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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.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fans are back at GoMart Ballpark to root on the Charleston Dirty Birds.

The 2024 season got underway with a home game Thursday night. The Dirty Birds never led in the game until the very last moment with a walk off single coming from Delino DeShields in the bottom of the ninth inning. Charleston won 5-4 over the Staten Island FerryHawks.

So, fans had plenty to cheer for while at the ballpark for opening day.

Charleston mayor Amy Schuler Goodwin along with some little league baseball players helped with the first pitches before the game. “America’s Got Talent” winner and Logan County native Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. sang the national anthem.

It also wouldn’t be a Dirty Birds home game without the infamous Toast Man Rod Blackstone. Blackstone was excited to get the season going and see fans back at the ballpark, some of them joining in on his chants during the game.

“It’s good to have baseball back and we have a lot of hope,” he said. “We’re going around saying seasons greetings because that’s what we do, it’s baseballs seasons greetings.”

The hope is for a championship in Atlantic League for the first time since 1990 when the franchise was called the Wheelers. The team is under first-year manager P.J. Phillips who had success as the manager of the Lexington Legends. That team won the league championship in 2021.

“P.J. is a proven winner as a manager,” Blackstone said.

Another group of fans who have seen many years of baseball in the capital city were glad to support their hometown team again. The “Rowdy Alleys” have many years of experience in rooting for the Charleston baseball team, through multiple team name changes and a change of venue.

Megan Knight is a member of the “Rowdy Alleys” but it’s a family affair too with her husband, father and mother in the group as well. They love supporting the Dirty Birds.

“It is a group of fans that started over at Watt Powell Park,” said Knight.

“We love that there’s a local baseball team that we can come down here for,” she added. “We like to support them as much as we can.”

Thursday night’s game was also the first Bark in the Park night at GoMart Ballpark. The team expects to introduce new promotions during 2024 games. There’s also some new food items at the ballpark with a news kids zone and a mini golf course. Some popular features return from last year too including $2 Tuesdays and megablast fireworks on Saturdays.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Hundreds of employees at CAMC are celebrating anniversaries this week including a few with over 50 years of service.

More than 1,200 employees and volunteers are celebrating anniversaries in 2024. CAMC recognizes employees celebrating milestone anniversaries for their years of service starting at five years.

Dave Ramsey

A recognition dinner was held at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center Thursday evening. More than 800 people were expected to attend the dinner.

CAMC President and CEO Dave Ramsey said the milestones that people have been able to reach as a member of CAMC is truly remarkable .

“It’s just a special time where we get to honor the folks that dedicated most of their working life to taking care of all of us,” said Ramsey.

Jeff Greathouse, CRNA, has accomplished an impressive feat of 55 years of service at CAMC. He started in October 1969 as a part-time attendant while he was still in high school.

“I think it’s pretty special,” Greathouse said about his 55 years. “My grandfather worked for a company for 50 years so I passed him up but I’m sure he’d be proud of me.”

The Greathouse family is full of people working in the medical field. He met his wife, a Kentucky native, in the E.R. His daughter is a CRN and his son is an OR nurse. Greathouse aid there’s no other place he’d rather be.

“I grew up here,” he said. “This is home. Charleston, West Virginia is home.”

Seven more employees are celebrating 50 years including Sharon Elmore who currently works as a surgical scheduler. Her love for her job has also grown strong as the CAMC community has also grown across West Virginia.

“We all work together towards the same goal, taking care of patients,” said Elmore.

Elmore started out in patient care. She said she loves helping people work through their pathway. She too started at CAMC while still in high school, just like Greathouse.

“It’s a little surreal because it seems like just yesterday I was starting while in high school,” she said.

CAMC has had a lot to celebrate since the last dinner recognition this time a year ago. Since then, CAMC joined with Mon Health to create Vandalia Health and expand their service across the state. The number of hospitals has also jumped in recent years.

“We went from four hospitals in Charleston and Morgantown and now we have 14 hospitals that we own in our system and three others that we manage,” said Ramsey.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials are saying goodbye to a piece of the City of Charleston’s past and setting their sights on the future as they begin to journey further into the $40 billion dollar industry that is sports tourism.

Demolition on the former Macy’s store at the Charleston Town Center Mall has officially begun as to make way for the future Capital Sports Center.

Those behind the effort, city officials and the Kanawha County Commission met for a press conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the next steps and the soon-to-be construction process regarding the projected $80 million endeavor.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin was also on hand at the event. He provided $2 million in Congressionally Directed Spending to help initiate a foundation in the dollars going towards the project.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin

Manchin said he didn’t think twice about investing in something that will generate an even bigger return on investment, adding that it will be even bigger than what the mall brought in during its heyday after opening in 1983.

“Those who remember when the mall first opened, it was the biggest thing that hit West Virginia, thinking that it was right downtown in Charleston, and the excitement that went on and the amount of revenue it generated, and then you see, it’s gone a life cycle,” said Manchin. “What’s going to happen, fairly soon, is going to be bigger than that.”

The city and the commission has also put in $5 million each for the project and they are currently requesting additional federal direct funding.

Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said state leaders are another potential funding source, as well, because they know the benefits such a major sports facility can bring in.

“The state is doing it better than anybody right now right, they are putting more money into travel and tourism than they ever have before because they see the return on investment, and so, it’s going to be lots of different pots,” said Goodwin.

Commissioner Ben Salango said it’s looking to cost about $60 million for phase 1 of the project alone, which covers a significant portion of demolition and preliminary construction in building the around 196 thousand square foot sports center.

Handling the demolition of the Macy’s building, a big portion of where the new facility will go, is Rodney Loftis & Sons. It’s expected to be an ongoing process of about 6 to 8 weeks in getting the building completely torn down.

Following the demolition process will begin the final steps of the architectural and design planning phase being handled by ZMM Architects.

Preliminary designs include around six basketball courts, twelve volleyball, and around eight pickleball courts. In addition, the indoor complex is expected to house wrestling mats, a fitness center, a turf soccer field, a rock-climbing wall, a main gymnasium, and an aquatic center complete with an Olympic-sized pool.

Three floors of the Town Center’s Parking Garage B is also expected to be torn down to fit the aquatic center into the facility.

However, Salango said property acquisition has been creating a hold-up for phase 2 of the project and it continues to be an issue they are still working on.

He said what they didn’t want to do, though, was to delay all of the benefits coming out of phase 1 while they wait to acquire the property.

Ben Salango

“There’s going to be millions and millions of dollars in economic impact, why delay that for years while we negotiate property acquisition,” said Salango.

The Capital Sports Center Committee is also working with Sports Facilities Inc., a nationwide company who helps design major sports complexes like the one being built in Charleston. Goodwin said they know how to make the endeavor be sustainable.

She said, however, that there is already no concern that the sports center will be a success in the city.

“It will be filled and booked before we really even start building this, because there are already companies and organizations saying ‘when is it going to be finalized because we want to host our tournaments there,” said Goodwin.

Manchin said he is committed to helping see the project through until the very end.

He said there are different areas they can tap into to acquire more funding for the project.

“As the transition is going on, we have different opportunities that we’re able to pull from, so we have to search and look for any opportunity that we have, and there’s quite a few,” said Manchin.

Goodwin said with hundreds of teams and thousands of players from across the country making their way to other state’s sports complexes on a regular basis, sports tourism is the future, and the new facility will give the city and state a major piece of that $40 million industry.

She said there is something known as an anchor facility standard, which means that the facility has the capability of hosting some of the biggest tournaments in the country, and that’s something they are striving for with this sports complex. This means, added Goodwin, that looking into anything from how many basketball courts there are, down to where the locker rooms get placed is an important part of the process in getting there.

Amy Shuler Goodwin

“We will never be able to compete on a national level unless and until we have anchor-level facilities, that means eight basketball courts, that means 16 volleyball courts, and we are a stone’s throw away from the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center where we can book more of those events,” she said.

Goodwin said they plan to unveil different but similar design plans for the complex in the next coming weeks as those plans get finalized.

Salango said the sport center’s economic impact is expected to reach the tens of millions.

“All of these big dollar travel sports will be coming to town, and you combine that asset with the assets they already have at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, you can host some of the biggest basketball and some of the biggest volleyball tournaments in the country,” said Salango.

The entire Capital Sports Center project is expected to take around two to three years to complete.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There’s a new class of National Board Certification teachers in West Virginia.

The West Virginia Board of Education and the Department of Education (WVDE) honored 46 newly certified National Board Certification teachers (NBCTs) from 20 different West Virginia counties at the state Culture Center in Charleston Wednesday. There are also 88 teachers who maintained their certification in the class of 2023.

“National Board Certified Teachers exemplify the ideas of continuous learning and development in the profession,” said Michele L Blatt, State Superintendent of Schools. “Their dedication to education and their students provide credence to academic achievement.”

Melinda Monks from Kanawha County

The lone honoree from Kanawha County this year is Melinda Monks. She has been a special education teacher for about 12 years. For 10 of those years, she taught in intellectual disabilities at Bridgeview Elementary before switching over to Montrose Elementary and doing resource support. Monks said it was vigorous process to get certified but well worth the time and effort.

“National Board Certification is the top of the top for educators,” she said. “It means you’ve gone the extra mile with your professional development to become the best teacher you can and you get recognized for that.”

Reaching nationally board certified status is a process that could take as long as three years to complete. The wait time for applicants to hear if they’ve become certified could take another nine months. The credential is voluntary, but does present an opportunity to become more advanced in teaching.

Becoming board certified was important for Monks because of how much she cares about the students in her classroom and allowing them to get the proper education that they deserve.

“I love my position because I really believe in the kids of West Virginia and I think they need increased support to really be successful,” said Monks.

Superintendent of Cabell County Schools Dr. Ryan Saxe said becoming board certified is an important achievement and there are so many who have done that in his county and in the state.

“We’re blessed to have so many nationally board certified teachers right here in West Virginia teaching our students,” Saxe said.

Dr. Ryan Saxe

According to Saxe, there are close to 60 national board certified teachers in Cabell County. There are a total of 1,218 NBCTs in West Virginia. The state ranks 14th in the country for the percentage of NBCTs and 17th for the number of newly certified teachers.

“What it does to enrich the opportunities for our students because of the skills that these teachers have is something we are truly blesses by,” said Saxe.

The state incentives teachers who reach this certification. Nationally board certified teachers are also given an annual $3,500 salary supplement provided by the WVDE. Most counties, including Cabell County, may match that contribution from the state or support NBCTs with bonuses.

“These educators are walking away over the next five years with a very significant supplement to their income,” Saxe said.

The WVDE provides mentors to assist those pursuing the NBC and also reimburses the fees that are associated with the application process.