF will live stream both events on the NFFF’s website, firehero.org, and on their YouTube channel and Facebook page.
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BEVERLY, W.Va. — A man is facing multiple charges after allegedly threatening to shoot two people in Randolph County.
West Virginia State Police in Randolph County said troopers responded to a residence on Main Street in Beverly on Thursday after receiving a call of a man “pointing a firearm.”
The victims told troopers that Justin Lewis, 35, of Beverly, came into the apartment with a large black handgun, pointed it at them and said “he would shoot them both.”
Troopers later conducted a search warrant at Lewis’ residence in connection with a prior incident. During their search, troopers say they ended up finding 5.84 grams of methamphetamine located in a “cylindrical tube.” They also found small clear bags and a set of scales.
Lewis has been charged with wanton endangerment and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. He’s currently held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $100,000 bond.
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GLENVILLE, W.Va. — With Williamstown starting pitcher Carson Hill struggling to locate the strike zone early in Friday’s Little Kanawha Conference Championship against Gilmer County, Yellowjackets’ coach Levi Maxwell felt he could wait no longer to call on a reliever.
The decision couldn’t have worked out better.
Brody Bowyer entered with one out and the bases loaded, and the Titans went on to score that inning on a sacrifice fly, but could never muster offense against Bowyer, whose stellar work over 6 2/3 innings helped key the Yellowjackets to a 10-1 victory at Glenville State’s Kenny Greenlief Field.
“Brody’s a guy we’ve been going to a lot more lately,” said Maxwell, who touched on the importance of a recent win Bowyer earned against Toronto (Ohio) as a confidence boost. “He’s been throwing strikes and keeping guys off balance and he puts zeroes up. I tip my cap to Brody.”
The Class A No. 1 Yellowjackets improved to 24-3 and claimed a conference championship after finishing runner-up each of the last three seasons.
Were it not for the Bowyer’s outing, a similar outcome may have been in store. Hill walked three of the game’s first four batters, and was removed with one out before Jacob Stewart could bat.
Stewart brought in Brody Brockleman on a sacrifice fly to give No. 4 Gilmer (23-4-1) the early lead, but the Yellowjackets recorded an inning-ending out at second base to conclude that play and keep their deficit at one.
“It’s always a game of a different out at a time. We toyed with the idea of sacrificing, but they’re really good on the corners and just a good fundamental team,” Titans’ coach Tony Conrad said. “We needed to hit the ball. We didn’t perform to our ability and we needed to hit that kid while he was in the game before they got him out of there. Once they made the switch, give the kid credit. He did what he did, so do I credit him or discredit us? It’s one of those 50/50 things, but overall, we had an uncharacteristic night for our team.”
Still, Titans’ starting pitcher Christopher Junkins was sharp early, and after retiring WHS in order on three fly balls to start, Junkins escaped trouble in the second and induced a ground ball to third off the bat of Jenner Burge to strand two in scoring position.
Brockleman doubled with one out in the third for one of Gilmer’s three hits off Bowyer, who recorded one of his three strikeouts facing Colton Hall with Brockleman at third to end the inning.
“I’m trying to strike some people out, but don’t give up free bases and win the game with the defense behind me,” Bowyer said.
WHS pulled even in the home half of that frame courtesy of a Maxwell Molessa double to right, which the West Virginia University signee drove in teammate Wyatt Powell on.
The game stayed tied at 1 until the bottom of the fourth. Hill singled with one out and was at third with two outs and Burge in the batter’s box. He came off third base in aggressive fashion and made the most of an opportunity that he saw, darting for the plate as soon as Titans’ catcher Dayne Murphy sent the ball back to Junkins, whose threw home, but not in time to stop Hill from scoring the go-ahead run.
“Carson does an excellent job on the bases. I told him be alert, be ready and if it’s there, take it,” Maxwell said. “We trust our guys to make the right decision and he made a great decision to steal that bag. It put us up a run and we’d been struggling a bit, but that momentum got us going.”
On the play, Hill suffered an injury to a finger that forced his exit from the game, but before putting the momentum squarely on his team’s side.
“As a pitcher, getting ahead is huge. That’s a selfless play by Carson to score that run,” Bowyer said. “That’s a game-changer.”
The Titans came unraveled in the bottom of the fifth as their 2-1 deficit grew to four runs. Powell scored the first run of the inning on an error after drawing a leadoff base-on-balls, and after Braylon Mercer took over for Junkins with runners at the corners, WHS scored twice more — on a Luke Ankrom sacrifice fly and Wyatt Siley’s single, which brought home teammate Ty Ott.
“We got caught off guard on a delayed steal of home, and from there, we went downhill a little bit,” Conrad said.
Through a Brockleman single and a walk, GCHS had two on in the sixth, but Molessa made a nifty stop on a ball off the bat of Stewart, and fired to Parker Schramm at third base for a force out to end the threat.
Williamstown put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth that began with an error and consecutive walks. Molessa followed with a two-run single to right off Brockleman, and the Yellowjackets added three more runs, scoring first on Ott’s groundout to second that brought home Powell and later when a wild pitch allowed Molessa to come home from third and Sam Terry sent a ground ball to second that allowed Dylan Pucella to score.
“You like to score in the first inning, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. It was one run and we minimized damage that inning,” Maxwell said. “We have guys that can swing the bat. I’m not in a sense of panic. We put up a 5 spot and that’s huge late in the game. Just proud of the guys.”
Molessa had two of his team’s five hits and drive in three runs, while scoring twice. Williamstown drew seven walks.
Bowyer walked just one batter over his efficient showing.
“Brody’s been a bulldog and he’s not really afraid of a bigger situation, because he’s been in a couple of them,” Maxwell said. “He was throwing strikes. That’s all we can ask for and to play defense and be able to put runs up. This year, we’ve done an excellent job of playing seven innings.”
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Photo gallery from University’s 8-6 win over Morgantown.
(Photo gallery by Teran Malone)
The Hawks improve to 12-1 on the season while the Mohigans fall to 13-3. This is Morgantown’s first loss to an in-state opponent in over two seasons and it is also University’s first win over their rival in five seasons.
University has clinched the D1 East No. 1 overall seed and will play Martinsburg next Tuesday.
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BECKLEY, W.Va. — The operator of an ambulance service in Wyoming County has been convicted for failing to pay taxes withheld from employees’ wages and for obstructing the IRS.
A federal jury in Beckley, West Virginia convicted Christopher Jason Smyth this week. Smyth operated Stat EMS LLC, an ambulance service located in Pineville, West Virginia, between 2012 and part of 2017.
Stat EMS was created by Smyth after a previous ambulance business that he operated accrued millions of dollars of employment tax liabilities and ended up filing for bankruptcy. Smyth’s responsibility with Stat EMS LLC was to withhold Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from employees’ wages and pay them to the IRS. However, evidence presented during the trial showed that for two quarters in 2016, Smyth did not fully pay the taxes to the IRS and instead used the money to pay for various personal expenses and also transferred funds to businesses held by his friends and family. The IRS determined that Stat EMS accrued approximately $3.3 million in unpaid taxes.
The IRS attempted to collect the unpaid taxes from Smyth, but he denied having a personal bank account and that he used anyone else’s. An IRS revenue officer said Smyth lied and would regularly deposit paychecks into an account in a relative’s name. Smyth also told the IRS that he had nothing to do with several other businesses, but he did have signature authority over their bank accounts.
The jury found Smyth guilty of two counts of failing to pay over taxes for two quarters in 2016 and one count of obstructing the IRS in relation to its efforts to collect the unpaid taxes from Smyth. He was found not guilty on the failure to pay over taxes counts related to two quarters in 2017.
Smyth’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4. He faces up to up to five years in prison for each count of failure to pay taxes as well as three years in prison for obstructing the IRS.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
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WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — City officials in Williamson have appointed a new mayor following the resignation of Charles Hatfield.
A special session was called Friday where city council members named City clerk Alma Smith to the position after there was a deadlocked vote between two other candidates. A vote for council members Joseph Bucci and Mike Casey ended in a tie, moving Smith to be mayor until council meets again to make another move to fill the position.
Charles Hatfield announced he was stepping down as mayor of Williamson amid a federal investigation where is accused of mishandling just over $34,000 belonging to the Williamson Memorial Hospital. Hatfield served as chief executive officer of the hospital, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2019.
Hatfield allegedly used the money for personal expenditures, including for his own real estate company. According to court records, Hatfield is expected to plead guilty to charges later this month before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Seedings and schedules are set for the WVSSAC Baseball Sectional Tournaments. Double-elimination play begins Monday, May 6 and may continue through Saturday, May 18. Sectional champions advance to best-of-three regional play, which begins Monday, May 20.
(This list is not yet complete and will be updated as more schedules are finalized. Athletic directors/coaches, please forward any updates/corrections to [email protected]. Thank you.)
Class AAA
Region I
Section 1
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 4 Brooke at No. 1 Morgantown
Game 2 – No. 3 John Marshall at No. 2 Wheeling Park
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Section 2
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 4 Preston at No. 1 Bridgeport
Game 2 – No. 3 Buckhannon-Upshur at No. 2 University
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Wednesday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Thursday, May 9
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 7 – If necessary
Region II
Section 1
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 4 Spring Mills at No. 1 Martinsburg
Game 2 – No. 3 Hedgesville at No. 2 Musselman
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Section 2
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 3 Hampshire at No. 2 Jefferson
Wednesday, May 8
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Washington
Thursday, May 9
Game 3 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Friday, May 10
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 5 – If necessary
Region III
Section 1
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 5 South Charleston at No. 4 Riverside
Wednesday, May 8
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 St. Albans
Game 3 – No. 3 Capital at No. 2 George Washington
Section 2
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 4 Princeton at No. 1 Greenbrier East
Game 2 – No. 3 Oak Hill at No. 2 Woodrow Wilson
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Region IV
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 4 Lincoln County at No. 1 Cabell Midland
Game 2 – No. 3 Huntington at No. 2 Spring Valley
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Wednesday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Thursday, May 9
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 7 – If necessary
Section 2
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 4 Parkersburg at No. 1 Ripley
Game 2 – No. 3 Parkersburg South at No. 2 Hurricane
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Class AA
Region I
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Oak Glen at No. 4 North Marion
Tuesday, May 7
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Fairmont Senior
Game 3 – No. 3 Weir at No. 2 East Fairmont
Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Section 2
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 4 Berkeley Springs at No. 1 Keyser
Game 2 – No. 3 Grafton at No. 2 Frankfort
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Wednesday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Thursday, May 9
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 7 – If necessary
Region II
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Liberty Harrison at No. 4 Elkins
Tuesday, May 7
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Philip Barbour
Game 3 – No. 3 Lincoln at No. 2 Robert C. Byrd
Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Section 2
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Braxton County at No. 4 Clay County
Tuesday, May 7
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Lewis County
Game 3 – No. 3 Roane County at No. 2 Herbert Hoover
Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Region III
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 4 Bluefield at No. 1 PikeView
Game 2 – No. 3 Westside at No. 2 Wyoming East
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Wednesday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Thursday, May 9
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 7 – If necessary
Section 2
Tuesday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 4 Liberty Raleigh at No. 1 Nicholas County
Game 2 – No. 3 Shady Spring at No. 2 Independence
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Region IV
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Poca at No. 4 Point Pleasant
Tuesday, May 7
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Winfield
Game 3 – No. 3 Nitro at No. 2 Sissonville
Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Section 2
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Mingo Central at No. 4 Chapmanville
Tuesday, May 7
Game 2 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Scott
Game 3 – No. 3 Wayne at No. 2 Logan
Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Class A
Region I
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Magnolia at No. 4 Paden City
Game 2 – No. 7 Hundred at No. 2 Madonna
Game 3 – No. 6 Valley Wetzel at No. 3 Cameron
Tuesday, May 7
Game 4 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Wheeling Central Catholic
Game 5 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 6 – Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Wednesday, May 8
Game 7 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 5 loser
Game 8 – Game 6 winner vs. Game 4 loser
Game 9 – Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Thursday, May 9
Game 10 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 11 – Game 10 winner vs. Game 9 loser
Saturday, May 11
Game 12 – Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner
Monday, May 13
Game 13 – If necessary
Section 2
Tuesday, May 7
No. 4 Ritchie County at No. 1 Williamstown
No. 3 St. Marys at No. 2 Tyler Consolidated
Wednesday, May 8
Game 3 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Thursday, May 9
Game 5 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 – If necessary
Region II
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 6 Clay-Battelle at No. 3 Doddridge County
Game 2 – No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 4 Trinity
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner at No. 2 Tygarts Valley
Game 4 – Game 2 winner at No. 1 South Harrison
Section 2
Game 1 – No. 6 Paw Paw at No. 3 Pendleton County
Game 2 – No. 5 Tucker County at No. 4 Petersburg
Game 3 – Game 1 winner at No. 2 Moorefield
Game 4 – Game 2 winner at No. 1 East Hardy
Region III
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 5 River View at No. 4 Mount View
Game 2 – No. 6 Montcalm at No. 3 Greater Beckley Christian
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 James Monroe
Game 4 – Game 2 winner at No. 2 Summers County
Wednesday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser
Game 6 – Game 2 loser vs. Game 4 loser
Game 7 – Winners bracket final
Thursday, May 9
Game 8 – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Friday, May 10
Game 9 – Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner
Saturday, May 11
Game 10 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner
Monday, May 13
Game 11 – If Necessary
Section 2
Game 1 – No. 7 Webster County at No. 2 Midland Trail
Game 2 – No. 6 Meadow Bridge at No. 3 Greenbrier West
Game 3 – No. 5 Pocahontas County at No. 4 Richwood
Game 4 – Game 3 winner at No. 1 Charleston Catholic
Region IV
Section 1
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 7 Van at No. 2 Tug Valley
Game 2 – No. 6 Tolsia at No. 3 Buffalo
Game 3 – No. 5 Huntington St. Joseph’s at No. 4 Sherman
Tuesday. May 7
Game 4 – Game 1 winner at No. 1 Man
Section 2
Monday, May 6
Game 1 – No. 6 Hannan at No. 3 Gilmer County
Game 2 – No. 5 Wirt County at No. 4 Calhoun County
Tuesday, May 7
Game 3 – Game 1 winner at No. 2 Wahama
Game 4 – Game 2 winner at No. 1 Ravenswood
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Special needs students from across Kanawha County were in Charleston Friday to put their athletic skills to the test.
Kanawha County Schools held their annual Exceptional Spring Games at Laidley Field.
Megan McCorkle, assistant superintendent for special education and student support with KCS, said the event gives students the opportunity to compete in games and win prizes that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to.
“Often times they are not participants in other events that we hold so this is something that is very special for them. This is a way that they can celebrate themselves. This is something that their families can come to and feel the success of everything that they have put into their kids,” she said.
George Washington High School senior Timmy Smith was excited to bring home a gold medal after playing baseball with his coach and other classmates.
“My teacher is the head coach of George Washington High School,” he said. “I like throwing the ball.”
Herbert Hoover High School special education teacher Amy McVicker has been teaching students with disabilities for 19 years. She said her class looks forward the Spring Games each year as a way to celebrate their success.
“It makes their year. They come to school every day and they do what they can do and when we get to reward them with something like this, you can’t ask for anything better,” McVicker said.
.@KCBOE is holding its annual Exceptional Spring Games at Laidley Field in Charleston today for special needs students.
@580WCHS pic.twitter.com/gTyywUH19w
— Carrie Hodousek (@CarrieHodousek) May 3, 2024
Students got to participate in running, walking, jumping, softball, baseball, as well as hands-on craft activities, face painting, a sensory village and more. McCorkle said the event has grown over the years.
“We have expanded it so much that it’s not just athletic events,” she said. “Even if you are not a runner and you can’t throw a ball very well, there are things here that they would love and enjoy doing.”
Some students were in Charleston for the first time because they go to school in different parts of the county, McVicker said.
“They get to come here and they get to participate in things that normally they probably wouldn’t get to participate in. We have kids that live out in Clendenin or Elkview and they don’t always make to Charleston to do these kinds of things,” McVicker said.
McCorkle said the event also teaches students about real-life situations at large events.
“You get to teach them different skills. Often times crowds like this can be very intimidating and overwhelming for our students. It allows our teachers to prepare them for events in life that do have crowds,” she said.
High school marching bands and cheerleaders took part in Friday’s event. Each school was featured with a banner in a parade that took place before the games.
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FAIRMONT, W.Va. — FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary Mon Power is preparing to begin award negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy for up to $5 million through the Rural or Remote Areas program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to enhance reliability for customers in four counties.
Spokesman Will Boye said this project was submitted with 659 other concept papers in 2023 and made it through the federal review process to the final negotiation phase.
“Fifty-nine of those were moved to the full application phase, and then 19 projects were selected to begin final negotiations, so we’re very glad to have this opportunity,” Boye said.
The project will rebuild lines in Pocahontas, Braxton and Clay counties and complete a two-mile substation connection in Grant County. Boye said over the past year, they have included input from more than 500 municipal and non-profit organizations in the plan.
“This project that we’ve applied for funding for would help rebuild more than 23 miles of powerlines in those counties, connect a two-mile line, and result in enhanced reliability for the customers in those four counties,” Boye said.
The project will also create adjacent circuits that can be used as a backup to restore service for customers when repairs need to be made due to an outage.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to move forward with these projects, rebuild these lines, and create a backup power feed for these customers,” Boye said.
Over the next two months, FirstEnergy officials and 18 other organizations will be negotiating their way to the final award.
“We’re hoping we can complete the award negotiations in 30 to 60 days, and if that goes smoothly and the funding is awarded, we would move forward with construction in 2025,” Boye said.
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